The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday chargesheeted former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, along with 12 others including high-ranking retired defence officials, in the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
Earlier in the day, the investigating agency informed the special CBI court that it has formally slapped cases ranging from criminal conspiracy to cheating and misusing powers for vested interests.
The court was further informed that investigation into the alleged ‘benami (proxy)’ transactions and purchases are underway and “report u/sec 173 CrPC will be filed after completion of investigation in due course of time.”
Others mentioned in the chargesheet are Maj Gen (retd) A R Kumar, Maj Gen (retd) T K Kaul, Brig (retd) M M Wanchu, Brig (retd)T K Sinha, Col (retd) R K Bakshi, Defence Estate Officer (retd) R C Thakur, former Congress leader K L Gidwani, former Addl Chief Sec (Urban) Ramanand Tiwari, former Mumbai Municipal Commissioner M Jairaj Phathak, retired IAS officers P V Deshmukh and Subhash Lalla and Pradeep Vyas, a suspended IAS officer.
Chavan, whose name was already mentioned in the FIR filed 18 months ago, told reporters soon after the CBI’s submission at the court: “It is a political conspiracy hatched by rivals who want to keep me out. Truth will prevail.”
Later in the day, the Bombay High Court heard the state government’s petition challenging the legal jurisdiction of the CBI investigation, adjourning it for two weeks and asked the Ministry of Defence to submit its stand on the issue.
The state government, on June 18, moved an affidavit stating that the CBI, under the perjury of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, can launch an investigation only on direction from the state government or the high court.
However, in the Adarsh Housing Society case, none of the empowered parties sought the agency’s assistance.
The controversy over the 31-storeyed sky-rise at Colaba in South Mumbai, reserved for Kargil war heroes and widows, came to the fore in 2010.
What was initially a political furore, later snow-balled into a major controversy after it was alleged that not only politicians, but also Army officials and bureaucrats were involved in clandestine manipulation of documents to usurp flats in the building.
Ashok Chavan had to step down when it was alleged that his relatives had purchased flats in the building.
Following severe criticism from the Opposition, the government instituted a two-member quasi-judicial commission to look into the allegations that the building was constructed on defence land, violating civic and environmental regulations.
In April 2012, the commission headed by former Bombay High Court retired Justice J A Patil and retired Maharashtra Chief Secretary P Subramanian, in a report stated that the “Ministry of Defence failed to establish their claim of title to the land in question...” and “...do not contain any term of condition ...providing reservation for Housing Defence personnel or Kargil war heroes.”
The MoD thereafter challenged the findings and the commission subpoenaed the three former state chief ministers. Last week, during questioniong by CBI, all the three chief ministers put the blame on each other and accused the bureaucracy of misleading them. The CBI, which incidentally entered the fray last year, following brouhaha in the media, was repeatedly castigated by the Bombay High Court for dilly-dallying in the case. Early this year, the probe agency took into custody nine people named in the FIR. However, they were granted bail after CBI failed to file a chargesheet within the stipulated 60-day period.
The High Court had also rapped the Enforcement Directorate and the Income-Tax department for “sluggish investigations in tracking the tainted and dirty money” used for procuring apartments in the building.