17 bureaucrats get notices in Adarsh scam

Officers ordered to file replies in eight days

 Some of these officers and their kin own flats in the controversial Mumbai building  which was meant for Kargil war widows. The notices were issued after Chief Minister Prithivaj Chavan had a word with state Chief Secretary J P Dange. 

The bureaucrats have been told to file their replies within eight days failing which action will be taken against them.

They include former Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner (BMC) chief Jairaj Pathak, former state urban development secretary Ramanand Tiwari, former urban development deputy secretary P V Deshmukh and former chief secretary D K Shankaran.

Pathak, known as an upright officer, was the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner when the BMC approved extra building rights to the Society. His son Kanishq is a flat owner in Adarsh. Omkar Tiwari is another allottee, and happens to be the son of Ramanand Tiwari, who would have been privy to all communication on permissions and environmental clearances . Deshmukh’s role as the deputy secretary of urban development has come in question as he was in-charge of getting environmental clearances. He is also under scanner for helping the Society get more land by reducing the width of the road facing it. His son has a flat in the building.

D K Shankaran, former state chief secretary, and his wife and former principal revenue secretary, Joyce, are also facing the heat. Their son, Sanjoy, was allotted a flat. Among other bureaucrats in connection with the Adarsh scam are former Mumbai collector Indris Kundan who has also allegedly got a flat in Adarsh.

Tribal Development Secretary Uttam Khobragade’s daughter and Indian Foreign Service officer Devyani Khobragade is one of the 104 allottees of the Society. The notices issued by the General Administration Department have asked the officers to furnish information about the flats they bought,  The notices also ask the bureaucrats to explain their role in clearing the Adarsh Society files.