<p>The announcement was made by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan at a news conference, as more such scams involving powerful state bureaucrats tumbled out in the open not only in Mumbai but also in other parts of the state.<br /><br />In one such disclosure, several of the state bureaucrats, including former chief minister Ashok Chavan’s secretary Rajeev Nivatkar, were found to have got membership of a society meant for defence personnel at Lohegaon in Pune.<br /><br />The proposed society had initially 190 members from the defence forces but their numbers came down gradually and the list now has only 100 defence personnel. <br />Among the rest are at least five IAS officers of the state cadre, PAs and secretaries of former chief minister, revenue minister and a number of lower level bureaucrats. <br />The proposed society is located at Lohegaon, which houses a major IAF station.<br /><br />Month’s delay<br /><br />It took almost a month for Prithviraj Chavan to name the probe panel since his announcement for commissioning a judicial inquiry into the Adarsh scam during the winter session of the state legislature.<br /><br />Interestingly, whoever was approached by the state government for coming on to the panel was found to be owning government-allotted flats at dirt cheap prices in Mumbai and many of them politely turned down the requests.<br /><br />The panel named on Saturday will conduct the probe of Adarsh scam under the Commission of Inquiry Act 1952 and has been asked to submit its report within three months.<br /><br />Terms of reference<br /><br />The panel will probe many aspects, including whether the land on which the 31-storey Adarsh building is constructed belonged to the government or to the Army, whether the society was meant for the Kargil war heroes and widows, whether the width of the adjacent road was reduced to benefit the society, whether the building was constructed in violation of Coastal Regulatory Zone rules, what were the criteria for membership of the society and were they followed, and the role of civil servants in facilitating and clearing the Adarsh file.<br /><br />While the state has constituted the judicial probe now, the CBI has already collected a lot of data regarding Adarsh scam and is likely to file an FIR next week. <br />The FIR may name the former chief minister as well as bureaucrats and certain defence personnel as accused in the scam.<br /></p>
<p>The announcement was made by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan at a news conference, as more such scams involving powerful state bureaucrats tumbled out in the open not only in Mumbai but also in other parts of the state.<br /><br />In one such disclosure, several of the state bureaucrats, including former chief minister Ashok Chavan’s secretary Rajeev Nivatkar, were found to have got membership of a society meant for defence personnel at Lohegaon in Pune.<br /><br />The proposed society had initially 190 members from the defence forces but their numbers came down gradually and the list now has only 100 defence personnel. <br />Among the rest are at least five IAS officers of the state cadre, PAs and secretaries of former chief minister, revenue minister and a number of lower level bureaucrats. <br />The proposed society is located at Lohegaon, which houses a major IAF station.<br /><br />Month’s delay<br /><br />It took almost a month for Prithviraj Chavan to name the probe panel since his announcement for commissioning a judicial inquiry into the Adarsh scam during the winter session of the state legislature.<br /><br />Interestingly, whoever was approached by the state government for coming on to the panel was found to be owning government-allotted flats at dirt cheap prices in Mumbai and many of them politely turned down the requests.<br /><br />The panel named on Saturday will conduct the probe of Adarsh scam under the Commission of Inquiry Act 1952 and has been asked to submit its report within three months.<br /><br />Terms of reference<br /><br />The panel will probe many aspects, including whether the land on which the 31-storey Adarsh building is constructed belonged to the government or to the Army, whether the society was meant for the Kargil war heroes and widows, whether the width of the adjacent road was reduced to benefit the society, whether the building was constructed in violation of Coastal Regulatory Zone rules, what were the criteria for membership of the society and were they followed, and the role of civil servants in facilitating and clearing the Adarsh file.<br /><br />While the state has constituted the judicial probe now, the CBI has already collected a lot of data regarding Adarsh scam and is likely to file an FIR next week. <br />The FIR may name the former chief minister as well as bureaucrats and certain defence personnel as accused in the scam.<br /></p>
