JOIN US7 Adarsh scam accused get bail
Seven of the nine persons arrested by the CBI in connection with the Adarsh Housing scam were granted bail by a special court on Tuesday.
The bail was given as the investigating agency had failed to file the charge sheet within the stipulated period.
The accused who got bail in the case include Major Generals (retd) A R Kumar and T K Kaul, Brigadier (retd) M M Wanchoo, Defence Estate officer (retd) R C Thakur, former IAS officers P V Deshmukh and Pradeep Vyas and former Congress leader Kanhaiyalal Gidwani. The accused have been asked to furnish a surety of Rs 5 lakh each and report to the CBI office on Tuesday and Thursday, every week.
Last month, the court had rejected the bail plea of the accused, acceding to the agency’s request for an extension of 30 days remand. On Monday, they moved the court again, arguing that the CBI had failed to file the charge sheet within the stipulated 60 days since their arrest.
The CBI argued that it wanted to slap additional charges on the accused and it still had 90 days for filing the charge sheet. The court, however, refused to accept the agency’s argument.The CBI, conducting a parallel enquiry into the scam along with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income-Tax (I-T), after being rebuked by the Bombay High Court last year, registered an FIR against 15 persons for alleged manipulation of records and regulations.
The controversy over the construction of a high-rise on a plot of land in south Mumbai meant for Kargil War heroes and widows had come to light in 2010, lassoing several politicians including former Maharashtra chief ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan, on charges ranging from conspiracy, misuse of power and manipulation of land documents to grab the plot.
As the furore over the scam gained momentum, it was latter alleged that not only politicians but also high-ranking retired army officials and bureaucrats had a hand in the deft manipulation of land documents to grab the land.
Then Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan had to step down when it was alleged that his relatives had purchased apartments in the building complex. The bedlam in the state Assembly in January 2011 forced the government to set up a two-member judicial commission to look into the allegations.