JOIN USThe two Adarsh scam tainted senior bureaucrats — former Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Dr Jairaj Phatak and Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development Department-UDD) Ramanand Tiwari — on Thursday were granted bail by a special court.
The two accused told the court in the bail plea that they have been languishing in the clinker for the past 60 days and the Central Bureau of Investigation did not take cognisance of the stipulated period prescribed for filing chargesheet.
Surety bond
The court asked them to furnish a surety bond of Rs 5 lakh each. The accused who got bail were: 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.
Both Phatak and Tiwari, were taken into custody by the CBI for allegedly manipulating regulations so as to grant sanctions to Adarsh Society for constructing a 31-storeyed sky-rise on a plot earmarked for Kargil War heroes and war-widows.
The controversy erupted in 2010, lassoing several politicians including former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan, on charges ranging from conspiracy, misuse of power and manipulation of land documents.