HC refuses to hear PIL in Adarsh scam

Observing that it was the prerogative of the Maharashtra government to accept or reject Adarsh housing scam inquiry commission findings, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to hear an application seeking prosecution of the state cabinet for allegedly shielding the accused.

Former journalist Ketan Tirodkar had filed the application in December seeking directions to the CBI to consider the judicial commission’s report and also to prosecute the state cabinet for attempting to shield the accused.

Tirodkar, who had earlier filed a PIL seeking a CBI probe into the Adarsh Housing Society case and to invoke the anti-benami transactions law, questioned the Maharashtra government’s decision to reject the commission’s findings after it had spent more than Rs 7 crore on it.

“The commission’s findings are equivalent to a charge sheet pinpointing the illegal favours and misuse of official position on the part of ministers and bureaucrats,” the application said.

The CBI, which is already investigating the case, had the powers to take cognizance of the recommendations and findings of the commission’s report and a “duty to prosecute the persons sabotaging investigations and shielding the accuse,” it added.

A division bench of Justices P V Hardas and A S Gadkari, however, observed that it is the government’s prerogative to accept or reject the findings of a commission set up by it.