The Bombay High Court on Thursday agreed to hear the plea filed by former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society scam. The court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to inform the lower court not to proceed with Mr. Chavan’s prosecution.
A Division Bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice S.V. Kotwal was hearing the plea filed against the sanction granted by Governor Ch. Vidysagar Rao to prosecute Mr. Chavan. He said the governor’s order was arbitrary, illegal and unjust, and had been “passed without proper application of mind”. In November 2010, it came to light that 102 flats in the Adarsh society had been illegally allotted and they had received no authorisation and clearances under the Coastal Regulations Zone Notification, 1991. In February 2016, the governor gave the CBI approval to prosecute Mr. Chavan, who had resigned following the scam. Mr. Chavan has charges of cheating and conspiracy against him for approving additional floor space index in the society. He has also been charged under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court adjourned the matter to be heard on June 21.
In January 2012, the State government set up the judicial commission and 182 witnesses have deposed before it over two years. The report said 25 flats were illegally allotted and 22 were purchased. The report named four former Chief Ministers — Ashok Chavan, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Shivajirao Patil — two former Urban Development Ministers, Rajesh Tope and Sunil Tatkare, and 12 bureaucrats.
In May 2016, the court ruled “it is brought on record that bureaucrats, ministers, army officers... became members of Adarsh Society and that prima facie, the possibility of quid pro quo cannot be ruled out.”