Justice (retd.) J.A. Patil, who led the two-member Commission of Inquiry into the Adarsh Housing Society case, on Friday said that he will be happy if Maharashtra government accepts the Commission’s report after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s statement.
“I appreciate that Mr. Rahul Gandhi has asked the State government to act on the report. I will be really happy if government acts accordingly and accepts the report,” he told The Hindu.
He said that he wanted the report to be accepted by the government and if that happened it would be good for the State.
Justice Patil earlier said that he expected the government to reject the report, given the nature of its findings. “As we prepared the report, it was expected that the report will be rejected. However, our expectation is that the people of the State will use and read the report carefully,” he said.
The Nationalist Congress Party tried to score points against its ally in Maharashtra after Mr. Gandhi’s stand on the Adarsh report.
“Rahul Gandhi asked the Cabinet to do a rethink. We have already asked for the same. If the Cabinet reconsiders it, our party will support it,” said NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik.
He added, “However if there is a leader because of whom the government is experiencing problems, the Congress should have a rethink on him.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in view of Mr. Gandhi's statement. “Mr. Gandhi’s stand is a slap in Mr. Chavan’s face. By rejecting the report, Mr. Chavan showed he supports corruption. He should resign immediately,” said the BJP Leader of Opposition in the State Council Vinod Tawde.
“First the Congress’s own ally the NCP criticised the decision to reject the Adarsh report. Now the Congress high command is criticising it. The Chief Minister has no right to continue in his post.”
Will file PIL: Sena
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said the party would file a public interest litigation petition in the Bombay High Court protesting “lack of responsible action” by the government on the Adarsh report.