ATR on Adarsh panel report eyewash, say activists

‘Oblivious to public sentiment against graft’

Civil society groups have dismissed the Maharashtra government’s Action Taken Report on the Adarsh Commission of Inquiry report as “eyewash” and said it does little to address public sentiment against corruption.

“The ATR creates the impression that the government has acted reluctantly after being prodded by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Mr. Gandhi must have reacted to the public sentiment against the brazenness of politicians, but the ATR does nothing to address that sentiment,” said Ajit Ranade, co-founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms

The ATR was made public when the Cabinet accepted the inquiry report on Thursday. It does not call for any action against the six politicians indicted for extending political patronage to the controversial building project.

“I am very disappointed. I expected much more when the State agreed to review its decision to reject the report. One can only guess that the ATR was drafted under political pressure,” said Gerson D. Cunha, co-convenor of the citizen’s group AGNI.

Those indicted for “political patronage” include four former Chief Ministers Sushilkumar Shinde (now Union Minister), Ashok Chavan, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Shivajirao Nilangekar Patil, and NCP ministers Sunil Tatkare and Rajesh Tope.

The Commission questioned Mr. Shinde’s haste in clearing the land allotted for the building, ignoring Finance department advice. At the time, Mr. Nilangekar Patil was Revenue Minister.

Mr. Chavan was indicted for granting favours for the building project in exchange for flats received by his relatives. He was party to a decision to reduce the width of an adjoining road to increase land available for the building. But the ATR recommended no further action against Mr. Chavan, who has been chargesheeted by the CBI.

Mr. Deshmukh was named for clearing the Adarsh Society’s letter of intent and for transferring the FSI (floor space index) from an adjoining plot to the building.

“In most violations, politicians have acted in league with bureaucrats and cases must be lodged against both,” said retired IAS officer Arun Bhatia.

The ATR recommended action against 12 bureaucrats named in the Commission report for violating All India Service Conduct Rules.