New Delhi:
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan may be named in the chargesheet that will be filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Adarsh Housing Society scam case, sources have told NDTV.
The CBI, sources say, has also denied naming two other former chief ministers of the state in the chargesheet. The duo in question is Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Kumar Shinde, both of who are Union Ministers in the UPA government. Their names had cropped up during investigations into the scam that involves wrongfully allotting flats meant for Kargil widows to politicians. The two have also been questioned by the CBI.
Mr Chavan's name already figures in the First Information Report (FIR) that was filed by the CBI in January this year that also names 13 others. Bureaucrat, politicians and defence personnel allegedly colluded to corner flats in the Adarsh building during Mr Chavan's building. His predecessor, Mr Deshmukh, has also been accused of lapses in allotting flats meant for the war veterans.
The CBI is already under pressure after the Bombay High Court slammed the agency on Monday over the delay in initiating action against the accused.
Coming down heavily on the investigating agency, the court said, "Why have you (CBI) not arrested any of the accused yet? Are you feeling shy or are you just protecting the accused? If prima facie case is made out against anyone then action should be taken irrespective of who that person is. Delay in such cases can be dangerous."
The CBI, while submitting its status report on the case in a sealed envelope, also sought two weeks' time to complete investigations and file a chargesheet.
The probe agency, had last week, arrested four people including former Maharashtra Congress legislator Kanhaiyalal V. Gidwani, his son, a tax consultant, and a lawyer of the probe agency, in a graft case linked to the scam investigation. All accused are in CBI custody till March 16.
The court has also asked the CBI to give information on government employees involved in the scam to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. The matter would next be heard March 22.