Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to complete its inquiry into Mumbai's Adarsh Housing Society scam in two weeks. The CBI has also been asked to take a decision on filing an FIR in the case.
But the Maharashtra government has opposed the handing over of the probe to the CBI. In an affidavit, the state government has said that the 'Central Government has little or no concern with Adarsh. There is therefore no jurisdictional basis for handing over the case to the CBI.'
The affidavit adds that the issues arising from the Adarsh case are all within the domain of the state. It also states that handing over the case to another agency is an extreme measure and rarely resorted to.
The Adarsh Housing Society in Colaba, a plush locality in Mumbai, was originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil War heroes and their kin but was later extended to 31 floors allegedly without mandatory permission.
Investigations by the media suggest that politicians, retired Army officers and senior bureaucrats colluded to corner flats in the building. The Army is investigating the role of some of its senior-most officers in the scam.
In a strongly-worded order recently, the Environment Ministry has said that Adarsh society building should be demolished.
Accusing the society of violating the spirit of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) laws, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that the society 'should be removed in entirety and the area restored'.
The Environment Ministry had earlier served a notice to the 31-storey housing society asking it why the illegal floors in the building should not be demolished.
However, reacting to the Environment Ministry's decision, counsel for Adarsh society Satish Maneshinde said, "The tenor of the order is completely malafide... unfair hearing... the minister was bent upon demolishing Adarsh since the beginning... we will challenge the demolition order."
The Adarsh scam claimed its first victim last year in the form of Ashok Chavan who was forced to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister after reports surfaced that his kin including late mother-in-law, owned flats in the society.
After Chavan, top babus too faced the axe, most notably among them being Ramanand Tiwari, Maharashtra's Chief Information Commissioner and Subhash K Lalla, Maharashtra Human Rights Commissioner and former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's secretary.
But the Maharashtra government has opposed the handing over of the probe to the CBI. In an affidavit, the state government has said that the 'Central Government has little or no concern with Adarsh. There is therefore no jurisdictional basis for handing over the case to the CBI.'
The affidavit adds that the issues arising from the Adarsh case are all within the domain of the state. It also states that handing over the case to another agency is an extreme measure and rarely resorted to.
The Adarsh Housing Society in Colaba, a plush locality in Mumbai, was originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil War heroes and their kin but was later extended to 31 floors allegedly without mandatory permission.
Investigations by the media suggest that politicians, retired Army officers and senior bureaucrats colluded to corner flats in the building. The Army is investigating the role of some of its senior-most officers in the scam.
In a strongly-worded order recently, the Environment Ministry has said that Adarsh society building should be demolished.
Accusing the society of violating the spirit of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) laws, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that the society 'should be removed in entirety and the area restored'.
The Environment Ministry had earlier served a notice to the 31-storey housing society asking it why the illegal floors in the building should not be demolished.
However, reacting to the Environment Ministry's decision, counsel for Adarsh society Satish Maneshinde said, "The tenor of the order is completely malafide... unfair hearing... the minister was bent upon demolishing Adarsh since the beginning... we will challenge the demolition order."
The Adarsh scam claimed its first victim last year in the form of Ashok Chavan who was forced to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister after reports surfaced that his kin including late mother-in-law, owned flats in the society.
After Chavan, top babus too faced the axe, most notably among them being Ramanand Tiwari, Maharashtra's Chief Information Commissioner and Subhash K Lalla, Maharashtra Human Rights Commissioner and former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's secretary.
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