Mumbai:
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde appeared before the two-member Adarsh Inquiry Commission today. Mr Shinde is the first among the three former chief ministers who will appear before the commission. The commission was set up by the Maharashtra government for probing the scam. Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan will also appear before the commission.
Sushil Kumar Shinde was Maharashtra's chief minister from January 18, 2003 to October 30, 2004. It was during his tenure that the controversial building got the green nod and 41 civilians were added to the list. Today, while appearing before the commission he shrugged off his responsibility and blamed bureaucrats for not doing their job.
Mr Shinde told the Adarsh Inquiry commission that, "Matters like Environmental clearance are not brought to the Chief Minister's notice and these issues are dealt by the concerned department. The Letter of Intent to Adarsh Society was issued before my taking charge as Chief Minister and not under my instructions. After the Chief Minister signs on the file, the administrative work is done by the officers at the Secretary and Deputy Secretary level. Officers from different departments process the file and study each and every aspect of it. Chief Ministers don't go through the entire file."
After Sushil Kumar Shinde, former Chief Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan will appear before the commission by the end of this month.
Ashok Chavan is the only former chief minister to have been made an accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has registered an FIR against 14 people and is also investigating the scam. The Enforcement Directorate is conducting a preliminary enquiry against Ashok Chavan and 13 others for alleged money laundering in the case. Ashok Chavan was Chief Minister of Maharashtra from December 8, 2008 to November 9, 2010.
The CBI which will file a chargesheet in the case soon has alleged in the FIR that in 2000, as Revenue Minister, Ashok Chavan cleared the inclusion of civilians into a building meant for Defence personnel. In exchange, three of his relatives allegedly got flats. Later Mr Chavan also granted building concessions by changing the area's development plan. He will appear before the commission on June 30.
Vilasrao Deshmukh who is currently the Union Science and Technology minister will appear before the commission on June 26. Documents show when Vilasrao Deshmukh was chief minister a letter of intent was issued for the project. Land was earmarked for it by reducing a public road and building rights from an adjoining bus depot was transferred to Adarsh Society during his tenure. He was Chief Minister of Maharashtra from October 18, 1999 to January 16, 2003 and November 1, 2004 to December 4, 2008.
All three politicians have submitted their affidavits before the Judicial Commission. While Mr Chavan and Mr Deshmukh have blamed each other for clearances, Mr Shinde has blamed bureaucrats for the mess. Now, it remains to be seen whether passing the buck gets them off the radar?
The Adarsh Society housing scam was exposed in 2010 when it emerged that an illegal 104-apartment society had come up on a prime plot in South Mumbai, where key defence personnel, bureaucrats, and politicians owned flats. It later emerged that some of them had colluded to grab a defence plot and got an illegal environmental clearance. It also got other concessions by claiming Kargil war heroes and widows were part of the society.