Nothing so far against Shinde,Deshmukh: CBI Adarsh report

The CBI,in its latest report on the Adarsh Society case,states that nearly 90 per cent of the probe has been completed.

The CBI,in its latest report on the Adarsh Society case,states that nearly 90 per cent of the probe has been completed. But the agency makes no mention of any role that former Maharashtra Chief Ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh,who are now Central ministers,may have had in the Adarsh case.

Sources in the CBI said that the third progress report,submitted in a sealed envelope to Bombay High Court on Wednesday,gave details of individual roles in the alleged violation of laws before and during construction of the 31-storey apartment building in Cuffe Parade,South Mumbai.

But on Shinde and Deshmukh,the report maintained what the CBI stated in its previous reports: key approvals were given by Shinde but there was nothing incriminating so far to accuse him of any wrongdoing.

Shinde,who was CM between 2003 and 2004,cleared applications for allotment of land and the first list of members of the Adarsh Housing Society. He approved the Letter of Intent between the state government and Adarsh Society. He also approved a suggestion by then Revenue Minister Ashok Chavan that 40 per cent of the flats should be allotted to civilians.

Like the earlier reports,this progress report too maintained that no culpability could be attributed,as of now.

The CBI,sources said,also found discrepancies in the manner in which the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking did away with the mandatory procedure of issuing notice in newspapers and calling for objections before clearing reduction in the width of the proposed 60.97-metre Captain Prakash Pethe Marg,adjoining Adarsh Society,to 18.40 metres.

As per law,BEST should have followed Section 50 of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act. But it instead went ahead with its actions under Section 37 of the Act. The step was taken just to dissuade objections. The BEST has otherwise been maintaining that it needed the land for widening. But in the letter,it simply said that the state government would take necessary decisions,hence registering no-objection on its part, a CBI officer said.

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This happened when Deshmukh was CM and held the Urban Development department portfolio. It was during his tenure that FSI from the adjoining BEST depot was transferred to Adarsh Society.

In the progress report,there is no mention of any culpability on Deshmukhs behalf.

In an affidavit filed before a two-member committee looking into alleged irregularities in construction of the society,Deshmukh claimed that deletion of reservation on the plot reserved for BEST and its conversion to residential purposes for allotment to Adarsh was in accordance with law. He said public interest and that of the BEST had been duly protected.