Bombay HC rules out prosecution of Maharashtra Ex CM Ashok Chavan in Adarsh scam

22 Dec 2017 16:45:00

Mumbai, December 22: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan finally got a major relief from the Bombay High Court on Friday as it set aside the sanction granted to the CBI by Maharashtra Governor to prosecute him in the Adarsh housing society scam. 

Now, former CM Ashok Chavan will not be prosecuted in the high-profile Adarsh Housing Society scam case as the Bombay High Court has given the verdict. The verdict came after a petition was filed by Chavan in Bombay High Court challenging the sanction granted by the Governor Vidyasagar Rao in February 2016 to prosecute him under various sections of the IPC related to criminal conspiracy and cheating, besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

During the hearing, the court said that the investigation agency (CBI) had claimed to be in possession of fresh evidence against Ashok Chavan at the time of seeking the sanction but it failed to present any fresh evidence.

Soon after the verdict, Ashok Chavan held a press conference and said that truth has ultimately prevailed. He said, “The truth has ultimately prevailed, we always had full faith in the country’s judiciary.” On the occasion, he also alleged that the issue was politically used by the BJP around 2014 to malign the image of the Congress.

Ashok Chavan, who is currently a president of the Maharashtra unit of the Congress, had served as the Chief Minister between December 2008 and November 2010 before he was asked to step down on charges of corruption in the Adarsh scam.

The Adarsh Housing Society is a posh, 31-storey building constructed on the prime real estate in Colaba, Mumbai, for the welfare of war widows and personnel of India’s Ministry of Defence. Over a period of several years, politicians, bureaucrats and military officers allegedly conspired to bend several rules concerning land ownership, zoning, floor space index and membership getting themselves flats allotted in this cooperative society at below-market rates.

The CBI has accused Chavan of approving additional floor space index (FSI) for the Adarsh society in posh south Mumbai and accepting two flats for his relatives in return when he was the Chief Minister. He is also accused of illegally approving, as revenue minister, allotment of 40 percent of flats to civilians even though the society was originally meant for defence personnel.

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