Adarsh case: CBI charges Ashok Chavan, former Army officers, top bureaucrats

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, July 4, 2012: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is among the 14 people chargesheeted by the CBI on Wednesday in the multi-crore Adarsh Housing scam, which also includes several retired Army officers and top Maharashtra bureaucrats.

Former Maharashtra Chief Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Kumar Shinde have not been named in the chargesheet.

The 10,000-page CBI chargesheet was filed before the Registrar of a session’s court; nearly 18 months after the agency registered a case.

The Adarsh scam had fuelled a political storm in Maharashtra leading to the resignation of Chavan as the Chief Minister.

Earlier in the day, the CBI informed the Bombay High Court, hearing a batch of public interest litigations seeking the court’s supervision of the probe, that it would be filing a chargesheet later in the day.

The CBI has registered a case on January 29 last year against Chavan and others which included bureaucrats and retired army personnel.

The agency had in March arrested nine out of the 14 accused after receiving a rap on its knuckles from the High Court for not initiating action against the accused persons.

The nine arrested accused are - RC Thakur, secretary of Adarsh, retired brigadier MM Wanchoo, former Congress MLC Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, both promoters of the society, former deputy secretary of urban development department PV Deshmukh, IAS officers Ramanand Tiwari and Jairaj Phatak, retired major generals AR Kumar and TK Kaul and former city collector Pradeep Vyas.

They were released on bail by a special CBI court after CBI failed to file chargesheet within the stipulated 60-day period after arrest.

They have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and the Prevention of Corruption Act.