A day after the Maharashtra government objected to the CBI probe in the Adarsh case, the investigation agency filed a chargesheet against former chief minister Ashok Chavan and 12 others before the special court in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Though two other CMs were involved in clearance of Adarsh file, the CBI made Chavan an accused in the FIR and charged him, as three flats were allotted to his wife’s relatives indicating quid pro quo arrangement. Despite his political connections, CBI has found it difficult to ignore Chavan owing to his involvement with the Adarsh file even before he became the CM. During his tenure as revenue minister in 2001-03 Chavan had approved the proposal to allow civilians to the extent of 40 per cent of the total members to buy flats in Adarsh. CBI has claimed in the chargesheet that this decision was illegal as it went against the very purpose for which the land was allotted.
As a revenue minister Chavan had also dealt with the matter concerning the ownership of the land. During his tenure as Chief Minister from 2008 to 2010 Chavan had approved additional Floor Space Index (FSI) to Adarsh housing society.
Reacting to the development, Chavan said: “Adarsh housing was purely an administrative matter that was blown out of proportion. There is a conspiracy to malign me.”