Adarsh scam probe report, ATR tabled in Maharashtra Assembly

Nagpur: Maharashtra Government on Friday tabled in the Assembly the much-awaited report of an inquiry commission on the Adarsh housing scam in which names of top politicians and bureaucrats of the state had figured.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan tabled the finding of the two-member judicial commission along with an action taken report (ATR).

Reacting to the issue, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley tweeted: "The JPC buried the 2G scandal. The Maharashtra Cabinet buries the Adarsh fraud.  Can truth be ever buried?"

The report, for which the State Government had given a word to the Bombay High Court, was presented on the last day of the winter session of Maharashtra Legislature here. The panel, which gave its finding in two parts, submitted its final report to the State Government in April this year.

The commission, headed by retired High Court Judge Justice J.A. Patil, was formed in January 2011.

Its mandate was to look into several aspects including ownership of the land in south Mumbai where the 31-storey building of Adarsh housing society stands, whether it was reserved for families of Kargil war heroes, and whether rules were flouted while granting permissions for the construction.

The commission's interim report has said that land belonged to the state government and not the Defence Ministry, nor was it reserved for war widows.

Minutes after the report was tabled, the entire Opposition stormed into the well of the House, demanding a discussion on it. The demand was vociferously raised by Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse of BJP and others.

Speaker Dilip Walse Patil, however, rejected their plea citing House rules. Khadse said the Opposition wanted to know why there was no talk about Part 1 of the report.

He also sought explanation from the Government over newspaper reports that Governor K Sankarnarayanan has denied permission to CBI to prosecute former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who has been chargesheeted by the agency.

CBI is conducting a separate probe into the scam which came to light in 2010 when Ashok Chavan was Chief Minister. Khadse alleged the Congress-NCP Government was trying to shield certain accused. In this context, the senior BJP legislator took the names of a former Assembly Speaker and an ex-Chief Minister.

Chief Minister Chavan said he would not comment on the reports related to the Governor and maintained that the Part 1 of the report had already been presented in the House. Khadse said offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act should be registered against the accused persons.

Opposition MLAs shouted anti-Government slogans. To counter them, members of treasury benches led by Vijay Wadettiwar, Virendra Jagtap and Gopal Agarwal also trooped into the the well of the House. Amidst noisy scenes, the Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes.