Chavan gets HC relief in Adarsh scam After Bombay HC order for inquiry, Khadse’s return to politics in limbo
HOUSING CASE Court says material given by CBI could not be converted into ‘credible evidence’ against Maharashtra former CM
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday set aside the sanction granted by the Maharashtra governor to prosecute former chief minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh housing society case.
This is the second relief for the Congress in as many days. On Thursday, a special court acquitted all accused, including former telecom minister A Raja, in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Reacting to the ruling, Chavan, who is state Congress chief, said: “Truth has prevailed. I have full faith in the judiciary. The governor’s order was politically motivated.” It was alleged that leaders, bureaucrats and ex-servicemen conspired to get flats at cheap rates in the society, a prime property in Mumbai’s southern Colaba, originally constructed for the welfare of war widows. Chavan has been accused of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct for granting additional floor space index to the society in lieu of flats for relatives.
The bench comprising justice Ranjit More and justice Sadhana Jadhav quashed the February 2016 sanction given by governor C Vidyasagar Rao to prosecute the former CM. It held that the CBI failed to present fresh evidence before Rao, while seeking the sanction to prosecute Chavan and the material presented by it could not be converted into “cred- ible evidence” against him.
Rao, in February last year, had overturned the December 2013 decision of then governor K Shankarnarayanan, who had rejected CBI’S plea for sanction to prosecute Chavan, who was forced to resign as CM after being implicated in the housing scam.
“The sanctioning authority is an independent (authority), which cannot allow itself to be influenced by any opinion. The ASG (additional solicitor general)’s argument cannot be entertained as it would amount to abuse of power,” the judges ruled on a challenge filed by Chavan.
The Congress leader contended that the decision to review the December 2013 decision of the then governor was politically motivated and biased, and there was no additional material warranting review of the decision. It was also argued on his behalf that the February 2016 order was motivated by change in political circumstances and not by any change in material aspects.
ASG Anil Singh had claimed that the report of justice JA Patil Commission and certain observations made by HC while rejecting Chavan’s petition challenging the trial court’s decision to reject CBI’S plea seeking deletion of his name from the array of accused were “additional material” as envisaged under relevant provisions of the CRPC and therefore, the governor was justified in granting sanction to prosecute the former CM. April 19, 2013: Justice JA Patil Inquiry Commission report was submitted to the government August 19, 2013: The CBI forwarded the report to the offices of the SP, ACB and its Mumbai branch
December 17, 2013: The erstwhile governor K Shankarnarayan refused sanction to prosecute Ashok Chavan December 20, 2013: Justice JA Patil Inquiry Commission was tabled in legislative assembly January 15, 2014: The CBI submitted an application in the trial court, seeking to delete Chavan’s name from the list of accused due to then governor's refusal to grant sanction
January 18, 2014: The trial court rejected the CBI application
May 25, 2014: The CBI filed a criminal revision application before the single judge of the Bombay HC for quashing and setting aside the order of the trial court
March 27, 2014: The CBI filed supplementary chargesheet before the trial Court, stating that Chavan was not involved in benami transactions in respect to the flats of Adarsh society
June 19, 2014: The CBI filed a second supplementary chargesheet and informed the trial court the investigation had been completed
November 19, 2014: Bombay HC dismissed the criminal revision application filed by the CBI December 15, 2014: Chavan filed a criminal application recalling the November 19 order. The application was dismissed on March 4, 2015 by the HC
April 1, 2015: Chavan filed a special leave petition (SLP) challenging the order dated November 19, 2014 and March 4, 2015.
July 13, 2015: The Supreme Court issued notices to the state government and the CBI on the SLP. The SLP is pending before the
Supreme Court for final disposal
October 8, 2015:
The CBI sent fresh proposal (second application) seeking sanction to prosecute
Chavan November 4, 2016: Governor C Vidyasagar
Rao (in pic), appointed after the BJP won both the general and assembly elections in 2014, passed the impugned order sanctioning the CBI to prosecute Chavan NAGPUR: The political comeback of former revenue minister and senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse has become more difficult after Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday indicated that a probe panel report into allegations against Khadse was unlikely to be made public.
Fadnavis told the assembly that the report submitted by the Zoting Committee was no more relevant after the Bombay high court ordered an independent inquiry in the case. The committee, which was constituted to probe the alleged scam in a land deal involving Khadse’s kin, had submitted its report on June 30 this year and the former minister was anxiously waiting for his rehabilitation in the government.
Fadnavis said the committee’s report had lost its relevance as an independent probe had been ordered by the HC. He said the Anti-corruption Bureau had registered an FIR in the Bhosri (Pune) land grab case and the inquiry was in progress.
“After constitution of the committee, a petition was filed in Bombay HC, which asked the authorities to lodge a complaint in the case. We requested the court to wait for the committee report, but the request was turned down by the HC. It also directed the ACB to register a case. Since the ACB probe is on, the report has no relevance as such and it has been clarified by the court too,” he said.
This means that the report is unlikely to be made public by the government.
Khadse was removed from the cabinet in June 2016 after a controversy over a deal of land owned by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation at Bhosri in Pune. Khadse is facing charges of misusing his powers as revenue minister to enable his wife and son-in-law to purchase the land at cheaper rates.
Fadnavis also said the report of the committee probing the alleged irregularities in de-notification of the MIDC land by industries minister Subhash Desai would be submitted in 15 days.
KHADSE IS FACING CHARGES OF MISUSING HIS POWERS TO ENABLE HIS WIFE, SONINLAW TO PURCHASE LAND AT CHEAPER RATES