ADARSH CASE: RELIEF FOR CHAVAN
HC SETS ASIDE GOVERNOR’S NOD TO PROSECUTE HIM
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 “credible 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.