CBI SAYS GUV CAN’T BE PARTY TO LAWSUIT IN ADARSH SCAM

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday sought Congress leader Ashok Chavan’s stand to the CBI’s submission that the governor cannot be made respondent to his plea against the sanction to try him in the Adarsh housing society scam.

A division bench headed by Justice RV More gave this direction to Congress MP Chavan while hearing his plea against Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao’s decision to grant sanction to the CBI to prosecute him in the scam.

Additional solicitor general Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, told the court that the governor cannot be made a respondent personally in a petition.

“The petitioner (Chavan) will have to delete the Governor’s name as respondent. The state government will have to be impleaded as respondent,” Singh said.

The court then directed Chavan’s counsel Amit Desai to reply to this argument by the CBI and posted the matter for further hearing on July 3.

In February last year, Governor Rao had granted sanction to the CBI to prosecute Chavan for committing cheating and other corruption offences besides hatching criminal conspiracy.

Chavan’s petition termed the governor’s order as “arbitrary, illegal and unjust” and passed without “proper application of mind” with “malafide intentions.”

The CBI had accused Chavan of approving additional floor space index for Adarsh society in lieu of two flats for his relatives.