New Delhi/Mumbai, Jul 31 :” Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was questioned by the CBI in Delhi in connection with the Adarsh Housing Society scam, officials said today.
Shinde was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra when the files related to the controversial high-rise Adarsh building in upscale south Mumbai were processed.
“A team of CBI officials from Mumbai went to Delhi last night and is questioning Shinde today about the files and the sanctions pertaining to the society,” a senior official from the agency said in Mumbai.
Shinde, as the Chief Minister, had accepted the proposal sent by Ashok Chavan, the then revenue minister, recommending that 40 per cent of flats in the proposed society be alloted to non-army members. The society was originally meant for the kin of Kargil war martyrs.
According to sources, CBI was likely to question union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh soon, who too had dealt with Adarsh files when he was the Chief Minister here. In January this year, CBI registered a case against 14 persons including Ashok Chavan (who succeeded Deshmukh as Chief Minister but had to resign when Adarsh scandal broke), some retired army officials and government officials on the charges of criminal conspiracy, fraud and misuse of official powers.
In May, CBI had told the Bombay High Court that there was no prima facie evidence linking Deshmukh and Shinde to the scam. A PIL had sought probe against the two ministers.
So far, the agency has questioned several accused, including former Mumbai corporation commissioner Jairaj Phatak, Congress leader K L Gidwani, suspended state information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari, former deputy secretary of state urban development department P V Deshmukh and Adarsh Society's secretary, R C Thakur.
The building was constructed on what is alleged to be Defence Ministry's land, in violation of several rules.Originally it was meant to be a six-storey building, but it went on to become a 31-storey high-rise, allegedly without permission.PTI
