Former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had issued directions to submit in 2003 a proposal regarding ownership of the land where the controversial Adarsh Housing Society stands, despite knowing that there was a park constructed by the Army there, City Collector Chandrashekhar Oak told a judicial panel on Wednesday.
"A letter was sent by the then collector on August 26, 2003 regarding the allotment of land of Khukri Park to Adarsh Society. From the letter, it appears that the direction was given to him by the then CM Sushil Kumar Shinde and Revenue Minister Shivajirao Nilengekar," Oak told a two-member inquiry commission probing the scam.
The state government including the CM was aware that the Army had constructed the Khukri Eco Park on the disputed land in 1996 as it was in possession of the land then, the
collector said.
"The state government did not write any letter to the ministry of defence about the existence of Khukri park on the land in question. The defence ministry was also not called upon to produce documents in respect of the title to establish the ownership of the land," Oak said.
He added that the state government never made any claims over the land even after the inauguration of the park there by the Army in 1996.
The collector had on Tuesday also revealed that the state government had made changes to a government resolution, deleting a line that showed the Adarsh land was "in possession of the defence department".
The original government resolution dated July 9, 2004 -- allotting land to Adarsh -- mentions that the plot was in the army's possession.
Ten days later, the society's chief promoter Kanhaiyalal Gidwani wrote a letter asking the government to either delete the words "possession is with the defence department" or to add the word "illegal" so that it would read "illegal possession".
By a corrigendum, the government on August 16, 2004 opted to delete the words "possession is with the defence department".
Oak had said that Shinde was the chief minister when the GR was issued.
