Even as the Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday filed its charge sheet in the Adarsh scam, the Bombay high court allowed ministry of defence to submit within two weeks its response to Maharashtra government's claim that the central agency had no jurisdiction to probe it.
Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse on Thursday said that Adarsh Commission's report had not given a clean chit to former Maharashtra Chief Ministers in the scam.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, named an accused in the Adarsh housing society scam, on Monday continued pointing fingers at his predecessor and Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for decisions taken while allotting land to the controversial housing society.
Chavan, who had to step down as Chief Minister soon after the alleged scam surfaced in November 2010, is one of the 14 accused in the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing several irregularities and violation of rules in construction of the 31-storeyed building in upscale Colaba.
A week after claiming that high ranking officials from the Ministry of Defence were targeting the Adarsh society as they were not granted membership, the society has now trained its gun on former army chief V K Singh, accusing him of being behind the "plot" to "settle scores with his predecessors".
The Bombay high court on Thursday said it would hear the application filed by a social activist seeking to make Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde an accused in the Adarsh housing society scam after the Central Bureau of Investigation completes its probe into the alleged benami transactions.
Uday Saharan's India won hearts and held out promise of a bright future for the Fab 15.
Maharashtra government on Monday contested in the Bombay high court the CBI's jurisdiction to probe the Adarsh Housing scam, nearly a year-and-a-half after it registered an FIR in the case involving former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, bureaucrats and retired army officers.
In a U-turn, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan on Thursday told the two-member inquiry commission probing the Adarsh housing society scam that he is ready to appear before it on June 30. Chavan, an accused in the Adarsh case, had on May 22 sought exemption from appearance before the judicial panel.
'These betrayers don't realise that their exit opens up vast new opportunities to those whose growth they have always stunted'
Union Minister Milind Deora on Tuesday disagreed with Maharashtra government's rejection of the judicial commission of inquiry report on Adarsh Housing scam which indicted several politicians including three former chief ministers for "blatant violations".
This is not the first time IFS officer Devyani Khobragade has found herself under the scanner, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
A dominant Australian side produced a superb all-round performance to secure their fourth ICC Under-19 World Cup crown.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to file chargesheet against diplomat Devyani Khobragade and her father Uttam Khobragade in the Adarsh Housing scam for allegedly acquiring a flat on the basis of false affidavit.
Alleging that all government authorities were ganging up on Adarsh Housing Society, the society's counsel on Friday told the Bombay High Court that the Ministry of Environment and Forests had cleared various construction projects in the city without insisting for a clearance from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.
Maharashtra Industries Minister and Congress leader Narayan Rane on Wednesday claimed that had not taken any decision regarding the controversial Adarsh Housing Society during his tenure as the chief minister. Making a suo-motu statement in the Legislative Assembly in Mumbai, Rane said an application regarding the proposed society had come to him on September 21, 1999. He said he forwarded the application to the revenue department with the remark "submit a report immediately"
Former city collector Pradeep Vyas on Saturday told the judicial panel probing the Adarsh Housing Society scam that the corrigendum issued by Maharashtra government on the ownership and possession of the land on which the society stands, was "factually incorrect". He also conceded that the land was in defence ministry's possession then, contrary to the corrigendum.
Maps and some survey sheets pertaining to the Adarsh Housing Society that went missing from the state land records department have been traced, a judicial panel probing the scam was on Tuesday informed.
Dubbing Rahul Gandhi's utterances on the Adarsh issue as "contrived", Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday said his anger is not natural but "manufactured dissent" and queried why it had been "missing" when the 2G, Coal and Commonwealth scams had surfaced.
The special Central Bureau of Investigation court hearing the Adarsh scam on Tuesday received applications from former deputy secretary P V Deshmukh, an accused in the case, and family of another accused former civic body chief Jairaj Phatak seeking to defreeze their bank accounts.
'It is necessary to have a person at the top who can make strict decisions without hesitation. Modiji has done that.'
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya on Saturday released documents obtained under the Right To Information Act which contradict the claims of politicians that the land on which Adarsh cooperative housing society was built was never intended for defence personnel. Congress Member of Legislative Council Kanhaiyalal Gidwani and former chief minister Ashok Chavan had previously refuted the allegations of any irregularity in the development of the plot.
She has also demanded Rai's removal from the MLA's post. When contacted, Rai told media persons to themselves inquire into Thakur's allegations.
'At the age of 25, there are still no work offers coming your way, so how do you move ahead in life?'
The Environment and Forest Ministry on Monday told the Bombay high court that it is considering giving the controversial Adarsh Society a fresh hearing against the demolition order and will file an affidavit within two weeks.
Some pages from files pertaining to the controversial Adarsh Housing Society have gone missing from the Mumbai-based headquarters of the Ministry of Defence.
Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan on Thursday suspended defiant state Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari, who had refused to abide by the government's order to quit for his alleged involvement in the Adarsh Housing scam. "The governor has suspended Tiwari with immediate effect, using powers under Section 17.2 of the RTI Act," a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said. The development comes two days after the governor had made a reference to the Supreme Court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday opposed a petition filed by controversial Adarsh Housing Society seeking defreezing of its bank accounts, saying that the money could be part of "ill-gotten and benami" wealth.
At least six officials of Maharashtra government have been questioned in connection with the theft of key documents pertaining to the scam-ridden Adarsh housing society, but no breakthrough has been achieved yet, a senior official said on Monday.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan allegedly showed undue favours to scam-hit Adarsh Housing Society and asked its managing committee members to make recommendations for allowing 40 per cent allocation for civilians, according to the FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, whose three relatives got flats in Adarsh, on Thursday claimed before the judicial commission probing the scam he came to know of their membership in the housing society only after the news of alleged irregularities was broken by the media.
After the Environment Ministry recommended demolition of the Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday said he would take a decision on the issue after getting the Central Bureau of Investigation report. "We will take a decision after the CBI inquiry is over," he told mediapersons in New Delhi.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday decided to recommend to the governor the suspension of state Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari for his alleged role in the Adarsh Housing Society scam. Tiwari should not attend office till the inquiry into the scam concludes, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told reporters after a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by him. "For Tiwari to continue in office is not in the interest of the state," said Chavan.
After probing the role of its officials including a serving major general in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam in Mumbai, the army has submitted its court of inquiry report in the case to the Defence Ministry.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has written to Prithviraj Chavan and the state chief secretary, claiming that the Adarsh inquiry Commission report does not do him justice and is against the principles of natural justice.
Stung by the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai, Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation to fix responsibility of the armed forces and defence estates officers in the episode. He also asked the CBI to look into the circumstances under which a No Objection Certificate was issued to the housing society to construct the 31-storey building on a piece of land, which was in the 'de facto' possession of the army.
Indian Army Chief General V K Singh on Thursday said allegations against top military officers including some former services chiefs in the Adarsh housing society scam in Mumbai has "shamed" his force and its image taken a "beating".
The ruling Congress in Maharashtra has cut a sorry figure after its leader, former chief minister Ashok Chavan, has been chargesheeted in the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday detained two people, including an IAS officer, for alleged irregularities in granting sanction to the multi-crore Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai. The two -- former Maharashtra Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Ramanand Tiwari and IAS officer Jairaj Pathak -- were called on Tuesday morning to the CBI office in Mumbai and questioned extensively by the agency in connection with the scam.
Security forces tightened their cordon around a forest area in the higher reaches of Doda district on Tuesday evening following an encounter with hiding terrorists, officials said.
