Adarsh scam: ex-Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh to depose today

Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh will be depose before the judicial commission probing the Adarsh housing society scam on Tuesday.

He will be the second chief minister to depose, a day after former chief minister and current Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde deposed. Shinde had absolved himself of all blame and passed the buck on Deshmukh.

Shinde claimed that all the decisions on the housing society were taken before his tenure when Deshmukh was in office. He also told the Panel that he had relied on the secretary and deputy secretary for the environmental clearance issue.

Both Shinde and Deshmukh had handled files pertaining to the controversial society during their stint as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

"The decision to allot the land in question to Adarsh society was taken prior to my taking over as Chief Minister. The Letter of Intent (LOI) was issued in favour of Adarsh on the morning of January 18, 2003 when Vilasrao Deshmukh was the Chief Minister. It was not issued under my instructions and it was never brought to my notice," Shinde said.

While the commission has already concluded that the land belonged to the state government and not the Ministry of Defence, it is now looking into whether any rules were flouted while granting various clearances to the society.

"The additional Floor Space Index to Adarsh from the adjoining BEST land was not granted during my tenure. It was granted after my tenure," Shinde, apparently putting the onus on Deshmukh had also succeeded him as Chief Minister.

Asked whether due verification about ownership, value of land and eligibility of members had been done before Letter of Allotment (LOA) was issued to the society on July 19, 2004, Shinde said, "I did not approve the Adarsh file immediately. Before issuing LOA, I sent it back to the Collector for verification of eligibility of the 51 members and asked the file to be put up before me after due verification."

He, however, claimed that while issuing the LOA, it was not brought to his notice by the concerned department as to who was in possession of the land in question. "It is physically impossible for the CM to look into each and every file. There are secretaries to assist the CM who go through all the files," he said.

He further said once due inquiry is done by the secretary, the file is sent to the CM along with an "off the record" note from the secretary about the facts for final signature.

(With additional information from PTI)

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