State had no role in Adarsh officer's transfer: CM

Shirdi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday said that transfer of CBI Joint Director Rishi Raj Singh, who headed the Adarsh scam probe, was the prerogative of Central government and the state government has nothing to do with it.

"Transferring a CBI official is not under my domain. You can ask this question (about Singh's transfer) to the concerned ministry in Central government," Chavan said while replying to a query on "abrupt" transfer of Singh that followed close on the heels of the chargesheet filed by CBI in the multi-crore scam.

Singh, a 1985 batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre, was shifted from the Anti-Corruption Branch of the agency to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on July 5, a day after CBI filed its first chargesheet in the Adarsh scam against 13 accused including former chief minister Ashok Chavan.

Rishi Raj Singh was shifted from the Anti-Corruption Branch of the agency to the Economic Offences Wing on July 5.

CBI has maintained that it was a routine transfer.

Keshav Kumar, a 1986 batch IPS officer from Gujarat cadre, is taking over from Singh.

Chavan was speaking to reporters after attending the International Cooperative Conference organised jointly by the state cooperative department and the Federation of Cooperative Credit Societies, to mark the birth centenary year of first chief minster Yashwantrao Chavan.

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