Mumbai: The CBI on Tuesday informed the Bombay
High Court that it has registered case against 13 accused in
the Adarsh Housing Society scam following which the court
directed social activist Simpreet Singh to forward his
complaint and papers to the central investigation agency.
Singh had demanded that the entire scam probe be handed
over to CBI.
A division bench of Justices B H Marlapalle and U D Salvi
also rejected an application filed by one of the accused in
the case and former Deputy Secretary of Urban Development
Department, P V Deshmukh seeking to clear his stand before the
court and get a copy of the FIR.
"Deshmukh has been implicated in the case without
allowing him to clear his stand. His letters of recommendation
has been misconstrued. He received a letter from the members
of Adarsh Society and as a Deputy Secretary of the Urban
Development department he only forwarded it to the Union
Environment Ministry," Deshmukh`s lawyer Niteen Pradhan
argued.
The High Court however refused to hear the application
and observed, "CBI is responsible and must have named someone
as an accused only after reasonable suspicion. It is an
established fact that an accused does not have right to clear
his stand before hand."
The Court also directed Deshmukh to seek a copy of the
FIR before the special CBI court.
On a plea made by the petitioner to transfer the missing
papers case also to CBI, the bench directed the Joint
Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch to file a reply by
February 17.
Simpreet, in his petition, had sought investigations in
Adarsh scam to be handed over to CBI as state Anti-Corruption
Bureau (ACB) might be under pressure, and seeking the court to
supervise the probe.
"The court will have to supervise the case as CBI will
not conduct a fair investigation. Cabinet Minister Sushil
Kumar Shinde is also involved in the scam but his name is not
there in the CBI FIR," Simprert`s lawyer Y P Singh argued.
However, the court said it is investigating agency`s
prerogative whom to name in the FIR.
Shinde, who was then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, had
accepted a proposal sent by Ashok Chavan, then revenue
minister between 2001-2003, recommending 40 per cent allotment
of flats in the society to civilians.
Additional Solicitor General Darius Khambata, appearing
for CBI, today told the court that the agency would be sending
a letter to the state government requesting logistical
support.
The court directed the petitioner to forward his
complaint and all papers to the investigating officer of CBI.
Two months after initiating a preliminary enquiry into
the case, CBI had on January 29 registered FIR against 13
persons including former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok
Chavan, bureaucrats and retired Army officials.
The FIR has been filed under various sections of IPC
including criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery and
showing forged document as genuine besides sections pertaining
to Prevention of Corruption Act.
PTI
