Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Shivajirao Nilangekar-Patil on Monday deposed before the two-member Judicial Commission, probing the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
Nilangekar-Patil had dealt with proposals submitted by the scam-tainted society during his tenure as Revenue Minister from January 2003 to July 2004.
He told the Commission that the proposals of the society were expedited as it`s chief promoter Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Kanhaiyalal Gidwani had requested the government to do so.
"Since Gidwani, an MLC had requested for expediting the matter on priority, I forwarded the society`s letter seeking permissions to the revenue department with a note on the top marked `Immediately`," Nilangekar-Patil said.
Refuting allegations that he had recommended the name of his son-in-law Arun Davle for membership in the society, Nilangekar-Patil said, "I had not recommended any person to be a member of the Adarsh Society. I came to know after two-three months of my resignation as revenue minister that Arun Davle had applied for membership of Adarsh."
The former minister further said that he had approved the valuation of the land in question at Rs 10,19,19,652 after approval from the then chief minister.
"The valuation was approved first by the Finance Department and sent to Revenue Department. After getting approval from the chief minister, I approved the valuation of the land on July 2, 2004," he said.
The Commission is likely to record the statement of former minister of State for Urban Development Sunil Tatkare tomorrow and former chief minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday.
PTI
