Wait till CBI probe is over: HC to activists in Adarsh case

Bombay HC said if the CBI was still investigating benami transactions in the Adarsh housing society case then activists who have filed petitions should wait for the outcome of probe.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said if the CBI was still investigating benami transactions in the Adarsh housing society case then activists who have filed petitions should wait for the outcome of the probe.

Social activist Pravin Wategaonkar, who has filed a public interest litigation seeking CBI to probe against Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar, today mentioned his petition before the High Court and sought urgent hearing of the case. Wategaonkar told a division bench of Justices N H Patil and V L Achiliya that the Maharashtra government has partly accepted the findings submitted by a judicial inquiry commission which probed into the Adarsh case and hence CBI should also be directed to look into the findings. "The commission in its report has named several bureaucrats and ministers for alleged favouritism towards the society. CBI should look into these aspects," Wategaonkar said. CBI counsel Hiten Venegaonkar told the court that while investigation into the scam is complete and a chargesheet has been filed, probe into benami transactions is still on and those details cannot be disclosed. "When investigation is still on you (petitioner) have to wait for the outcome," Justice Patil said. Wategaonkar, however, alleged that the CBI was suppressing certain facts from the court regarding Patil-Nilangekar. Following this, the court agreed to hear one application filed by Wategaonkar seeking a direction to CBI to make Patil-Nilangekar an accused in the case on January 23. The application alleged that Patil during his tenure as state revenue minister granted certain approvals to the society illegally. In return, his son-in-law was allotted a flat in the plush high rise in south Mumbai.