Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation, probing the Adarsh Housing scam, is expected to file its chargesheet in connection with the case on Friday.
The pressure is growing on the central probe agency since the delay in filing the chargesheet has led to the court grating bail to several acused in the case.
The special CBI court had earlier grated bail nine accused, including two IAS officers, arrested for their role in the Adarsh Housing scam.
On June 7, former municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak and former state information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari, who have been in custody since April 3, were granted bail as they had moved their bail applications citing that the agency had failed to file the chargesheet in the stipulated period of 60 days. Besides the two IAS officers, others who have been given bail are MLC Kanhaiyyalal Gidwani, IAS officer Pradeep Vyas, former deputy secretary of the urban development department P V Deshmukh, retired Brigadier MM Wanchoo, retired Defence Estates Officer R C Thakur, retired Major General AR Kumar and Major Gen (retired) TK Kaul.
The ground on which all nine accused have been given bail has been the same - CBI`s failure to file the chargesheet in the stipulated time. The delay in the investigations, for which the Bombay High Court has been constantly pulling up both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not gone down too well with the activists on whose PIL the case was unearthed. All the nine accused who have been granted bail so far were charged with criminal conspiracy under IPC and various sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act.
The CBI, ED and the Income Tax departments are expected to submit their next report to the Bombay HC on June 18.
In its previous hearing in April, this year, the CBI had assured the court that the chargesheet would be filed by June.