Bombay High Court rejects CBI plea to drop Ashok Chavan’s name in Adarsh Housing Society scam

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected CBI's plea to drop the name of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in Adarsh scam case.

The court, however stayed implementation of its order to allow the CBI to appeal against the decision within four weeks.

Earlier, the CBI had filed a plea in the Bombay High Court challenging a trial court's order to drop Chavan's name from the list of accused in Adarsh case.

The high court in its interim order, two months ago had stayed Chavan's prosecution until the CBI's appeal is decided.

The special CBI court, in January had turned down the CBI's plea to drop Ashok Chavan's name from the FIR when former Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan refused approval to prosecute him for want of evidence.

After the Adarsh Housing scam surfaced in 2010, Chavan had stepped down as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

The CBI had initially accused him of approving additional floor space index for Adarsh housing society in Mumbai’s posh Colaba area in return for flats for his relatives.

He was also charged with illegally approving, allotment of 40 per cent of flats to civilians although the Adarsh Housing Society was meant only for Kargil war widows and defence personnel.