[1]Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was on Thursday given an extension till June 17 to file affidavit before the judicial panel probing the Adarsh scam.
Deshmukh who had dealt with files pertaining to the highrise in south Mumbai during his tenure as the Maharashtra chief minister, was issued summons by the two-member commission on May 10 to file affidavit with regard to the Adarsh scam.
The panel had initially asked Deshmukh, who is now the minister for rural development, to file his reply by May 26 but granted him extension till on Thursday. He however, sought further time to file the affidavit citing ‘official workload’ as the reason.
Deshmukh had passed several proposals, including one made by the then revenue minister Ashok Chavan seeking 40 per cent allotment of flats in Adarsh Society to civilians which was originally meant for Kargil war widows and martyrs, and also a proposal granting the society additional Floor Space Index by changing status of adjacent BEST depot to residential type.
Another union minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, who had also dealt with the Adarsh files, had submitted his affidavit on May 26 before the commission while former chief minister Ashok Chavan is likely to file his reply on June 13.
One of the allegations against the high rise is that the plot where it stands belonged to the defence ministry and the state government could not have allotted it to the Society.
Links:
[1] http://103.241.136.51/vilajpg-667