A month after the Bombay High Court rejected CBI’s plea to remove former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s name from the accused named in the first information report of Adarsh Housing Society case, he has moved the court seeking reversal of the order.
The petition was listed on Thursday before Justice Sadhna Jadhav. However, Jadhav refused to hear it, saying the original order was of a single judge, so the matter should go before a division bench now.
Chavan’s lawyer, advocate Amit Desai, then mentioned it before a bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah which said it would refer the matter to an appropriate bench.
CBI had initially moved the trial court seeking to drop Chavan’s name from the FIR. After it was rejected, the investigating agency filed a revision application in the High Court which was dismissed by Justice M L Tahilyani.
The CBI had sought Chavan’s exclusion from FIR after the then Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranaryanan refused to sanction his prosecution. Chavan is among the 13 people originally charge-sheeted by CBI.
The former Chief Minister had to resign when the scam came to light in 2010. He has been charged with approving additional floor space index for the Society in return for two flats for his relatives. He is also accused of illegally approving allotment of 40 per cent of the flats to civilians, though the society was meant for Kargil war widows and defence personnel.
In the November 19 order, Justice Tahilyani had said that the trial court correctly held that despite an application by CBI for closing the case against Chavan it was not possible to do so because the offences punishable under Prevention of Corruption Act were independent of the offences under IPC, for which the Governor had refused sanction.
