Adarsh scam fallout: Maharashtra govt asks babus to go

Mumbai: Heads continue to roll following the Adarsh society scam. After Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, the state government has asked information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari and Human Rights Commissioner Subhash Lalla to resign over their alleged involvement in the scam.

Documents with NDTV show as Urban Development Secretary between 2004 and 2008, Tiwari played a crucial role in the making of Adarsh.

• In 2004, at a meeting with the then Urban Development Minister Sunil Tatkare, it was Tiwari who suggested an additional plot, reserved for a bus depot, be allotted to the society

• He advised the society promoters to apply for the land under the MRTP Act, which would ensure them more building space. So instead of the original plan of 71, they could build 104 flats

• Also, it was the Urban Development Department, under him, that gave a direct green clearance to Adarsh, without the mandatory approval of the Union Environment Ministry

In return, Tiwari got a flat in Adarsh which is in his son Omkar's name. This is the reason why activists allege, when he became Information Commissioner, he blocked crucial RTI information.

"In 2008 I had sought property details of Information Commissioners in Maharashtra. My two appeals were rejected. Ramanand Tiwary who was the Information Commissioner then, his son has got a flat in Adarsh Society," said Vihar Durve, an RTI activist.

Subhash Lala was secretary to CM Vilasrao Deshmukh during 2005-2006, when Deshmukh used his discretionary power to allot more building space to Adarsh.

From April 2005 to March 2006, Deshmukh cleared additional building rights for Adarsh.

For his role, Lala got two flats in Adarsh - one in his mother's name, and the other in his daughter's name.

Ten other babus have been issued notices by the Maharashtra Government. All of them own flats in the tainted Adarsh Society, either in their own name, or in the names of their relatives.

Most of these bureaucrats had given major clearances to Adarsh, raising serious questions about conflict of interest.

• Jairaj Phatak, Former Municipal Commissioner
• PV Deshmukh, Deputy Secretary, Urban Development
• DK Shankaran, Former Chief Secretary
• S Sangithrao, Former Secretary to CMO
• Uttam Khobragade, Former General Manager, BEST
• Pradeep Vyas, Former Mumbai Collector
• IA Kundan, Former Mumbai Collector
• Shivajirao Nilangekar, Former Agriculture Secretary
• RK Das, Former Forest Officer
• Sanjay Barve, IPS Officer

Sacking Ramanand Tiwari and Subhash Lala was possibly the easiest. They are retired bureaucrats holding constitutional posts. However, Maharashtra's government's earnestness about the Adarsh crackdown will be evident, only when it takes action against the serving officers.