Adarsh plot allotted when Shinde was CM: Collector

City collector Chandrashekhar Oak’s deposition before the two-member Adarsh inquiry commission on Tuesday could spell trouble for Union Power minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

City collector Chandrashekhar Oak’s deposition before the two-member Adarsh inquiry commission on Tuesday could spell trouble for Union Power minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

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Oak told the commission that the state had allotted the plot to Adarsh society through its order dated July 9, 2004, in the tenure of the then chief minister Shinde.

It also came to light that the Shinde government, despite knowing that the controversial plot was in possession of the Army in 2004, had deleted this from their records at the express request of the society. Shinde was the chief minister of Maharashtra from January 18, 2003 to November 1, 2004.

Oak, who was questioned by the commission counsel Dipan Merchant, indicated that the Adarsh allotment order had the approval of the then chief minister Shinde, as all land allotments of more than Rs 25 lakh and in big cities like Mumbai required the chief minister’s approval. “The cost of land mentioned in the GR was more than Rs 25 lakh. Therefore, this matter too should have gone to the chief minister. Sushilkumar Shinde was the chief minister when the GR (allotting land to Adarsh) was issued,” Oak told the commission.

He also admitted that the state government had, on August 16, 2004, issued a corrigendum to its earlier allotment order of the Adarsh plot dated July 9, 2004 deleting the words ‘possession is with the defence department’ after the society requested it.

The Adarsh society had, through its letter dated July 19 2004, to the state government “sought amendment to the GR to the effect of either deleting the words possession with defence department or to add the word illegal possession”.