CBI names Ashok Chavan as accused in Adarsh scam

Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has been named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) in the Adarsh housing society case, which the CBI submitted to the Bombay high court on Tuesday.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has been named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) in the Adarsh housing society case, which the CBI submitted to the Bombay high court on Tuesday.

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Chavan is among the 14 retired and serving defence personnel, bureaucrats and politicians named in the FIR.

Sources said the FIR filed by the agency on Saturday alleged that Chavan abused his powers for personal gain — flats for his kin. It stated that in July 2009, he allegedly bypassed rules and exempted Adarsh from setting aside 15% of the area of the plot the building came up on as recreational ground.

Chavan, who stepped down as chief minister last year after the scam broke out, granted the exemption although the state government had earlier declined to grant the concession to the society, the FIR said. He proposed to include civilians in the society and only after his proposal was cleared did bureaucrats expedite the allotment of the land to the society, sources said.