Court sends notice to CBI in Adarsh scam

The Bombay high court sent notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following a petition filed by former chief minister Ashok Chavan seeking quashing of the FIR in connection with the Adarsh scam and further investigation carried out by the central agency.

The Bombay high court sent notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following a petition filed by former chief minister Ashok Chavan seeking quashing of the FIR in connection with the Adarsh scam and further investigation carried out by the central agency.

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The CBI counsel has sought time to file a reply and the division bench of justice PV Hardas and justice AR Joshi will hear the case after two weeks.

On January 29, 2011, the CBI had registered an FIR and booked 13 persons for their purported role in the scam under various provisions of the IPC as well as Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Enforcement Directorate registered a separate case against some of the accused for alleged money laundering.

On July 4, 2012, the CBI filed a charge sheet against 13 persons.

Those charge-sheeted include former chief minister Ashok Chavan, ex-MLC Kanhaiyalal Gidwani (now dead), serving bureaucrats Jairaj Phatak and Pradeep Vyas as also retired bureaucrats Ramanand Tiwari, PV Deshmukh and Subhash Lalla.

Chavan has challenged the FIR and further investigation by CBI primarily on grounds that it had no jurisdiction to do so and its actions infringed on the authority of state agencies like the Anti-Corruption Bureau which, according to Chavan, had initiated a preliminary inquiry in the scam before CBI registered an FIR.