‘Knew son was Adarsh member when I cleared height revision’

Former civic chief Jairaj Phatak has admitted that he was aware of his son Kanishka being a member of the controversial Adarsh housing society when he cleared a proposal to increase the height of the structure.

Former civic chief Jairaj Phatak has admitted that he was aware of his son Kanishka being a member of the controversial Adarsh housing society when he cleared a proposal to increase the height of the structure. In his deposition before the Adarsh inquiry commission on Monday, Pathak said he knew that an extra floor had already been built illegally when he allowed the society to hike the height of the structure to 103.4 metres,

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Phatak referred to an October 14, 2009, meeting with the office bearers of the society. “During the meeting, the officer bearers explained that the structural design had already been scrutinised for a height of 103.4 m and sending it to the high rise committee would delay the project by three to four months,” Phatak said. He said the proposal would have been scrutinised again by the structural engineer in the high rise committee.

Phatak was asked if he was aware the society had constructed an illegal floor when he gave it permission to build further. “Yes, I was. But whether to demolish this floor or to regularise it was the prerogative of the planning authority,” he added.