Played no role in allotment of Adarsh flats to relatives: ex-CM

Deposing for the second time before the two-member Adarsh Commission, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan on Thursday claimed he had no role in getting his relatives membership in the housing society and sought to put the blame on his predecessor, the late Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Deposing for the second time before the two-member Adarsh Commission, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan on Thursday claimed he had no role in getting his relatives membership in the housing society and sought to put the blame on his predecessor, the late Vilasrao Deshmukh.

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“It was in end of October 2010 that I came to know that some of my relatives had applied for membership of the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society and the same was granted to them, but they subsequently resigned from their membership on October 29, 2010,” Chavan told the commission set up by the state government to probe the Adarsh scam.

Incidentally, Chavan had to resign as CM in November that year as it was alleged that he as revenue minister was responsible for the inclusion of civilians in the Adarsh society and influenced the inclusion of his relatives. Without naming Deshmukh, he said: “The approval of members’ names for the cooperative housing society to whom government land is allotted is finally approved by the chief minister.”

Chavan's mother-in-law Bhagvati Sharma, his father-in- law's brother Madanlal Sharma and his sister-in-law Seema Sharma had flats in the building. Chavan said that he was not aware if Seema’s application for membership was rejected in 2004 but approved in 2008 when he was the chief minister.