In an affidavit submitted to the two-member commission set up to probe the Adarsh Society scam, the suspended state information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari has stated that former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had approved all proposals related to the society.
Mr Tiwari said that all proposals related to the Adarsh Society “followed the same route” as the others and were sent to the minister of the concerned departments.
“Deshmukh, while being the chief minister, was also heading the urban development department (UDD). The society’s proposal seeking deletion of the land reserved for BEST and changing it to residential type was forwarded to Deshmukh. Only after his approval, notification dates March 3, 2006 was issued deleting the BEST reservation,” states the affidavit. Mr Deshmukh is now the Union rural development minister.
Mr Tiwari, who was the then principal secretary of UDD, further claimed that in September 2004, a reference from the state revenue and forest department, which was then headed by another former CM, Ashok Chavan, was received by the UDD that mentioned Adarsh’s request to use the floor space index (FSI) of the BEST land after its conversion to a residential type.
“The reference was also processed and sent to Mr Deshmukh. Only after his approval, the reservation was deleted and the society was allowed to use the extra FSI,” stated the affidavit.
On his part, Mr Deshmukh said that he would not comment on Mr Tiwari’s affidavit, as the matter is subjudice. “I will not respond to an individual’s affidavit because the matter is subjudice. The matter is before a commission so it will not be appropriate for me to comment on it,” he said in New Delhi. The senior Congress leader, however, said, “First I will have to see the file that are being referred to, what date and what file I have signed. I had been Maharashtra’s chief minister twice. I don’t remember everything. I will have to see the records.”