Former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde issued directions in 2003 to submit a proposal on ownership of land, where the controversial Adarsh Housing Society stands, despite knowing a park was constructed by the army there, a judicial panel was informed on Wednesday.
“A letter was sent by the then collector on August 26, 2003 regarding the allotment of land of Khukri Park to Adarsh Society. From the letter, it appears that the direction was given to him by then CM Sushilkumar Shinde and revenue minister Shivajirao Nilengekar,” city collector Chandrashekhar Oak told a two-member inquiry commission, probing the scam.
The state government, including the chief minister was aware that the Army had constructed the Khukri Eco Park on the disputed land in 1996 as it was in possession of the land then, he said. “The state government did not write any letter to the ministry of defence about the existence of Khukri Park on the land in question. The defence ministry was also not called upon to produce documents in respect of the title to establish the ownership of the land,” he said.
According to Mr Oak, the state government never made any claims over the land even after the inauguration of the park. The collector had on Tuesday also said that the state government had made changes to a government resolution, deleting a line that showed the Adarsh land was “in possession of the defence department”.
The original government resolution dated July 9, 2004, allotting land to Adarsh mentions that the plot was in the Army’s possession. Ten days later, the society’s chief promoter Kanhaiyalal Gidwani wrote a letter, asking the government to either delete the words “possession is with the defence department” or to add the word “illegal” so that it would read “illegal possession”. By a corrigendum, the government on August 16, 2004 opted to delete the words “possession is with the defence department”. —PTI