Adarsh Society scam: Ex-bureaucrat Tiwari to meet Maharashtra Governor

Mumbai, Jan 16 (ANI): Ramanand Tiwari, the tainted former bureaucrat in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, will meet Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan today.

The meet comes days after the Maharashtra government recommended his removal to the Governor following allegations of withholding information on the controversial scam. The Governor now has to recommend his removal to the Supreme Court.

Tiwari was in charge of the Urban Development Department when the Adarsh Housing Society got clearance, where his son also owns a flat.

Earlier on January 5, Governor Sankaranarayanan rejected Tiwari's leave application. He had submitted his leave application to the State Governor, amid a demand by the Opposition for his ouster.

Earlier, former IAS officer Subhash Lalla, who was secretary in the Chief Minister's Office when the Housing Society's file was being processed in the state secretariat, resigned as a member of Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission following allegations of his involvement in the scam.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has claimed to have found evidence of alleged forgery and manipulation of documents on part of some army officials and bureaucrats in the scam.

According to reports, some of the documents seized by the investigating agency were indicative of some forgery having allegedly been committed by a few defence officials in criminal conspiracy with bureaucrats of Maharashtra Government and private individuals.

The 31-storey Adarsh Society, originally meant for Kargil war heroes, landed in controversy after media reports said several politicians, bureaucrats and defence personnel owned flats there.

The CBI had on November 15 registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) to probe the alleged role of former and serving Army officers, with the permission of Defence Minister A K Antony. (ANI)