Adarsh scam: BJP demands Maharashtra Governor's sanction to prosecute Deshmukh, Shinde

Mumbai, Feb 11 (ANI): Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders met Maharashtra Governor K Sankarnarayanan here on Friday and demanded his sanction to prosecute former State Chief Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Kumar Shinde for their alleged involvement in the controversial Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai.

A group of senior BJP leaders led by National Secretary Kirit Somaiya and former Union Minister Ram Naik met Governor Sankarnarayanan at the Raj Bhavan here and submitted a letter in this regard.

The Governor assured the BJP delegation that he will examine the papers from the legal perspective before taking any action in the matter.

Earlier on February 3, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned three main accused in the controversial Adarsh Housing Society scam including Congress leader K L Gidwani and retired Brigadier M M Wanchoo.

The officials of the investigating agency grilled Adarsh Society's General Secretary R C Thakur, Gidwani and Wanchoo at the CBI office in Colaba here, and confronted them with documents seized during the raids conducted in connection with the scam.

The Adarsh scam claimed its first victim last year in the form of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who was forced to resign after reports surfaced that his kin owned flats in the society.

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

The Central Bureau of Investigation (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)