The CBI on Wed submitted progress report to the Bombay High Court on the probe in the Adarsh Housing Society case, involving 14 accused, including former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan.
Additional Solicitor General Darius Khambata handed the report, in a sealed cover, to the division bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and R V More. The bench asked CBI to file a further report after four weeks.
The matter has now been posted for hearing on 20th July.CBI had earlier informed the court that it had registered case against 14 persons following which the court had asked the petitioner, Simpreet Singh, to forward his complaint and whatever documents he had to the agency.Singh, a social activist, had originally sought transfer of case from state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to the CBI.
Later, on its own, the state government decided to hand the case over to the central agency.
On the last occasion, Singh’s lawyer had said that High Court must supervise the probe, alleging that even Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was involved in the scam, but his name does not figure in CBI’s FIR.
However, the court felt it was investigating agency’s prerogative as to whom to name in the FIR.
CBI filed the FIR on 29th January under various sections of IPC, including criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery, besides sections under Prevention of Corruption Act.
Meanwhile, hearing another PIL which demands that provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act be invoked in the Adarsh case, the division bench on Wednesday asked CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file replies by 29th June.
Petitioner Pravin Wategaonkar contends that Adarsh is a fit case for probe under PML Act, and it is ED’s responsibility to conduct probe under the Act.
The PIL says it is necessary that the court monitors probe under PML Act, especially pertaining to those Adarsh Society members, whose “loans” were claimed to have come from sources other than the banks and the financial institutions.
Even those, who are claiming immunity now saying that they have quit the membership Society, should be investigated with regard to the source of funds used to acquire the membership in the first place, it says.