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Adarsh case: Bombay High Court relief for Ashok Chavan

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In a move that will bring relief to former chief minister Ashok Chavan, the Bombay high court on Friday stayed its earlier order rejecting an application by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking to delete Chavan's name as an accused in the Adarsh scam.

Chavan has filed a petition challenging the November order, saying that there are certain observations in it which have not been argued and that as a result he did not get an opportunity to address these.

CBI had first approached the special CBI court with the request to drop Chavan's name as an accused, saying that the governor had refused to grant sanction to prosecute Chavan.

As the special court rejected the plea, the CBI then approached the HC.

On November 19, HC justice ML Tahilyani dismissed CBI's application. He observed that the governor had refused to grant sanction to prosecute Chavan for conspiracy charge under the Indian Penal Code. However, the former minister can still be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act [PC Act], as the same charge is independent from the charges under the IPC, for which the Governor has refused sanction.

The accusations made in the chargesheet do not only allege conspiracy but also individual acts committed by Chavan while working as revenue minister and thereafter chief minister of Maharashtra. "Therefore, the charges levelled against respondent No.2 (Chavan) for the alleged individual acts cannot go away only because the governor has refused to grant sanction for prosecuting respondent No.2 for conspiracy and cheating," justice Tahilyani had observed.

Justice Tahilyani has further observed that it can be clearly seen from the material placed by the CBI that Chavan was holding public office and he had obtained pecuniary advantage for his mother-in-law and brother of his father-in-law.

Allegations against Chavan were twofold. One is that he had suggested induction of civilian members in the society with a view to get accommodation for his sister-in-law Seema Sharma. These allegations pertain to the time when Chavan was working as revenue minister.

The second allegation is that while he was chief minister, he gave Adarsh society concessions to get two flats: one for his mother-in-law and the other for the brother of his father-in-law.

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