Adarsh promoter dies of heart attack

Chief promoter of controversial Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society, Kanhaiyyalal Gidwani died of heart attack at Breach Candy Hospital on Tuesday.

A senior advocate in the Adarsh commission said, “Although Gidwani was a prime accused in the case, his demise will not affect our work. The CBI and the Adarsh Commission have all relevant documents related to the case in their possession.”

Highly placed sources in the state government, too, indicated that Gidwani’s untimely death would not affect the outcome of the ongoing CBI probe or the pending legal processes before the Mumbai high court.

Gidwani’s ambitious project, which resulted in the resignation of Ashok Chavan from the chief ministerial post and exposed the deep nexus between bureaucrats and politicians, is still caught in a series of legal battle and investigations.

The former Congress MLC and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson was the prime accused and had played a significant role in getting the 31-storey Adarsh project in Colaba on the fast track using his connections in the Mantralaya and with top political bosses in Maharashtra.

CBI officers had summoned Gidwani and recorded statements and had arrested him in March.