Govt defends sanction against ex-CM Chavan

The State government on Thursday filed an affidavit in the Bombay High Court explaining the change in circumstances for Maharashtra Governor to grant sanction to prosecute former state Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in the multi-crore Adarsh housing society scam after initially refusing the sanction.

Public Prosecutor Sandeep Shinde said the affidavit states that the step was neither politically motivated nor illegal. “The Governor has recorded his satisfaction that prima facie there is certainly a nexus established between all the acts of the petitioner (Chavan) while handling files pertaining to Adarsh and the benefits derived by his close relatives in the form of membership in the Adarsh society,” he said.

It also mentioned that when the request for sanction was first made, the Governor did not have the reference of the one-member JA Patil commission report, similarly a single bench judgment of the Bombay High court, which had made prima facie reference to alleged role of Chavan.

The affidavit was filed while hearing a petition filed by Congress MP Chavan challenging a decision of Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao granting sanction to CBI to prosecute him in the Adarsh housing society scam as malafide.

In February last year, Governor Rao had granted sanction to CBI to prosecute Chavan for offences under IPC sections 120 (b)(criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating and under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.