Tiwari whose son got a flat in the building allegedly gave clearances to the society during his tenure as additional chief secretary, urban development, government of Maharashtra.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested former municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak and ex-information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari for their alleged involvement in the Adarsh cooperative housing society scam. Sources said their arrests could spell trouble for former chief ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan as the bureaucrats reported to them in various capacities.
As municipal commissioner, Phatak granted permission to increase the height of Adarsh building beyond permissible permits without taking approval from the high rise committee of the civic body, CBI officials said. His son Kanishk allegedly got a flat in the society in lieu of it.
Tiwari whose son got a flat in the building allegedly gave clearances to the society during his tenure as additional chief secretary, urban development, government of Maharashtra. CBI officials said the duo was called for questioning on Tuesday morning and later arrested. They will be produced in court on Wednesday.
IAS officer Pradeep Vyas was earlier arrested in connection with the case. Sources within the CBI said they had sought permission from the state government to arrest Phatak and Vyas long ago. However, the state government asked for concrete proof.
“Since we did not want to part with the evidence against them at this moment, we alternatively sought sanctions from the central government, which subsequently agreed to our request to arrest them,” a CBI official said.
The Adarsh society scam came to light in 2010 after it was reported that flats in the building meant for war heroes were fraudulently usurped by defence officials, bureaucrats and politicians. Former chief minister Ashok Chavan had to step down after he was named in the FIR.
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