Adarsh case: Court extends judicial custody of accused till May 16

A special CBI Court today extended the judicial custody of retired army officer MM Wanchoo and retired Defence Estate Officer RC Thakur till May 16 in the Adarsh Housing Society case.The court also posted their bail applications for hearing on May 7.Both have claimed that allegations against them are vague and there is no evidence to prove conspiracy and cheating. CBI has opposed their bail pleas saying that they were influential persons, and may tamper with the evidence if released.Earlier, the court had rejected bail pleas of six other accused, including former commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Jairaj Pathak, and ex-secretary of state Urban Development Department Ramanand Tiwari.The bail applications came to be filed after the judicial commission probing the scam submitted an interim report, which said that the land where Adarsh stands did not belong to the Defence Ministry, and it was not reserved for kin of Kargil War martyrs, as originally alleged.Thakur and Wanchoo have said that as the Commission report has already established that the land belonged to the state, allegations of forgery, and of officials abusing their positions to get flats, etc, can not be true.Top bureaucrats, retired army officers and politicians are accused of securing flats in the 31-storey high-rise in south Mumbai, through abuse of rules.