By IANS,
Mumbai : Appearing before the two-member commission investigating the Adarsh Housing Society scam, former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh Tuesday said he did not check all documents that he cleared as senior bureaucrats had already done so.
Deposing as a witness before the commission, Deshmukh, who is now the union science and technology minister, said he depended on advice from senior officials and signed the files.
The two-member judicial commission of Justice (retd) J.A. Patil and former state chief secretary P. Subrahmanyam Monday questioned another former chief minister, Sushilkumar Shinde.
Now the union power minister, Shinde claimed that the decision to allot government land and grant additional FSI (floor space index) to Adarsh Housing Society was taken during Deshmukh’s tenure.
The two-member judicial commission investigating the Adarsh society scam is currently hearing what three former chief ministers, during whose tenures the scam took place, have to say on how clearances to the Adarsh society were given.
Asked as to who gave relevant permissions, Deshmukh reiterated that he cleared many files on the basis of positive recommendations from senior bureaucrats from revenue department and urban development department.
Deshmukh’s successor Ashok Chavan, who had to resign over the Adarsh scam, will be the next to be questioned by the commission.