At a time when his decision not to grant sanction to prosecute former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh Scam has not gone down well, Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan has pinned the blame on the CBI saying the agency failed to produce evidence which could disclose “even a grain of truth”.
On the allegation that inclusion of civilians in the Adarsh Society, meant for Kargil widows and Defence personnel, was proposed by Chavan, the Governor, in an order provided to former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi under RTI Act, said the agency proceeded on a “sheer assumption and conjecture”.
“The correspondence collected by CBI itself discloses that the main accused have been engaged in correspondence with various authorities for allotment of land much prior to June 2, 2000,” he said. CBI has alleged that Chavan as Revenue Minister “reportedly proposed” the inclusion of civilians up to a ratio of 40 per cent as members in the society, said the order.
“Prior to the meeting of June 2, 2000 also it is clear that civilians were part of the proceeding of negotiating/liasoning and were also entertained by the society...It cannot be, therefore, said that it was Chavan who for the first time proposed the inclusion of civilians in the society,” the Governor said.
Underlining the phrase used by CBI, Chavan “reportedly proposed” inclusion of civilians, to press its allegations, the Governor said, “In other words the CBI has not been able to collect/produce any evidence at all, leave aside the evidence that would prima-facie disclose even a grain of truth, in this regard. No prima facie case, therefore, exits for this allegation at all.”
On the issue of alleged quid pro quo in terms of allotment of flat to sister-in-law of Chavan, the Governor said, “Taking triggering point of the quid pro quo as the meeting of June 2, 2000, it is clear that application made by his sister-in-law on June 18, 2004 was rejected and an affidavit had to be filed in 2008.”
“Too much time has elapsed between the meeting of 2000 and the application of 2004 and the affidavit of 2008 and the grant of membership on November 10, 2008. I have not found any nexus in the documents produced before me to even prima facie appear that this grant of membership was gratification or a quid pro quo for whatever actions were taken by Chavan,” he said in the order. The Governor also said that CBI had sought his sanction only under Section 197 of CrPC and not under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
He clarified that denial of permission to prosecute did not pertain to charges which are sought to be levelled against Chavan under the Prevention of Corruption Act. CBI Director Ranjit Sinha refused to comment on the revelation by the Governor.