Chavan hopes to come out clean from Adarsh society scam

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI - After stepping down as Maharashtra Chief Minister following the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam, Ashok Chavan on Tuesday said the scam requires a proper investigation and that he is confident of coming out clean with regard to the different inquiries into his role in the controversy.

Chavan said the scam deserves a thorough investigation and claimed he will come out clean in all the inquiries.

“In politics there are lots of ups and downs so I do not believe in any setbacks. In public life one has to go through several situations. I have faced number of political situations where one has to come clean in public life on a number of things,” said Chavan.

“I accept that all the decisions taken earlier by my predecessors, I have said, ‘let all this be investigated. Let there be a proper inquiry’. I am hundred percent sure I will come out clean of this situation. But I feel this needs a thorough investigation,” he added, while addressing the media persons here today.

Ashok Chavan had earlier today submitted his resignation to Maharashtra Governor Kateekal Sankaranarayanan.

“I offer to resign and (the Government) do the investigation and whatever is the truth, it will come out eventually. I had welcomed the inquiry and as you all know, two-member panel was set up. Mr A. K. Antony and Mr Pranab Mukherjee, our most senior leaders of the Congress party, they are in the committee. Today I was informed that based on pending inquiry, my resignation has been approved,” said Chavan.

“I have said this already, what the government has done is correct according to the legal procedure and all that is being said about the land area, that belongs to the Central Government. This is established in the records we have. I would not be able to say anything beyond this,” he added.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister A K Antony has recommended a CBI probe to fix responsibility of the armed forces and defence estates officers in the scam.

He also asked the CBI to look into the circumstances under which a No Objection Certificate was issued to the Adarsh Housing Society to construct the 31-storey building on a piece of land, which was in the “de facto” possession of the Army.

The probe agency will also investigate into the commitments made for allotment of flats in the 104-apartment society for Kargil widows and martyrs’ families.

The scam came to light after Western Naval Commander Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin shot off a letter to the Army headquarters and the Defence Ministry stating that the building posed a security threat to military installations. (ANI)