Adarsh scam: Court rejects bail plea of 9 accused

Mumbai, April 21 (IANS) A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court Saturday rejected the bail applications of all nine accused in the Adarsh housing scam arrested in March and April, officials said.

"The special CBI court has rejected the bail applications of all nine accused in the case and they will continue to be in judicial custody," a CBI official said.

On Tuesday, the CBI court had extended the judicial custody of all nine till April 30.

The CBI had, on April 3, arrested former municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak and retired information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari in connection with the scam.

Phatak was the municipal commissioner of Mumbai in 2010 when the building's height was allowed to be increased beyond 100 metres but without approval from the High-Rise Committee of the municipal body. Phatak's son has been allotted a flat in the society.

Tiwari's son has also been allotted a flat in the building.

Also on Tuesday, the report of the two-member commission was tabled before the Maharashtra Assembly, where it observed that the defence had failed to provide credible proof over ownership/title of the land.

The interim report by the two-member judicial commission comprising former judge, Justice J.A. Patil and former state chief secretary P. Subrahmanyam, held that the land belongs to GoM (state government).

Many top army officials and politicians, including former chief Minister Ashok Chavan, are alleged to have facilitated clearances for the building and got flats in it as quid pro quo.

Nine of the 14 accused have already been arrested for their alleged involvement in the scam.

In March, the CBI had made seven arrests in the case namely Maj Gen (retd) A.R. Kumar, Maj Gen (retd) T.K. Kaul, IAS officer Pradeep Vyas, former Congress MLA Kanahiyalal Gidwani, retired defence estates officer R.C. Thakur, Brig (retd) M.M. Wanchoo and former deputy secretary, urban development P.V. Deshmukh.

The scam involves a prime plot in South Mumbai's Colaba on which a 31-storey building was constructed by the society.

CBI cracked down on the bureaucrats and army men after the Bombay High Court's division bench of Justices P.B. Majmudar and R.D. Dhanuka questioned the agency for delaying the arrests in the case.