Adarsh scam: HC refuses to hear plea to prosecute state cabinet

Mumbai: Observing that it was the prerogative of Maharashtra government to accept or reject the Adarsh housing scam inquiry commission findings, the Bombay High Court today refused to hear an application seeking prosecution of the state cabinet for allegedly shielding the accused in the scam. Former journalist Ketan Tirodkar had filed the application in December last seeking directions to CBI to consider the judicial commission’s report and also for CBI to prosecute the state cabinet for attempting to shield the accused by not accepting the panel’s findings. [caption id=“attachment_1396811” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Tirodkar, who had earlier filed a PIL seeking a CBI probe into the Adarsh Housing Society case and to invoke the anti-benami transactions law, questioned Maharashtra government’s decision to reject the Commission’s findings after it had spent more than Rs 7 crore on it. “The Commission’s findings are equivalent to a charge sheet pinpointing the illegal favours and misuse of official position on the part of ministers and bureaucrats,” the application said. It added CBI, which is already investigating the case, had the powers to take cognisance of the recommendations and findings of the Commission’s report and a “duty to prosecute the persons sabotaging investigations and shielding the accused”. A division bench of Justices PV Hardas and AS Gadkari, however, observed that it is the government’s prerogative to accept or reject the findings of a Commission set up by it. Following this, Tirodkar sought to withdraw the application. PTI