Adarsh Case: Deshmukh granted extension till June 17

Union minister for rural development and former Maharashtra chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, was on Thursday given an extension till June 17 to file affidavit by the judicial panel probing the Adarsh scam.

Deshmukh, who had dealt with files pertaining to the highrise in south Mumbai during his tenure as Maharashtra chief minister, was issued summons by the two-member commission on May 10 to file affidavit with regard to the Adarsh scam.

The panel had initially asked Deshmukh to file his reply by May 26 but granted him extension till today. He, however, sought further time to file the affidavit citing ''official workload'' as the reason.

Deshmukh had passed several proposals, including one made by the then revenue minister Ashok Chavan seeking 40% allotment of flats in the Adarsh Society to civilians which was originally meant for Kargil war widows and martyrs, and also a proposal granting the society additional Floor Space Index (FSI) by changing the status of the adjacent BEST depot to residential type.

Another union minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, who had also dealt with the Adarsh files, had submitted his affidavit on May 26 before the commission while former chief minister Ashok Chavan is likely to file his reply on June 13.

One of the allegations against the highrise is that the plot where it stands belonged to the Defence Ministry and the state government could not have allotted it to the Society.