Possibly the first time a decision of a Governor has been reviewed by another Governor.
Mumbai : Days after the BJP-led government in the state recommended action against former chief minister Ashok Chavan, Governor Rao on Thursday gave his sanction to the CBI to prosecute the former chief minister under section 197 of the CrPC and under sections 120-B (conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam.
The senior Congress leader, however, accused the BJP of being vindictive; however, chief minister Devednra Fadnavis denied the charge saying that “a new set of facts were unravelled which clearly prove the quid pro quo”. “He (Chavan) gave permissions and his close relatives got flats and that is why we asked for permission to prosecute him,” Fadnavis explained.
“The Governor sent the request for advice to the council of ministers, which was then sent for opinion to the Advocate General. The Advocate General clearly opined that such permission should be and could be granted. Then the council of ministers decided to ask the governor to act in accordance with the opinion of the Advocate General. Thereafter, the Governor gave the consent to the CBI to prosecute. Now where does a question of political vendetta arise?” he said. Advocate General Shrihari Aney said that Justice J A Patil’s report on Adarsh played an important role in arriving at a decision.
However, reiterating his charge, Chavan said, “The (Justice Patil) committee’s report is absolutely clear that there was no reservation for land for any Army personnel and the land belonged to the state government. This is just vindictive attitude of the BJP.” Chavan further alleged that the BJP is putting “political pressure” on the CBI to take action against him at the behest of some members of the party.
“Is BJP MP Kirit Somaiya a part of the government, so much so that it endorses his application and the entire process starts? You can see the political interference of the BJP functionaries in the whole process. Why was this issue raked up for the second time? Because of BJP functionaries and their political vendetta,” he reasoned. Chavan also sought to know how could the opinion of a new Governor change with a change of regime in the state.
MRCC chief Sanjay Nirupam pointed out that the government was misusing the CBI. “Adarsh is not a scam. The land didn’t belong to defence ministry,” he asserted. “The Governor is an institution. His stance can’t change just because there is a change of government. Instead of acting against wrongdoings of its ministers, the government is digging out old skeletons,” Nirupam charged.
NCP spokesman Nawab Malik, too, said this was the first time that a decision of a Governor was being reviewed by another Governor. In March last year, the Bombay High Court had disallowed an application by the CBI seeking deletion of Chavan’s name from the Adarsh proceedings. The CBI had sought the deletion on the ground that the Maharashtra Governor had refused sanction to prosecute the former chief minister.
Justice M L Tahaliyani had, however, refused to accept this contention and said in his order, “The charges levelled against Chavan for the alleged individual acts cannot go away just because the Governor has refused to grant sanction for prosecuting him for conspiracy and cheating.”
Pursuant to this order and the observations made by a two-member judicial committee, the CBI filed a fresh application seeking sanction to prosecute Chavan.
