A 31-storey building, Adarsh housing society in Colaba was allocated to Kargil war heroes and families of martyrs in 1999, which was misused as Politicians, bureaucrats, and senior military officials got the houses allotted for themselves. In the building, several apartments worth 8 crores in 2010 were bought by politicians and registered in the name of proxy owners.
Congress chief minister Ashok Chavan, Jai Raj Pathak, several Collectors and secretary of urban development department were names prominently connected to the case. The scam was investigated by CBI and enforcement directorate and an FIR was registered against 14 people, including the then Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan who was later made to resign after corruption charges. In 2011 a team was formed by Maharashtra government to probe the case, and 2012 a charge sheet was filed.
Chavan's prosecution has always been a point of issue, as in 2013, Maharashtra governor denied permission to prosecute Chavan, however, he was later accused in the case. In 2016, Maharashtra governor Vidyasagar Rao granted CBI permission to prosecute Chavan. On Friday, the prosecution was dismissed. It must be bored that Chavan was accused of approving additional FSI, taking two flats for himself when he was CM, and also an allotment of 40% flats to civilians.
