Adarsh scam: State govt added 51 members during Sushil Kumar Shinde's tenure

During the tenure of Sushil Kumar Shinde as chief minister of Maharashtra, the state government approved the membership of 51 more individuals in Adarsh society, deputy secretary for revenue and forest JK Gharat informed the two-member commission set up to probe the alleged scam on Tuesday. 

Gharat told the commission that, along with the letter of allotment, a list of 20 new members was given by the government. “With a note dated August 23, 2004, approval of the government to further 51 members was sought and granted by the government. It was necessary to send this note to the revenue minister and the chief minister,” said Gharat. At that time, CM Shinde was also holding the additional charge of revenue.

Answering questions posed by commission counsel Dipan Merchant about the corrigendum issued to the government resolution (GR) regarding the possession and ownership of the land, Gharat said that the society had written a letter on July 19, 2004, which says, “therefore this word ‘possession is with the defence department’ should be deleted or word ‘illegal’ should be added to read “illegal possession with local military authorities”.