Adarsh Society scam: Deshmukh, Shinde, Rane are all in it too

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s kith and kin are not the only beneficiaries of the scam involving allotment of flats in the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society in Colaba. Three former CMs — Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Narayan Rane — all of whom have been, ironically enough, potential contenders for Chavan’s post and at some point served as the sanctioning authority for the project, also stand accused of owning flats under ‘benami’ names in Adarsh.

Deshmukh, who is currently the union minister for heavy industries, reportedly owns three apartments — each one a 3-BHK of 1,076 sq ft carpet area — on the 15th floor. The flats (1502, 1503 and 1504) are in the names of Uttam Ghakare, Kiran Bhadange and Amol Kharbari — real or fictitious individuals whose relationship with Deshmukh is not clear.

Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is said to own a 3-BHK flat in the name of Major NW Khankhoje, while former state revenue minister Shivajirao Patil Nilengakar allegedly owns two flats in the name of Dr Arun V Dawle and Sampat R Khidse (flat no 2602).  

The Adarsh gravy train has more members on board: Maharashtra revenue minister Narayan Rane too is accused of owning two 3-BHK flats on the 17th floor, in the name of Girish Pravinchandra Mehta and Rupali

Harishchandra Raorane. Also, Archana Tiwari, a doctor with Bombay Hospital, reportedly got a flat in Adarsh by virtue of being a good friend of Ratnakar Gaikwad, commissioner of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA).

The project had been approved by Chavan himself in 2002 when he was the revenue minister. Deshmukh, as the then CM, had given the initial permissions for the construction of Adarsh Society, while Shinde, when he was the CM in 2004, gave the final sanction for the project.

When contacted, Deshmukh denied the allegations. “None of my relatives or party workers or friends own a flat in the society,” he said. Rane told DNA, “I only facilitated the treatment of two defense officials as ‘special cases’, as they did not have domicile of 15 years in Maharashtra. Their cases were taken up before the cabinet for approval.” Nilangekar and Shinde were unavailable for comment.

Set up supposedly with the aim of “accommodating and rewarding the heroes of the Kargil operation and those who had laid down their lives for the protection of the motherland,” if one looks at the initial list of society members of the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society, it comprised 40 members and included mostly defence personnel. Now the list stands at 103, out of which only 37 members belong to the army and just three members have anything to do with the Kargil war.

Meanwhile, two of Chavan’s relatives who had been allotted flats in Adarsh, his sister-in-law Seema Sharma and brother-in-law Madanlal Sharma, resigned from the society on Friday. Chavan’s mother-in-law Bhagwati Sharma was also a member of the society, but she passed away earlier this year.

The Adarsh hall of shame
Some of the bureaucrats and politicians who are accused of fraudulently obtaining flats for themselves or their relatives:
Ashok Chavan, chief minister, Maharashtra Jairaj Phatak, ex-municipal commissioner (flat in the name of his son Kanishka J Phatak) Ramanand Tiwari, state information commissioner (in the name of son, Onkar Tiwari) Suresh Prabhu, Shiv Sena (own name) Pradeep Vyas, ex-collector, Mumbai ( in the name of his wife and fellow IAS officer Seema Vyas) Jitender Awhad, NCP (own name) Indris Kundan, ex-ollector, Mumbai (own name)
Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, Congress (along with 2 sons, Kailash and Amit) Uttam Khobragade, BEST GM (in the name of daughter, Devyani, an Indian Foreign Service official) Babasaheb Kupekar, Congress (own name) DK Sankaran, Ex-chief secretary (in the name of daughter, Devyani) Shriniwas Patil, NCP (own name)
CS Sangitrao, ex-collector, suburban (in the name of son, Ranjit
Krishnarao Patil, Congress SC Deshmukh, Collector, Pune (own name) Arun Pawar, ex-income tax commissioner (own name)
PV Deshmukh, secretary, urban development (own name).