Nothing wrong in Adarsh Society allotments: Sushilkumar Shinde

NEW DELHI: Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today defended his role in the Adarsh society scam case, asserting that the recommendations for flats made by him were on the merit that the land belonged to Maharashtra government and there was no reservation in the high-rise for heroes of the Kargil conflict.

"There is nothing wrong in Adarsh society (allotments). You will have to go into the details of the report (of the judicial panel). The fact is that the land belonged to Maharashtra government and there was no reservation for Kargil heroes," Shinde told reporters here.

The report of the two-member commission headed by retired high court judge JA Patil indicted several politicians, including four former chief ministers of the state -- Ashok Chavan, the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, Shinde and Shivajirao Nilangekar Patil -- for "blatant violations" of the statutory provisions.

The state government has partially accepted the judicial panel report and, while announcing action against the indicted bureaucrats, gave a clean chit to politicians barring former CM Chavan, saying "no criminality was revealed against them".

The Home Minister added that during his tenure as the CM of the state, he had made allotments to four-five other societies and, during his nine years as the Maharashtra finance minister, had signed many such "clearances".

He, however, said that he would not be able to answer as to how the bureaucrats could be indicted in the case if one went by the yardstick that the land belonged to the state government and the building had no reservation for the heroes of the Kargil conflict.

"I cannot say, I am just talking facts," he said.