As soon as the Maharashtra legislative assembly session opened in the morning, opposition leader and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Eknath Khadse delivered a speech in which he attacked the government on a number of issues including the 1000 crore package announced by the government for the farmers affected by unseasonal rains.

Khadse, taking the government to task, continued with his demand for a Joint Legislative Committee (JLC) probe into the Adarsh housing scam and reiterated that only a transparent probe by the JLC would be acceptable to the opposition.

“The Adarsh scam is extremely serious and many are involved in the scam. Therefore a probe should be done by the JLC and action be taken against the guilty bureaucrats,” Khadse said.

Khadse further said: “Former Chief Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan had to resign due to the Mumbai terror attacks and the Adarsh housing scam. However no action was taken against any of the bureaucrats who were involved in the Adarsh scam. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati requested the federal government to take action against the bureaucrats in her state who were involved in some land scams. Such a courageous stand like that shown by Mayawati should also be taken by state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan,” he added.

Former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan too was present in the Assembly during the discussion on the Adarsh scam. He was seen jotting down notes of the legislators who spoke on the issue. Clarifying his stand in the issue, Ashok Chavan said that the land on which the housing society stands today belongs to the government and it had never been a defense land. He also claimed that no irregularities had taken place in the controversial Adarsh housing, saying: “All the business in the society had been totally transparent and there had been no mistakes in allotment of the land.”

Stating that the Adarsh society land belongs to the state government, Ashok Chavan laid the related documents in that aspect.

“I’m prepared to face any inquiry into the alleged society scam. It is necessary to hold inquiry into this issue because truth will emerge out. I’m confident that that I will be proved innocent after the inquiry,” he said.

Intervening in the discussion, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan announced the setting up of a judicial probe into the society scam by a retired Supreme or a High Court judge. He also said that a retired senior bureaucrat of the rank of chief secretary would also be appointed to assist the judge. This would be in line with the Commission of Inquiry Act. Those bureaucrats found guilty by the two member commission would not be spared and stern action would be taken against them.