State appoints committee to probe Adarsh scam

The two-member committee is being seen as a face-saving exercise for the Congress and little else

The two-member committee is being seen as a face-saving exercise for the Congress and little else

Despite the failures of previous committees appointed to investigate high-profile scams, the state has appointed a two-member committee of former Bombay High Court Chief Justice JA Patil and former Chief Secretary of Maharashtra P Subramanian to probe the irregularities in the Adarsh housing society scam.


Adarsh Housing Society now gets a committee probe

This committee is expected to submit its report in three months. Within this time the committee is expected to check details such as whether the land was reserved for Kargil war martyrs, reservation of flats, widening of Prakash Pethe Road, reservation of the BEST (civic) plot, violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms and the role of bureaucrats.

But what do such committees really achieve? Former IPS officer and whistle-blower YP Singh feels they are nothing but a waste of time. "The CBI is already looking into the matter, so this committee is of no use. It's also shocking that one of the committee members, P Subramanian, has a bad reputation."

This pessimism stems from the lack of results shown by earlier committees like the Ram Pradhan committee appointed to probe the 26/11 terrorist attacks considering theu00a0 results wereu00a0 never made public.

The Adarsh housing society scam has hit the Congress severely, causing many casualties, including Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, in the ensuing media trial.

The appointment of the committee therefore, is being seen as a step by the government to redeem some of its reputation ahead of the BMC elections scheduled in 2012. This, after Congress president Sonia Gandhi, during the plenary meet in Delhi last month, emphasised that her party will fight corruption in all forms.

The fate of olderu00a0committees
The Justice Srikrishna commission report on 1992 riots is debated, as is the Sachar Committee Report on minority reservations.

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