No fresh case registered in Adarsh housing scam: ED

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has "not undertaken" any fresh probe into Maharashtra's Adarsh society scam.

The central financial probe agency issued a statement after media reports suggested that it has filed a fresh case in the Adarsh scoeity case and also its officers visited the residences of few of the accused.

"This is to clarify that no fresh investigation has been taken up by the Enforcement Directorate in the Adarsh Society scam. The recent reports are speculative and without any merit," the ED said.

Meanwhile, a senior ED source related to the probe told IANS, "The probe into the money laundering case registered by the agency in 2012 is on track." On March 5, 2012, the ED had booked former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and 13 others under the charges of money laundering for their alleged involvement in the Adarsh housing scam on the basis of the CBI FIR.

The scam pertains to alleged irregularities in the allocation of flats in the 31-storey Adarsh apartments in the Colaba area of upscale South Mumbai for 1999 Kargil war heroes and war widows.

In 2011, the Maharashtra government had set up a two-member judicial commission headed by Justice J.A. Patil to inquire into the Adarsh scam. After probing the issue for over two years, it submitted its report in 2013, which found that there had been 25 illegal allotments, including 22 purchases made by proxy.

According to the ED officials, many houses in the Adarsh society belong to top bureaucrats and politicians.

The ED has already filed a chargesheet in the court, which is being heard in the Supreme Court.IANS