As Ashok Chavan quits Congress, a look at the three cases pending against him

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who quit the Congress on Monday has been named in three cases in recent years.

Two of these are linked to the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society case dating back to 2011 — one filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the second by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). With a Supreme Court stay on the proceedings since 2018, the trial in the CBI case has yet to begin. The ED, meanwhile neither made any arrests in its case nor filed a chargesheet.

The third is a case of alleged land grab filed against 15 people, including Chavan, in Yavatmal. Here too, there has been no progress for many years. The ACB filed an FIR in 2011 on various charges, including cheating, criminal conspiracy, and forgery under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The initial list of suspects in the case contained 13 names, including that of the former CM.

Adarsh cases

In the case filed by the ACB, the CBI began an inquiry after it received a complaint from the Ministry of Defence alleging that land in Colaba was illegally allotted for the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society through the abuse of public positions and fabrication of documents. The FIR alleged Chavan was the Revenue Minister of the state in 2000 and entered into a conspiracy with other accused and proposed to add civilians as members in the society “with an ulterior motive”.

The society was first proposed to be for those in the defence forces or their kin. Chavan had to step down as Chief Minister in 2010 following the allegations. He, however, contested the claims and denied any favours were made nor illegal steps were taken to grant clearances to