Adarsh scam: Two more arrested, judicial custody for seven accused

Mumbai, April 3 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday arrested two senior Maharashtra bureaucrats for their alleged involvement in the Adarsh housing scam, while a special court sent seven bureaucrats and army officers, arrested last month, to judicial custody till April 17.

"(Former municipal commissioner) Jairaj Phatak and (retired information commissioner) Ramanand Tiwari were arrested here after interrogation," a CBI official said.

The scam involves a prime plot in South Mumbai's Colaba on which a 31-storey building was constructed by the society.

Phatak was the municipal commissioner of Mumbai in 2010 when the building's height was allowed to be increased beyond 100 metres but without approval from the high-rise committee of the municipal body. Phatak's son has been allotted a flat in the society.

Tiwari's son has also been allotted a flat in the building.

Last month, the CBI had arrested seven people in the case - Maj. Gen. (retd) A.R. Kumar, Maj. Gen. (retd) T.K. Kaul, IAS officer Pradeep Vyas, former Congress legislator Kanahiyalal Gidwani, retired defence estates officer R.C. Thakur, Brig.(retd) M.M. Wanchoo and former deputy secretary (Urban Development) P.V. Deshmukh.

All seven had been remanded to CBI custody, which ended Tuesday. They were remanded to judicial custody till April 17.

The CBI's action last month had come after a Bombay High Court division bench of Justices P.B. Majmudar and R.D. Dhanuka questioned the agency for delaying the arrests in the case.

The court had on March 12 rapped the CBI for not initiating action against government officials involved in the scam.

The division bench had on Feb 28 also castigated the Enforcement Directorate for "serious lapse" in failing to initiate investigations against some Adarsh society members allegedly involved in money-laundering.