CBI boss taken off Adarsh scam probe

The transfer of CBI joint director, Rishi Raj Singh, who was heading the investigation into the Adarsh Society scam and transferred to the Economic offences wing, has stirred a hornet's nest, with the the opposition BJP in Maharashtra demanding from the prime minister and the home minister that the official not be transferred.

According to the opposition, the transfer of the officer at the time when investigations were continuing was inappropriate and should be revoked.

Rishi Raj's transfer orders came yesterday a day after the CBI filed the chargesheet in the Adarsh Housing scam.

Though the CBI maintained the transfer was routine, the timing of the move has left many questioning whether that was actually the case. The CBI maintains Singh's transfer had been sanctioned earlier, and the agency was only awaiting the completion of the probe in the Adarsh case.

Meanwhile, the investigating agency on Wednesday filed its 10,000-page chargesheet naming former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan among 13 people in the multi-crore Adarsh Housing Society scam. The move came around 18 months after the investigating agency registered a case.

Chavan was charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy for recommending the allotment of 40 per cent of flats to civilians in what was supposed to be a society for defence personnel (See: CBI charges Ex chief minister Chavan among nine in Adarsh scam).

Charging Chavan with cheating, the CBI said that three of the chief minister's relatives allegedly were allotted flats in the society meant for Kargil War widows and defence personnel. Later, Chavan also granted building concessions by changing the area's development plan.