Accusing the Centre of waking up late in the multicrore fake stamp paper case, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Friday asserted that none of his ministers were involved.
But the chief minister said he would not spare any of his ministers if found guilty.
Complete coverage of the fake stamp papers scam
Shinde said the Special Investigating Team (SIT) was going into the matter and the Mumbai high court had reposed confidence in the investigation. "There will be no effort to shield anybody," he reiterated.
Stating the scandal was going on for almost nine to ten years from the time when the Shiv Sena-BJP government was in power, Shinde said the Centre 'woke up' to the scam only two months ago. "The government should have taken cognisance in 2001 and ordered a CBI probe," he said.
Refuting Centre's charge that the Maharashtra government was not willing to hand over the case to the CBI, Shinde said he could not take the stand outside the court that the matter be referred to the CBI. Shinde said he would have no objection if the court directed a CBI probe.
The Mumbai high court had on Thursday declined to hand over the case to the CBI for the time being and directed the SIT to cooperate with the central agency if it needed any information regarding the scam.
Shinde expressed surprise that even two months ago the then Additional Solicitor General had said that CBI was not prepared to take over the probe as it was over burdened but now the CBI was ready for the investigation.
"I do not know what has happened during these two months," he said. "The present investigations are on the right track. On what grounds can one doubt the integrity (of SIT)?"
To a question Shinde said the scam would not tarnish the image of his party in Maharashtra or in other states.