Adarsh scam: Chavan mum on officers' resignation

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has declined to comment on reports that former bureaucrats Ramanand Tiwari and Subhash Lala had refused to step down when asked by the state government, over their alleged involvement in the Adarsh housing scam.

"Shief secretary J P Dange was asked to meet them to elicit certain information. I will not comment on that," Chavan told mediapersons after the cabinet meeting.

To a question on his reported statement in a local daily that the two were asked to resign on moral grounds and the government will start the legal process of their removal if they fail to quit, Chavan said, "Maybe I was wrongly quoted. I have never said such a thing."

Tiwari, currently the State Information Commissioner, was the state urban development secretary while Lala, who is presently State Human Rights Commission member, was secretary in the chief minister's office when the Adarsh housing society file was being processed in Mantralaya.

The families of both the former bureaucrats own flats in the controversial society situated in the posh Colaba area.

When asked who will head the probe committee into the Adarsh scam, which he had announced in Nagpur, Chavan said the government will shortly take a decision in this regard.

To a question on the controversy over the removal of a statue of Dadoji Konddev, considered the guru of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from Lal Mahal in Pune, Chavan said the decision was taken by the Pune municipal corporation.

"I am seeking information into the issue," he said.