Adarsh housing society

Mumbai, Dec. 28: The information commissioner of Maharashtra and a member of the state rights panel have been asked to resign over the Adarsh society scam but the two IAS officers haven’t complied yet.

Chief secretary J.P. Dange has asked information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari and rights commission member Subhash Lalla to quit on moral grounds, apparently after orders from chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

The two senior officers, however, hold constitutional posts at present and cannot be removed without following an elaborate set of formalities, which include prior approvals from the Supreme Court and the President.

The duo had cleared the Adarsh files, and their relatives had got flats in the Colaba highrise. Tiwari was then principal secretary, urban development. His son Omkar was allotted a flat in the 31-storey building.

Lalla was secretary to former chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. His mother Susheela Shaligram and daughter Sumeela Sethi were allotted apartments in Adarsh. Neither Tiwari nor Lalla was available for comment.

“They were asked to resign on moral grounds since both of them hold constitutional posts. But they declined to do so. Now the chief minister may request the governor to use his powers and do the needful,” a senior official said.

Tiwari and Lalla were served a showcause by the government early this month along with 19 other IAS and IPS officers. The officers were asked to specify if they had violated service rules, which require such civil servants to inform the government about property purchases and the source of funds used for such deals.

The marching orders for the duo come a week after Bombay High Court rapped the Chavan government for not lodging an FIR against the officials involved in the scam. The judges said bureaucrats had indulged in “manipulation” to clear the Adarsh Society files and flats were “gifted” in return for the favours.

During the recently concluded winter session of the Assembly, the Opposition had demanded the removal of the officers, prompting the chief minister to announce a judicial probe. A two-member commission, comprising a retired Supreme Court or high court judge and a retired chief secretary, is to carry out the investigation.

Both Tiwari and Lalla appear to enjoy constitutional immunity. Section 17 (1) of the RTI Act, relevant to Tiwari, says: “The state chief information commissioner shall be removed only by order of the governor on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after the Supreme Court has reported that they be removed.”

Removing Lalla, the rights panel member, requires a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court under the provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.