The Union Power Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, is being questioned by the CBI in Delhi in connection with the Adarsh Housing Society scam, officials said today.

Mr Shinde was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra when the files related to the high-rise Adarsh building in upscale south Mumbai were processed.

“A team of CBI officials from Mumbai went to Delhi last night and is questioning Mr Shinde today about the files and the sanctions pertaining to the society,” a senior official from the agency said in Mumbai.

Mr Shinde, as the Chief Minister, had accepted the proposal sent by Mr Ashok Chavan, the then Revenue Minister, recommending that 40 per cent of flats in the proposed society be allotted to non-army members. The society was originally meant for the kin of Kargil war martyrs.

According to sources, the CBI was likely to question Union Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, soon, who too had dealt with Adarsh files when he was the Chief Minister here.

In January this year, the CBI registered a case against 14 persons including Mr Ashok Chavan (who succeeded Mr Deshmukh as Chief Minister but had to resign when the Adarsh scandal broke), some retired army officials and government officials on the charges of criminal conspiracy, fraud and misuse of official powers.

In May, the CBI had told the Bombay High Court that there was no prima facie evidence linking Mr Deshmukh and Mr Shinde to the scam. A PIL had sought probe against the two ministers.

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