more-in The State government has accepted the Opposition demand for a probe by the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into alleged irregularities by former Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) CEO Vishwas Patil. The demand for the probe was made by former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress and NCP MLA Shashikant Shinde during Question Hour in the Assembly on Tuesday. Mr. Shinde said, “It has been alleged that irregularities have been found in the sanctioning process for these SRA projects. Similarly, two flats were given to the officer in return of clearing an SRA scheme in Juhu. The government must place all the facts regarding this in the House.” Minister of State for Housing Ravindra Waikar said the government will order a CID probe against Mr. Patil. He said a four-member committee headed by then SRA secretary Sitaram Kunte went through 137 suspicious cases and detected irregularities in 33 of them. Mr. Patil, an IAS officer, has since retired. The Kunte Committee report went missing, Mr. Waikar said, as did a file on Mr. Patil’s wife being a partner in real estate firm Rockline Infrastructure, which had been contracted to carry out an SRA project in Juhu. The deal, it has been alleged, was struck in return for two flats in the SRA scheme for the Patils. He said an FIR was filed with Nirmal Nagar police station in November last year. Mr. Chavan questioned the logic behind the present SRA CEO probing a former CEO. “What will come out of it? The government must table all the information regarding these 33 SRA projects,” he said.

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