Maharashtra government officers 'paid' cash for flats, ACB seeks open inquiry

The state Anti-Corruption Bureau has sought permission from the Maharashtra government to conduct an open inquiry against several government officers, including senior officers, after their names appeared in documents recovered from the premises of a builder during a raid by the Income Tax department. A retired controversial senior officer is also under the scanner, a source said. In May, I-T department officials had conducted a search at the premises of Mohini Shelters and its promoter Haresh Chawla and recovered documents that mentioned names of several government officials, with details of payments received and the outstanding amount. "These were against payments due towards flats purchased from the builder," an official said. The builder was not available for comment. When TOI had reported the matter earlier, he had denied all the allegations. Recently, the I-T informed ACB they suspect these officials had paid in cash to the builder while booking flats in his project. Based on the I-T report, ACB asked the state government for permission to conduct an open inquiry. Under the recently amended section of the Prevention Of Corruption Act, it is mandatory for ACB to take prior permission of the concerned department before probing serving or retired government officers.