Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has blamed his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh for the Adarsh Housing society scam in Mumbai. Deposing before the two member probe panel yesterday, Chavan said that it was beyond his jurisdiction to allot land to the Adarsh housing society in Mumbai. Chavan said that all land allotment matters pertaining to Mumbai city, Mumbai suburb and Pune city comes under the jurisdiction of the Chief Minister irrespective of the value of the land. He added that all matters pertaining to land allotment in rest of Maharashtra is under the jurisdiction of the Revenue Minister.

Chavan was state revenue minister from October 1999 to January 2003 when Deshmukh was Chief Minister. Chavan refuted the allegation that he had cleared a proposal for including 40 per cent civilians as members of the society.

Chavan also informed that the Letter of Intent (LOI) issued to Adarsh society was conditional and specified that clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest was required before any construction on the proposed land. Chavan's deposition remained inconclusive and the Commission will record his statement again tomorrow.