Maharashtra information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari, one of the tainted former bureaucrats in the Adarsh housing society scam, today met state governor K Sankaranarayanan and said he would not quit.
Tiwari was under pressure from the government to quit as information commissioner, but he refused and instead sent across a leave application to Sankaranarayanan, who rejected it. Last week, the state cabinet recommended Tiwari’s suspension from office and he had been barred from attending his duties till completion of an inquiry.
“I will challenge the appeal for my suspension. Today, I have met the governor and presented my side of the story. I am not going to step down. I have told the governor about my case,” Tiwari said.
Adding: “I do accept that during my tenure in the urban development department, a lot of files came to me for clearances and I cleared them. The decision to clear land reservation and land transfers is a decision taken by the state, not me. My department had nothing to do with the environmental clearance. Just because my son has got a flat does not mean I cleared the file. I am not under any pressure by the state to resign. I had applied for leave but my leave was not granted,” Tiwari said.
The governor can now recommend Tiwari’s removal to the Supreme Court.