New Delhi, Nov. 9: The defence minister, Mr A.K. Antony, on Tuesday ordered a CBI probe into the Adarsh land scam in Mumbai after his ministry completed the process of examining reports submitted on the Adarsh issue by the Army, Navy and defence estates department.
“The ministry of defence (MoD) has asked the CBI to conduct a detailed probe into the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam and fix responsibility for any lapses. Among other things, the CBI has been asked to look into the circumstances under which No Objection Certificate (NOC) was issued and possession of the land in question was relinquished even though there was a deficiency of land for Army purposes in Mumbai. The CBI will also probe the extent to which the commitments for welfare of war widows/service personnel were complied with,” the MoD stated on Tuesday.
The land on which the Adarsh Housing Society building was built was under the de-facto possession of the Army earlier and was handed over to builders for the construction of the tower, even as the Army has maintained that no permission for this was ever sought from the Army headquarters in New Delhi.
The government is also likely to examine whether former Army chiefs like Gen. (retd.) N.C. Vij — one of the Adarsh flat allottees — had sought any report on the Adarsh land during their tenure.
The Army is also examining the role of some of its serving and retired senior officers posted in Mumbai earlier who were allotted flats in the 31-storey high-rise.
MoD sources said that a CBI probe was ordered since several persons allegedly involved in the scam are civilians.
Sources said the Army had also opined that it could be difficult for it to probe the role of some of its former senior personnel who had retired several years ago and that a CBI enquiry could therefore prove effective.