NEW DELHI : (AMN) The defence minister A K Antony has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a detailed probe into the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam and fix responsibility for any lapses. Defence Ministry sources said that among other things, 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 CBI probe comes after Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, whose family members were allottees in the Adarsh Society, resigned over his alleged involvement in the scam.
The scam came to light after Western Naval Commander Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin shot off a letter to the Army headquarters and the Defence Ministry seeking action against the building for posing a security threat to military installations.
The 6490-sqmt land was within the security perimeter of the naval base in the upscale Colaba region of south Mumbai, Admiral Bhasin had noted in his letter.
However, it also came to light that former Army Chiefs General Deepak Kapoor and General N C Vij, apart from former Navy Chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh too had flats allotted in their name in the housing society that had promised to provision apartments for families of Kargil martyrs.