Decision on Adarsh case to be taken this week

A decision on finalising of a case in the controversial Adarsh Housing scam is expected to be taken this week with the preliminary probe of the Central Bureau of Investigation indicating some alleged bungling by a few Army officials in connivance with some in Maharashtra government.

While the CBI is officially maintaining silence over the issue, sources in the agency headquarters in New Delhi said a meeting is to be held this week to finalise the names of people who could be booked for professional misconduct and abuse of official positions under IPC including sections those dealing with forgery.

The sources said the initial FIR could include names of some bureaucrats and politicians and later on names of some army officials may also be added as accused.

The CBI investigations is independent of the army court of inquiry ordered by the army on Saturday and the sources said that army officials, if any, would be made accountable before the court of law.

The army's Pune-based Southern Command headquarters had ordered a probe on Saturday to find out how these officers had issued a no-objection certificate to the private housing society to construct a 31-storeyed complex on a plot in upmarket Colaba in Mumbai.

CBI had begun probe in the case after receiving a letter from the Ministry of Defence. The 31-storey Adarsh Society, originally meant for Kargil war heroes, landed in controversy after media reports said several politicians, bureaucrats and defence personnel owned flats there.

CBI had on November 15 registered a Preliminary Enquiry in Adarsh scam to probe the alleged role of former and serving army officers. A CBI spokesman had said in a statement that a PE had been registered against unknown people on a complaint by the Defence Ministry.

Last month, Defence Minister A K Antony had announced a CBI probe into the scam involving the society in which some senior military officers including former army chiefs Gen Deepak Kapoor and Gen N C Vij and ex-naval chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh had got flats in their names.

The three ex-chiefs have since said they were surrendering their flats.

The Defence Ministry had among other things requested the CBI to look into issues concerning No Objection Certificate, relinquishment of the land in possession of army and the extent to which commitments for welfare welfare of defence personnel were complied with.

CBI, which had made an in-house investigations into the case following complaints in October, had apprised the officials at its headquarters about the findings from the documents received from several departments, the sources said.

It had sought documents relating to the society from various departments of the government, Indian navy and army and the society, the sources added.

Adarsh Housing Society members' lawyer Satish Maneshinde had said "we have given certain documents to CBI and have sought further time to submit the remaining. We have also written to MMRDA officials asking them to take back the notice revoking the occupancy certificate of the society."

The plush housing society, built on prime defence land, has been constructed in alleged violation of rules. The building was originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and their kin but was later extended to 31 floors without mandatory permission.

The controversy also saw exit of Ashok Chavan as chief minister of Maharashtra.