Adding civilians was key to scam

FIR states that inclusion of civilians in Adarsh was a well-concealed move to aid conversion of land meant for widening a road

Adding civilians was key to scam

FIR states that inclusion of civilians in Adarsh was a well-concealed move to aid conversion of land meant for widening a road

THE FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI) in the Adarsh Society case states that the inclusion of civilians as members was actually part of the design made in the original conspiracy but was cleverly concealed.

It states that Congress leader and then MLC KL Gidwani and then revenue minister Ashok Chavan were allegedly responsible for the inclusion of civilians in the society with the hidden agenda of converting the land meant for the widening of Prakash Pethe Marg.

It also names several government officials, and army officers for overlooking and facilitating violations in exchange for flats in the building.

According to the FIR, R C Thakur, then sub-divisional officer of the Defence Estate Office, Mumbai, was the prime mover in the deals and ensured that the society got the required clearances.
u00a0
It states that he had personal knowledge of the land and was aware that manipulations could be made to create confusion about the land's title and ownership.

The FIR has accused Thakur, Brigadier MM Wanchu and Congress leader Gidwani of being responsible for the original conspiracy. Retired major general AR Kumar, the then General officer Commanding (GoC) of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa (MG&G), Brig (Retd) Ramesh Chandra Sharma, then Deputy GoC (MG&G) and Brig (Retd) Pitambar Kishore Rampal have been accused of joining in and procuring the NOC for the land. They have also been accused of misrepresenting facts to Parliament.

Flats as bribes

Everything from the change of development plan to CRZ and high-rise violations was done with the complicity of various officials, the FIR states, in return for flats.

The FIR also states: Dr Pradeep Vyas, former collector of Mumbai, ratified a list of 71 members, which had several ineligible names, and obtained a flat in the name of his wife, Seema Vyas.

Idzes Angmo Kundan, collector of Mumbai, initially raised several objections about the members and later obtained exemptions from the Revenue Ministry and ratified the list. She also got a flat in the society in lieu of the same.

Chavan; PV Deshmukh, the then Dy Secretary, Urban Development (UD) department; Ramanand Tiwari, then principal secretary, UD Department and Subash Lala, then principal secretary to the CM were responsible for the change in the development plan. All of them obtained flats in the society in their name or in the name of their relatives.

Maj Gen (Retd) Virendra Singh Yadav, the then GOC (MG&G) became part of the conspiracy and did not raise any objection to the proposed reduction of width of the Prakash Pethe Marg during the proposed change in the development plan. He, too, got a flat in the society.

Deshmukh also issued a fraudulent certificate to the chief engineer, building plan, MCGM, stating that an NOC by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, required for construction in CRZ areas, had been granted.

Jairaj Phatak, then municipal commissioner, granted clearance for additional floors using his discretionary powers without referring the matter to the High Rise committee. He also got a flat in the society

Army officers

Lt Gen (Retd) Tejinder Singh, then GoC (MG&G), wrote several letters between October and November, 2005, threatening the society that he would file an FIR about the uprooting of a tree from Khukri Park. He later became a society member and got a flat.

Lt Gen (Retd) Gurubux Singh Sihota, GoC, Southern Command, Pune, replied to a Parliament question as, "The subject land has never been/is not under the occupation of the Army". He, too, got a flat in the society.

Maj Gen (Retd) Tej Krishan Kaul, then GoC (MG&G), replied in the same way to a Parliament question on December 13, 2003. He also became a society member.