Corruption in the name of Kargil heroes
The controversy surrounding the Adarsh Housing Society scam just got murkier, as despite all the hype and hoopla, no official investigation has been initiated in the matter. Even the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau, despite having all overwhelming information, has not started its inquiries and no FIR has been registered against the alleged wrongdoers. Moreover, even the CBI inquiry into the involvement of Indian Army officers is only in its preliminary stages.
The CBI has started a preliminary investigation into the involvement of the armed forces personnel. However, till date no action has been taken against the politicians, members of parliament, legislators and bureaucrats from Mantralaya, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the former chairman of the BEST committee Uttam Khobragade, who gave away BEST land, which was supposedly meant for a depot.
Since the suspected officers of the Indian Army are in the rank of joint secretaries and above, they come under the provision of the Central Vigilance Act 2003, and hence any investigative agency needs prior permission from the ministry of defence (MoD) in order to register an FIR.
According to former IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y.P. Singh, at present the CBI is only conducting an informal verification of the involvement of the concerned Army personnel in order to gather preliminary information, which could constitute the basis for a report to the MoD for further action.
Mr Singh, who has been advising activist Medha Patkar about this scam since 2007, says that an FIR would be registered only after the CBI gets the MoD’s permission, and thereafter, a search and arrest operation can be conducted.
Meanwhile, in case of the non-defence personnel like the politicians and bureaucrats, it is the Maharashtra government that has to take action. The jurisdiction rests with the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau. However, little can be expected from the state ACB at this point, as it is constrained by the shackles of government rules, which make it incumbent for the authority to seek prior approval from the secretary of the administrative department at the Mantralaya to register an FIR. So we can hardly expect the under-a-cloud chief minister Ashok Chavan to give permission for an FIR against former chief ministers, politicians and most importantly himself. Mr Singh says, this is the law, and so things are moving “listlessly.” At the moment only hype is being created by the media and the Opposition. It is a nebulous state of affairs at this juncture.
Meanwhile, all those involved in the scam are trying desperately to prove that the land on which the controversial structure stands does not belong to the Army, and they had all the necessary permissions for the additional FSI and the inclusion of civilians. And all these permissions were granted in the name of war widows and Kargil heroes.
However, the fact remains that the Army has been in possession of the land for decades and if it had to give away land to the collector of Mumbai, then the transfer would have had to be done in accordance with the law. This means that the Army would have had to seek the MoD’s permission, which it did not do, and the land was given clandestinely for the housing society. Till date, there is no official document from the competent authority (MoD) to reverse the possession of the land to the collector.
It was a free for all, with all those who broke the law, giving permission to build what was originally supposed to be a six-storey building for war widows, a girl’s hostel for children of army officers and heroes of the Kargil war, and not a monstrous 31-floor structure.
All the politicians and bureaucrats who flouted the laws and gave permission were allotted flats for themselves, their sons, daughters and even alleged girlfriends. The end result is that out of the 103 society members now in Adarsh, only three are Kargil soldiers!
The CBI has started a preliminary investigation into the involvement of the armed forces personnel. However, till date no action has been taken against the politicians, members of parliament, legislators and bureaucrats from Mantralaya, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the former chairman of the BEST committee Uttam Khobragade, who gave away BEST land, which was supposedly meant for a depot.
Since the suspected officers of the Indian Army are in the rank of joint secretaries and above, they come under the provision of the Central Vigilance Act 2003, and hence any investigative agency needs prior permission from the ministry of defence (MoD) in order to register an FIR.
According to former IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y.P. Singh, at present the CBI is only conducting an informal verification of the involvement of the concerned Army personnel in order to gather preliminary information, which could constitute the basis for a report to the MoD for further action.
Mr Singh, who has been advising activist Medha Patkar about this scam since 2007, says that an FIR would be registered only after the CBI gets the MoD’s permission, and thereafter, a search and arrest operation can be conducted.
Meanwhile, in case of the non-defence personnel like the politicians and bureaucrats, it is the Maharashtra government that has to take action. The jurisdiction rests with the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau. However, little can be expected from the state ACB at this point, as it is constrained by the shackles of government rules, which make it incumbent for the authority to seek prior approval from the secretary of the administrative department at the Mantralaya to register an FIR. So we can hardly expect the under-a-cloud chief minister Ashok Chavan to give permission for an FIR against former chief ministers, politicians and most importantly himself. Mr Singh says, this is the law, and so things are moving “listlessly.” At the moment only hype is being created by the media and the Opposition. It is a nebulous state of affairs at this juncture.
Meanwhile, all those involved in the scam are trying desperately to prove that the land on which the controversial structure stands does not belong to the Army, and they had all the necessary permissions for the additional FSI and the inclusion of civilians. And all these permissions were granted in the name of war widows and Kargil heroes.
However, the fact remains that the Army has been in possession of the land for decades and if it had to give away land to the collector of Mumbai, then the transfer would have had to be done in accordance with the law. This means that the Army would have had to seek the MoD’s permission, which it did not do, and the land was given clandestinely for the housing society. Till date, there is no official document from the competent authority (MoD) to reverse the possession of the land to the collector.
It was a free for all, with all those who broke the law, giving permission to build what was originally supposed to be a six-storey building for war widows, a girl’s hostel for children of army officers and heroes of the Kargil war, and not a monstrous 31-floor structure.
All the politicians and bureaucrats who flouted the laws and gave permission were allotted flats for themselves, their sons, daughters and even alleged girlfriends. The end result is that out of the 103 society members now in Adarsh, only three are Kargil soldiers!
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