Antony orders CBI probe into Adarsh Housing scam

The ministry of defence 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.

The order comes on the first day of Parliament session on Tuesday. Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan also submitted his resignation letter to governor K Sankaranarayanan in Mumbai today.

Among other things, the government has asked CBI to look into the circumstances under which the land in question was issued a `No Objection Certificate' (NOC) as also how the Army relinquished possession of the land in question 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 land scam was brought to light after Trinamul Congress MP Ambika Banjerjee wrote to defence minister A K Antony asking how former Army chief Deepak Kapoor got a flat in the Adarsh society.

The sequence of events that followed led to the whole scam blowing up in the face of Ashok Chavan.