Navy submits report on ‘Adarsh’ housing scam; action likely soon

The Navy on Wednesday submitted its report to the defence ministry describing its position in the alleged Adarsh housing society scam in Mumbai, which has rocked the Maharashtra government.

It is believed that the report has given details about the actual status of the land on which the 31-storey Adarsh apartment building was constructed. An unconfirmed report says the defence ministry would recommend ''punitive action'' against the culprits by 8 November. The Navy has also detailed the security risk to its Western Command offices built in the area.

Earlier, in response to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the scam, the Navy had claimed that it had not issued any no-objection certificate (NOC) for the construction of the building. It had even asked the Army to withdraw its NOC to the building.

The Adarsh building was originally meant to be a six-storey structure for housing Kargil war veterans, widows, and orphans, but was converted into a 31-storey building.

The Navy, which had quite early warned about the threat that the building posed to its installations in the Colaba area of South Mumbai, is believed to have given details about the actual status of the land on which the apartment complex was constructed.  

The high-rise in the upmarket Colaba area has instead got 104 members, including senior armed forces' officers, politicians and bureaucrats. Now that the Navy has submitted the report, an informal expert group of ministry officials would meet over the weekend to take a final call on the punitive action to be taken in the case.