Adarsh: CAG audits Army role
The government auditor the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has started comprehensive audit into the role of armed forces, coast guard and Colaba administration in land allotment to the scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society.
The government auditor the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has started comprehensive audit into the role of armed forces, coast guard and Colaba administration in land allotment to the scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society.
The land allotment to 31-storey highrise in Colaba, Mumbai, has come under scrutiny of the CAG, which would look into the land management by the defence department, official sources said.
While CAG had initially planned to audit only the role of Army in the Adarsh scam, it later decided to expand the scope of audit to include the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard, civil administration, role of the chief minister and District Magistrate in sanctioning the plot, they added.
A controversy had erupted last year over how the Adarsh Housing Society, originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and widows, got converted into a 31-storey tower.
Several political leaders, bureaucrats, military brass, including former army chiefs Deepak Kapoor and NC Vij, and former Navy chief Madhavendra Singh had flats allotted in their names in the housing society at a throwaway price.
The controversy fundamentally hinges around whether the plot of land belonged to the Army or to the state government.
The 104-apartment society got embroiled in a controversy after the Navy had raised concerns over security as the building over-looked important military installations. On December 9 last year, defence minister AK Antony had ordered a CBI probe to fix responsibility of the armed forces and defence estates officers in the housing scam.
He had asked CBI to look into the circumstances under which a ‘NOC’ was issued to the housing society to construct the 31-storey building.