3 ex-service chiefs to return flats in Adarsh Housing Society

Amid the controversy over allotment of flats to former heads of Services among other VIPs in the Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, three ex-chiefs today said they would return the houses if they were meant to be given to the families of Kargil war martyrs.

Amid the controversy over allotment of flats to former heads of Services among other VIPs in the Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, three ex-chiefs on Friday said they would return the houses if they were meant to be given to the families of Kargil war martyrs.

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A statement in this regard was issued by former Navy chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh on behalf of himself and the two former Army chiefs Generals Deepak Kapoor and N C Vij.

"At no stage we were aware that these flats are meant for Kargil war widows as claimed by certain sections of the media and if that be so, then we have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever in returning these flats to the authorities concerned," Singh said.

Expressing "utter dismay" over the controversy, the former Navy chief said, "the two Generals and I have spent our lifetime in the Service and looking after the welfare of our troops. I can assure everyone that it was never ever our intention to deprive anyone of their dues."

A controversy has erupted over how the Adarsh society in upscale Colaba, originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and widows, got converted into a 31-storey building.

The highrise is built on 6,450 sq metres within the Colaba naval area and was cleared on the condition of housing war veterans but now has 104 members including senior army commanders, a former environment minister, legislators and state bureaucrats.