Singed, Ashok Chavan turns heat on Mumbai tower

As the Congress left chief minister Ashok Chavan to fend for himself, he said he had ordered that the occupancy certificate granted to Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society be revoked till the union environment ministry gave its nod. HT reports. Nothing ideal about the deal

As the Congress left chief minister Ashok Chavan to fend for himself, he said he had ordered that the occupancy certificate granted to Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society be revoked till the union environment ministry gave its nod.

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Chavan said he was neither chief minister nor revenue minister when the Colaba plot was allotted in 2004.

"I had no role in granting or allotting the plot," said Chavan, ruling out a state probe since the CBI was already looking into the matter.

The society has been accused of environmental violations and of getting the land on the promise that flats would be built for war veterans and widows but then allotting them to politicians, bureaucrats and Army and Navy commanders.

It emerged on Friday that not just Chavan's mother-in-law but two other relatives were also allotted flats in Adarsh. While his mother-in-law died in July, the two relatives resigned from the society, Chavan said. His mother-in-law's legal heirs, he said, were not interested in being part of the society.

Sources in the Defence Ministry said their initial probe points to a criminal conspiracy involving top politicians, bureaucrats and generals.

In Jaipur, former Navy chief Madhvendra Singh said he and former army chiefs General NC Vij and General Deepak Kapoor would "have no hesitation in returning the flats" they had been allotted in the society.

The Opposition intensified the political pressure on Chavan, demanding his resignation.

Nothing ideal about the deal