Twitter
Advertisement

Adarsh: Ex-servicemen put blame on VK Singh

RC Thakur, Gen Deepak Kapoor should be taken to task, says former army chief

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

All 104 flats in the Adarsh Society premises, including 60 for ex-servicemen, remain unoccupied after the society landed in a controversy touted as India’s biggest housing society scam. Ex-servicemen (flat owners) of Adarsh who have intensified their fight to get back their flats, are now blaming ex-army chief VK Singh for the entire mess.

Armed with information sought through a series of applications under RTI Act, which states that Adarsh land does not belong to the defence, Brig TK Sinha (rtd), chairman of the society said: “RTI replies clearly state that the land never belonged to Army or ministry of defence. Army was apprised of this way back in 60s, in 2003 and again on April 6, 2010, five days after VK Singh became the chief. Yet Singh misrepresented facts before the ministry in October 2010 to order a CBI inquiry against Adarsh only because he had grudge against his predecessor, General Deepak Kapoor.” “Singh did this to settle scores with Kapoor who hadn’t allowed him to ‘correct’ his date of birth.

Moreover, Kapoor had a flat in Adarsh,” said Sinha, who along with 50 other ex-defence personnel holding flats in the society, held a press meet in on Saturday to assert their right to stay in the building. They also claimed that CBI had closed the Sukna, Kandivli and Pune ‘land scams’, which had surfaced during VK Singh’s tenure, for want of proof. The April 6, 2010 letter of Army southern command HQ written to ministry of defence obtained through RTI Act states, “It is seen that Adarsh case has been examined in 2003-04, and since then there has been no correspondence on the subject with southern command HQ. Hence it’s suggested that reopening the case may not be advisable as it may generate adverse publicity due to likely media manipulation.” According to RTI reply dated Aug 4, 2014, Army HQ (Maha, Gujarat, Goa and Mumbai), which had filed the title suit in Bombay HC, had no records to establish ownership of the land.

RTI reply from General Defence Estates, ministry of defence, of Dec 3, 2014 also states it had no documents to prove ownership of the land. A 2-year-old RTI reply from Defence Estate officer also denies any mention of this land in the military land register which is being maintained since 1886. The members of the society are set to present their findings before Bombay HC in the next hearing on January 12. “MMRDA has already told the court that the 65 members of the society met all legal requirements to own flats. It also absolves these men in uniform from being “land grabbers” and our honour is restored,” said Maj Gen AR Kumar (retd).

Former army chief General VK Singh said: “It was dna that first broke the Adarsh scam. Army held an institutional inquiry and found these people were to blame. Army even looked up archives in London. Unfortunately, Mr RC Thakur misrepresented facts because he saw that they had made a mistake. The land on the other side of the compound, which had an Army park, Pukhri Park, which was not part of the inquiry, was declared reclaimed land. The mastermind is Thakur along with Gen Deepak Kapoor. Gen Kapoor produced a fake certificate, and NC Vij, who has a flat there was made sub-area commander. Have you ever heard of that? Vij says he had retired when he brought one, but they kept one for him. Congress was complacent and even transferred CBI officer Rishi Raj. Army is quite clear on that, and have filed a title suit. This is a monumental scam and those people are to blame.”

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement