Adarsh scam: Former collector claims he did not send no objection letter

Former Mumbai collector Debashish Chakraborty on Monday informed the two-member commission set up to probe the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam, that he was not aware of the letter sent from his own office on March 29, 2000 to the general officer commanding (GOC) which “requested to confirm that there is no objection to allot the land to the proposed society of the service personnel.”

“I do not recollect if I had read this letter before it was dispatched. This letter as in the case of urgent letters, was hand delivered. I do not know the reason behind the urgency because it was given by the superintendent of Land Records (SLR),” said Chakraborty. He confirmed that the letter was not sent on his instructions.

The said letter is crucial in the scam, since in a reply to it, a letter dated April 5, 2000 was sent by then GOC major general AR Kumar, where it was mentioned that the disputed land does not belong to the ministry of defence (MoD). This letter was then considered as the no objection certificate (NOC) for the society.

Chakraborty stated that the site inspection was carried out on March 27 but he came across the report only after the letter dated March 29, 2000 had been sent. He questioned the state government through a letter on May 12, 2000.