According to an affidavit, the ministry of defence had on December 31, 1958, written a letter to the state government seeking the land in upmarket Colaba in exchange for a plot in suburban Santacruz that was owned by the army.
Claiming ownership over the land on which the controversial Adarsh Society building stands, the Maharashtra government has told the judicial panel probing alleged irregularities in it that the plot was never transferred to the Army.
"Revenue records and letters addressed to the state government by the Ministry of Defence dating back to 1950s show that the land where Adarsh building stands belongs to the state government," the affidavit filed by collector Chandrashekar Oak states.
According to the affidavit, the ministry of defence had on December 31, 1958, written a letter to the state government seeking the land in upmarket Colaba in exchange for a plot in suburban Santacruz that was owned by the Army.
"The state government had taken possession of the Santacruz land. The Army sought for Block 6 of Colaba land, where Adarsh stands, in return of the land in Santacruz. However, this is was not given. Maharashtra government is the owner of the land," the affidavit says.
The collector has relied on several letters written by the Army stating that the ministry of defence has no ownership of the land.
The affidavit clarified that in March 1956 the Army was handed over Block 7 in Colaba as it fell within the boundary of defence premises. "Possession of Block 6 was never handed over to the Defence Ministry. Entries in the land revenue records show that the plot has been in possession of the state government," it said.
The Army has contended before the Inquiry Commission that the land on which the 31-storey structure is located belonged to it.
Though they have so far not been able to produce records to prove ownership, the Army has consistently been claiming that the land was in their possession even prior to 1937.
"All lands owned or under possession of the Army are entered into the Military Land Register. However, the Adarsh plot does not exist in the register," Brigadier Deepak Saxena of the Army Headquarters (Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa) had admitted before the panel in his deposition.
In the course of his deposition, Saxena had also refuted Adarsh Society counsel Satish Maneshinde's contention that the state government had transferred a part of the land to the Army in exchange for the Santacruz plot.
"Army was always in possession of the land and hence the question of state government transferring part of the plot or seeking to hand over the land does not arise," he had told the panel yesterday.
The terms of reference of the Inquiry Commission include looking into the ownership of the disputed land, whether the housing society was meant for Kargil war widows and war veterans alone and if there were violations of environmental and coastal regulatory norms.
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