Consider giving Adarsh to defence, HC tells society

The Bombay High Court has urged members of the Adarsh housing society to take recourse to reform by surrendering the scam-tainted building and its land to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), taking into account the security aspect of the issue at hand.

“The members are not murderers or terrorists or even hardened criminals,” observed the division bench of Justice PB Majmudar and Justice RD Dhanuka hearing the case.

“It is never late to realise one’s mistake,” observed Justice Majmudar, adding that, “There is nothing wrong in accepting that one has erred and having a change of heart. Reform is the best thing. Give the building back to the MoD.” Pointing to the security aspect, the judges observed that we should learn from the terror attacks.

“Terrorists have already come till Taj hotel, tomorrow they may even attack sensitive defence establishments,” Justice Majmudar added.

On a lighter note, he suggested that the society members could construct as high a building as they want in Borivli or Dahisar, where there are no defence installations.

The court also took civic agencies like the BMC and the MMRDA to task, for granting clearance and building permission in a sensitive area.

“Did you (BMC, MMRDA) insist on a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the defence, as the land is very close to defence installations?” asked Justice Majmudar.

The court also asked the MoD if they gave an NOC for the building construction. If so, it sought to know by which department and if the concerned personnel was authorised to grant such an NOC. The next hearing is slated for April 30.