A letter dated March 6, 2000, by the under-secretary of the revenue and forest department to the superintendent of land records talks about the Colaba military area plot no. 6 and the adjoining land, which was then in the possession of the local military.
Former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh used his powers to push up the proceedings for the Adarsh CHS during his tenure, admitted Mumbai collector Chandrashekhar Oak before the two-member commission set up to probe the scam.
A letter dated March 6, 2000, by the under-secretary of the revenue and forest department to the superintendent of land records talks about the Colaba military area plot no. 6 and the adjoining land, which was then in the possession of the local military. “The chief minister’s direction was for calling the proposal immediately and submitting the same. Generally, when the word ‘tatkal’ is used on a file, it means within two days. It is not common practice for the chief minister to send a file with ‘tatkal’ on it with respect to land matters,” said Oak.
Oak, who was working in the CM’s secretariat in 2000, said that Deshmukh didn’t mark every file on land matters ‘tatkal’. “Tatkal / Mahatwache, which means immediate / important, is written at the top of this letter,” said Oak.
In another revelation before the commission, Oak said that the land in question was in the unauthorised occupation of the army since 1980-85. “I don’t think that the collector’s office, or any other office under him, has got information or any documents showing this unauthorised occupation; the exchange of letters shows this,” he said.
When commission counsel Dipan Merchant asked whether there are any records of the land being reclaimed in 1973-74, Oak said that no such records are available.
Oak said that as per the correspondence, the army had constructed a wall around the land and there was a garden known as Khukri Park as claimed by the army; however, this only strengthened the army’s claim.
Referring to a letter dated April 5, 2000, addressed by Col. SS Jog to the Mumbai collector, Oak said that the letter is considered as the no objection certificate (NOC) issued by Jog to the general officer commanding. “It is correct to say that no objection was sought to allot the land for the proposed society of the service personnel by the government of Maharashtra. Therefore, according to me, the NOC was only for the allotment of plot for the purpose of welfare of the service personnel,” he said.
This raises question marks on the issue of allotment of flats to civilians.
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