State owns Adarsh land, says Mumbai city collector

Mumbai city collector Chandrashekhar Oak has told the Adarsh inquiry commission that the plot of land on which the Adarsh building stands belongs to the state government and not any other person or organisation. The claim of the Union ministry of defence (MoD) is “false and bogus”, he said.

Oak said that under statutory provisions of the Bombay City Land and Revenue Act, 1876, and the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, “all unoccupied lands within the city of Bombay, and every unoccupied foreshore below the high water mark shall be deemed and declared to be the property of the state government”.
The plans prove that Block No VI on which Adarsh stands was an unoccupied portion of the foreshore below the high water mark and thus owned by the state.

Oak has referred to correspondence between military authorities and the state, saying, “It proves beyond doubt that there is an admission by the defence ministry time and again that Block VI on which Adarsh stands is owned by the state government.”
The commission adjourned proceedings to May 16, after witness Brigadier Deepak Saxena reported ill.