Adarsh: Defence Ministry asks for CBI probe

New Delh : The AK Antony-led Defence Ministry on Tuesday asked for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam.

“The Ministry of Defence has asked the CBI to conduct a detailed probe into the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam and fix responsibility for any lapses,” ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said here in a press release.

Kar said the CBI has been asked to look probe the circumstances under which No Objection Certificate (NOC) was issued.

“Among other things, CBI has been asked to look into the circumstances under which NOC was issued and possession of the land in question was relinquished even though there was a deficiency of land for Army purposes in Mumbai,? the spokesperson said.

?The CBI will also probe the extent to which the commitments for welfare of war widows/service personnel were complied with,” he added.

The Defence Ministry?s announcement came hours after Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan?s resignation was accepted over the housing scam.

Sushil Kumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chauhan, who is Minister of State for Science and Technology and the Prime Minister’s Office, are front runners for the post of Maharashtra Chief Minister now.

Sucked into the controversy over allotment of flats in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society meant for Kargil War heroes’ families to a clutch of bureaucrats and politicians in Mumbai, Ashok Chavan had offered to resign from his post before Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi earlier, but the decision was kept a bay in view of the visit of the US President.

The 30-storey apartment, housing many top level defence officials, was built on a disputed army land at Colaba and the flats meant for the families of the Kargil martyrs were allotted to top defence officials and kin of politicians.