Mumbai: The Maharashtra government never
approached the Army seeking possession of the land where the
controversial Adarsh Housing Society building stands, an Army
official said while deposing before a commission set up to
probe the case.
"The land belongs to Army and the state government had
never asked the Defence Ministry to hand over the possession
to it," Brigadier Deepak Saxena of the Army headquarters
(Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa) told the Commission of Inquiry
set up to probe the alleged scam.
However, the army is yet to submit records to show
that the land where the 31-storey Adarsh building stands in
upscale Colaba, belongs to it. The Ministry of Defence has
relied upon two `development plans` showing the Army was in
possession of the land 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," Saxena had earlier told
the commission.
Saxena refuted Adarsh`s advocate Satish Maneshinde`s
contention that the state government had transferred a part of
the land to the Army after taking over an Army property in
suburban Santacruz. "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 said.
When shown a letter written issued by Brigadier
Parwinder Singh in April 2003 stating the Army does not own
the Adarsh land, Saxena said, "Though Parwinder has no vested
interest in Adarsh society, the letter must have been issued
at the behest of senior officers." The Army has not taken any
action against Parwinder so far, he added.
PTI
