Pulling up the Maharashtra government,the Bombay High Court today observed that the controversial Adarsh Society smacked of "a clear-cut case of manipulation" by its officers in which everybody who was supposed to clear the file was "gifted" a flat. In scathing remarks,the court also observed that the state government seemed to have gone "out of the way" to please former army chiefs Deepak Kapur and Nirmal Chandar Wij,who were initially not allotted flats because they were not state residents for 15 years,but later got the flats as "exceptional cases". A Division Bench of Justices B H Marlapalle and U D Salvi also asked why the state government had not filed any FIR against the guilty. The court made the observations while hearing a petition filed by Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society challenging cancellation of occupation certificate and disconnection of water and power supply by the civic authorities. "You took action against the Society,what about the government officers? Why no FIR has been registered till now?" the High Court asked. After going through records pertaining to the Society,and to the approval granted to its members in stages,the court said: "It is a clear-cut case of manipulation by the collectorate,the state revenue ministry and urban development ministry. Everybody who was supposed to clear the file was gifted a flat," the court observed. The High Court also observed that contrary to the government's stand,the land on which the building stands was in the possession of the Defence Ministry,but this status was altered by the order of P V Deshmukh,a deputy secretary with the Urban Development department in 2004. The judges referred to the relevant letter by Deshmukh while passing this remark. "How did this happen? Everything changed after this. No CBI inquiry is going to help now," said Justice Marlapalle. Reading aloud some of the names in the list of members,the court wondered how people staying in Sangli or Kolhapur came to know about the Adarsh allotment,or could afford a flat there. Adarsh lawyers,senior counsel Rafiq Dada and Janak Dwarakadas,had earlier deplored the fact that the occupation certificate was cancelled and water and power connections cut off without giving any hearing to the Society. Justice Marlapalle noted though the Society was earlier meant for Defence personnel,not even 50 per cent of the current 104 members were from the Defence services. The judge suggested if members with a background with the Defence forces were willing to shift to the first 12 floors of the 31-storey building,the court may order interim restoration of power and water supply up to 12 storeys. The lawyers sought time till December 23 to get instructions from the Society.
