Mumbai Defence Ministry office faces extortion charge

“Yet, the Defence Estates Officers in Mumbai are demanding large sums of money – running into lakhs – for vacating the dilapidated flats that the Navy has been occupying for several decades now,” Nilesh Mistry, one of the affected flat owners from Churchgate’s Vasant Sagar Apartments, said.

Defence Estates Office (DEO), Mumbai had hired the flats for a paltry sum as rent five decades ago. Though the apartment building was old, it was still worth several crores of rupees in today’s Mumbai real estate market and hence the ‘exit money’ demand from the DEO officers, Mistry alleged.

Defence Minister A K Antony had already directed the Defence Estates Directorate headquarters in Delhi to vacate the flats that were inspected by the Ministry officials recently and declared ‘uninhabitable’.

When contacted, a top Defence Estates Directorate officer, requesting anonimity, said: “This kind of a situation (extortion to vacate the flats) should not have happened.

“The MOD is certainly seized of the matter and has, as recently as June 24, sent another reminder to the DEO Mumbai to return the flats to the owners before July 2 and submit an action taken report forthwith,” the official said.

Mistry, who represents the affected flat owners and is pursuing the vacation process with the Defence Estates Directorate, alleged that the Mumbai Defence Estates officers “seem to be working hand-in-hand with a real estate mafia and are refusing to vacate the flats.”

Though the apartments were in the possession of its office in Mumbai, Defence Estate Directorate sources in Mumbai said the flats were currently vacant, but “kept under lock and key” for several years now.

Despite the Directorate headquarters communicating the decision of Antony to its Mumbai office, the officers there have been allegedly delaying the return of the flats to its owners, Mistry claimed.

“The Defence Minister has approved the dehiring of the 28 flats…in the seniority list. The Defence Estate Office (DEO) Mumbai may please be directed to convey the decision of the MOD to Western Naval Command headquarters and take necessary action urgently on the above,” the official communication from the Directorate headquaters to its Principal Director in the Southern Army Command Headquarters at Pune said.

The communication, sent on June 3 this year, also informed its Principal Director that its office in Mumbai should be directed to forward compliance report on it immediately, as the same had to be intimated to the MOD.

“Please accord priority,” the communication emphasised.

Despite the Minister’s order, the possession of the flats were yet to be handed over to its owners, Defence Estates sources said.

“In spite of our repeated follow-up, the DEO officials in Mumbai are harassing us on flimsy grounds, and delaying the implementation of the orders. They have been demanding high favours, such as an exit money, for vacating the flats, both directly and at times through outsiders,” Mistry complained.

The Ministry had constituted a committee in March this year to inspect the disused flats to ascertain which of them were uninhabitable and hence could be vacated.

The committee submitted its report on May 6 and recommended that the first batch of 28 flats be vacated forthwith.

Antony, while reviewing the committee recommendations, also wanted to know the condition of all the remaining flats to ascertain whether others (running into several hundreds) were also uninhabitable.

Antony further asked the Naval Headquarters to indicate the usage of the occupied flats and justify the holding of these flats, especially when the married accommodation project (MAP) was already in progress.

He also wanted an action taken report (ATR) on the MOD directions to vacate the already identified 28 flats sent to him from time to time.