Panel for defence land regulator

To ensure that incidents like the Adarsh housing scam do not recur,members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence have demanded an independent regulator to monitor clearances on use of defence land.

Cutting across party lines in a meeting on Monday,members,including from the Congress,insisted that an external audit of existing defence land was necessary to avoid Adarsh-type scandals that had damaged the image of the armed forces.

The need for an independent regulator to supervise use of defence land was made despite the ministry earlier rejecting a similar proposal when the panel had discussed the Sukna scam.

The members reportedly said the role of defence estate officers had come under a cloud in the backdrop of land scandals and ways would have to be found to ensure such incidents did not recur.