The Adarsh Housing Society is a cooperative society in the city of Mumbai in India.

It was reserved for the war widows and veterans of the Kargil War. Corruption allegations In 2010, the Indian media brought to public the alleged violations of rules at various phases of construction in the Adarsh Society. Questions were raised on the manner in which apartments in the building were allocated to bureaucrats, politicians and army personnel who had nothing to do with Kargil War and the way in which clearances were obtained for the construction of the building of the Adarsh Society. [2][3] The Adarsh society high-rise was constructed in the Colaba locality of Mumbai, which is considered a sensitive coastal area by the Indian Defence forces and houses various Indian Defense establishments.[4] The society is also alleged to have violated the Indian environment ministry rules.[5] Activists like Medha Patkar had been trying to uncover the problems since at least 2004.[6] It had led to resignation of the then Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan.[7] Several inquiries have been ordered by the army and the Government to probe into the irregularities. [8] Some of the current occupants of the flats in the Adarsh co-operative society building have offered to vacate their flats at the earliest, denying allegations that they were alloted flats because they influenced or helped, in some manner, the construction of the society by violating the rules. Adarsh Society scam: Deshmukh, Shinde, Rane are all in it too

Chief Minister Ashok Chavans kith and kin are not the only beneficiaries of the scam involving allotment of flats in the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society in Colaba. Three former CMs Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Narayan Rane all of whom have been, ironically enough, potential contenders for Chavans post and at some point served as the sanctioning authority for the project, also stand accused of owning flats under benami names in Adarsh. Deshmukh, who is currently the union minister for heavy industries, reportedly owns three apartments each one a 3-BHK of 1,076 sq ft carpet area on the 15th floor. The flats (1502, 1503 and 1504) are in the names of Uttam Ghakare, Kiran Bhadange and Amol Kharbari real or fictitious individuals whose relationship with Deshmukh is not clear. Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is said to own a 3-BHK flat in the name of Major NW Khankhoje, while former state revenue minister Shivajirao Patil Nilengakar allegedly owns two flats in the name of Dr Arun V Dawle and Sampat R Khidse (flat no 2602). The Adarsh gravy train has more members on board: Maharashtra revenue minister Narayan Rane too is accused of owning two 3-BHK flats on the 17th floor, in the name of Girish Pravinchandra Mehta and Rupali Harishchandra Raorane. Also, Archana Tiwari, a doctor with Bombay Hospital, reportedly got a flat in Adarsh by virtue of being a good friend of Ratnakar Gaikwad, commissioner of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA). The project had been approved by Chavan himself in 2002 when he was the revenue minister. Deshmukh, as the then CM, had given the initial permissions for the construction of Adarsh Society, while Shinde, when he was the CM in 2004, gave the final sanction for the project. When contacted, Deshmukh denied the allegations. None of my relatives or party workers or friends own a flat in the society, he said. Rane told DNA, I only facilitated the treatment of two defense officials as special cases, as they did not have domicile of 15 years in Maharashtra. Their cases were taken up before the cabinet for approval. Nilangekar and Shinde were unavailable for comment.

Set up supposedly with the aim of accommodating and rewarding the heroes of the Kargil operation and those who had laid down their lives for the protection of the motherland, if one looks at the initial list of society members of the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society, it comprised 40 members and included mostly defence personnel. Now the list stands at 103, out of which only 37 members belong to the army and just three members have anything to do with the Kargil war. Meanwhile, two of Chavans relatives who had been allotted flats in Adarsh, his sister -in-law Seema Sharma and brother-in-law Madanlal Sharma, resigned from the society on Friday. Chavans mother-in-law Bhagwati Sharma was also a member of the society, but she passed away earlier this year. The Adarsh hall of shame Some of the bureaucrats and politicians who are accused of fraudulently obtaining flats for themselves or their relatives: Ashok Chavan, chief minister, Maharashtra Jairaj Phatak, ex-municipal commissioner (flat in the name of his son Kanishka J Phatak) Ramanand Tiwari, state information commissioner (in the name of son, Onkar Tiwari) Suresh Prabhu, Shiv Sena (own name) Pradeep Vyas, ex-collector, Mumbai ( in the name of his wife and fellow IAS officer Seema Vyas) Jitender Awhad, NCP (own name) Indris Kundan, ex-ollector, Mumbai (own name) Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, Congress (along with 2 sons, Kailash and Amit) Uttam Khobragade, BEST GM (in the name of daughter, Devyani, an Indian Foreign Service official) Babasaheb Kupekar, Congress (own name) DK Sankaran, Ex-chief secretary (in the name of daughter, Devyani) Shriniwas Patil, NCP (own name) CS Sangitrao, ex-collector, suburban (in the name of son, Ranjit Krishnarao Patil, Congress SC Deshmukh, Collector, Pune (own name) Arun Pawar, ex-income tax commissioner (own name) PV Deshmukh, secretary, urban development (own name). Adarsh Society scam: Claim of having all requisite clearances false In a severe blow to the claim by Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society that it had all requisite clearances from the ministry of environment and forest, former civic chief Jairaj Phatak admitted that the tower had no Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance. Phatak, on Thursday, deposed in front of the two-member commission set up to probe the alleged Adarsh scam. Originally meant to be a six-storey building to house Kargil war heroes and widows, Adarsh society in Colaba was converted into a 31-storey tower. The society has also been accused of violating environmental norms. Phatak is currently posted as secretary of the statutory development board. His son Kanishka owns a flat in Adarsh society. It is alleged that Phatak had allowed the increase in the height of the structure from 97m to 103m on September 1, 2007, without referring to the civic high-rise committee. On Thursday, when the commission asked Phatak if Adarsh did not have any clearance from the MoEF, he replied: Yes. It is true. Earlier, in another statement, Phatak had said that instead of the society applying for a green clearance, the state should have obtained a no-objection certificate from the ministry. This, he said, was because no party obtaining the land would like to pay Rs10 crore for green clearance unless it is sure that it is cleared from the CRZ angle. This could be an addition to the bizarre statements made by Phatak. On Wednesday, he had said that he found out about the reclamation of the plot in question from current municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya during a morning walk and after reading Sharada Dwivedis Bombay The Cities Within.

How IBN7 exposed the Adarsh Society scam Mumbai: IBN7 was the first to expose the Adarsh Society scam. The channel broke the story as early as April 2 of this year. Here is what came out in that report. Mumbai's posh Colaba area land (about 3800 square meters) with the complicity of military officers was given to a private housing societiy. But army took no action in this regard because several army officials, including former army Chief Deepak Kapoor himself, had flats in this society. IBN7 did the special investigation on this. This 27-storey building has been built in Mumbai's Colaba Navy Nagar area. But no one knows how army gave the permission to build a housing society on this land. The building was constructed at a place where there used to be Khukri park, inaugurated by Field Marshal Cariappa. Since 2000 the army used to maintain the park but after that some army officers attempted to grab this land. Maharashtra Government Revenue Department issued an order in 2003, in which it was written that the government has decided to hand over this land occupied by the army to the housing society at a fixed government rate. However, it was not stated anywhere that the army-occupied land has been handed over to the housing society. However, when IBN 7 tried to learn the details, the then Revenue Minister Shivaji Rao Patil Neanalngre said it is normal for the army to lend any piece of land to a housing society. Former Revenue Minister said in that particular respect where army gave the land to the housing society, no one raised any objection on the matter. Maha CM link in Adarsh Housing scam Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has sought information on the row over the allotment of a prime plot of land to Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society but it has now emerged that the members include his late mother-inlaw Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma. Chavan was unavailable for comment. The name of Sharma, who died in July here, appears in the official list submitted by the society whose beneficiaries include former services chiefs, politicians and bureaucrats. Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma, 77, passed away at 'Varsha', the Chief Minister's official residence in July. A controversy has erupted over how the Adarsh society in Colaba, originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and widows, got converted into a 31-storey tower through collusion of bureaucrats, politicians and top defence officers. The highrise is built on 6,450 sq metres within the Colaba naval area and was cleared on the condition of housing war veterans but now has 104... members including senior army commanders, a former environment minister, legislators and state bureaucrats. Former chief secretary D K Sankaran's son, Sanjoy, is among the allottees.

Mumbai collector Chandrashekhar Oke, who was asked to submit a comprehensive report on the status of the building land, has submitted a preliminary report which will help resolve the issue of whether the land belongs to the defence or the state revenue department. CBI probing how defence land was transferred to society The CBI is investigating how defence land was transferred to the Adarsh co-operative housing society and how the beneficiaries, including former services chiefs, politicians and bureaucrats, raised money to buy apartments meant for Kargil war heroes and their families. The agency, which had begun its probe into the row in early October, has sought documents relating to the society. Former Army chiefs Generals N C Vij and Deepak Kapoor, ex-Navy chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh, former Army Vice Chief... Lt Gen Shantanu Chowdhary, former Union Minister and Shiv Sena MP Suresh Prabhu are among those who have been alloted flats in the 31-storey building in upscale Colaba area. "We had sought all documents pertaining to the society from the city collector, society's general secretary and authorities of the Indian Navy and Army in early October," a senior CBI official said. "While we have received around 4000-page documents from the collector's office, there has been no response from the other concerned agencies," the official said. The documents were sought following a specific complaint of irregularities, the official said, adding a deadline of one week has been given to the society to submit the documents failing which the agency would proceed with the investigation in accordance with law. The plush housing society, built on prime defence land, has been constructed in alleged violation of rules. The building was originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and widows. "We are going through the documents provided by the collector's office and further course of action would be decided later," the official said. The agency is trying to ascertain how the defence land was transferred to co-operative housing society and how the beneficiaries, including government servants, raised money to buy the apartments. "A 1000-square foot apartment in the society would have cost around Rs 70 lakh in 2004. We will find out how individual beneficiaries arranged the funds," the official said. Army yesterday said it was carrying out an inquiry into Mumbai's Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society row. "As far as we are concerned, the inquiry is on and I would not like to comment beyond this as it may hamper the inquiry," Army chief General V K Singh had said yesterday. Defence Minister A K Antony had said the government was "seriously examining" the matter. The Navy has objected to Maharashtra government according permission for Occupation Certificate citing serious security concerns. The 100-metre tall building next to a planned helipad and military installations has violated the CRZ limit of a height of 30 metres, the Navy had said.