ADARSH SOCIETY SCAM The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will soon

question former chief minister Ashok Chavan as part of its probe into the Adarsh
housing society scam where apartments meant for war veterans were allotted to
several bureaucrats, politicians and their acquaintances.
While CBI regional joint director Rishi Raj Singh refused to comment on the issue,
sources said Chavan would be questioned for his role in the scam.
The promoters of the society had originally approached the state government with a
request for land allotment for the welfare of retired and serving Defence personnel. A
year later in June 2000, it was following a meeting with Chavan — the then revenue
minister — that the promoters wrote back, saying that they are willing to change the
society bye-laws to accommodate 40 per cent civilians. The list of 103 members
includes the names of Chavan’s mother-in-law and two other relatives, one of the
main reasons that forced Chavan to quit.

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Rattled by the Opposition battering treasury benches over

corruption, Congress on Wednesday retaliated by accusing BJP chief Nitin Gadkari of
holding a benami flat in the scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society.

"Ajay Sancheti, whose only claim to the membership of the BJP national executive is his
proximity to Gadkari, has a benami flat in Adarsh Housing Society in the name of his
driver," party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters. He said a driver with a monthly
salary of a little over Rs 8,000 could not purchase a Rs 60 lakh flat in a tony Colaba
condominium.

In Nagpur political circles, the Sanchetis are close to the Gadkari family and Sancheti's
elder brother, Chainsukh, is a BJP legislator from Malkapur in Buldhana district.

According to reports, an Adarsh flat is owned by Sudhakar Madke, a driver of a Nagpur

firm, SMS Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. He is allottee No 7 in the list of 103 members. The
firm's MD is Ajay Sancheti, who is a member of the BJP's national executive. The firm's
chairman is Abhay Sancheti, whose son, Paramveer, is allottee No 85.

Madke's monthly income is Rs 8,600, while the cost of the flat purchased by him is Rs 60
lakh. He got the flat on a low-income certificate to fit the criterion of earning less that Rs
12,500 a month.

Gadkari threatened to initiate civil and criminal proceedings against Tewari for making
baseless allegations. "We have given them a 72-hour ultimatum. If Tiwari does not tender
an apology, we have asked our lawyers to launch criminal and civil proceedings against
him," Madhav Bhandari, BJP spokesperson, told TOI.

Gadkari had demanded the dismissal of the Congress-NCP Maharashtra government for
the alleged involvement of not only Chavan, but also of Vilasrao Deshmukh and
Sushilkumar Shinde, both former chief ministers. He had also targeted NCP Maharashtra
cabinet members Ajit Pawar and R R Patil.

"Merely because Gadkari knows the Sancheti family would be wrong to say that Gadkari
owns a proxy flat. We have taken note of the allegations and we will proceed against the
Congress as per legal advice," Bhandari said.

"The allegations are absolutely false," said Ajay Sancheti. "Gadkari has nothing to do
with the flats in questions," he told TOI.

The escalating confrontation led to adjournments in both Houses on Wednesday. The

stand-off is likely to continue through the week, with the BJP-led Opposition adamant on
not letting the Houses run until its demand for the ouster of telecom minister A Raja over
the 2G spectrum scam was met.

At its parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday morning, BJP leader L K Advani

alleged that there were largescale irregularities in the Commonwealth Games. "This
government is involved in corruption. Wherever Commonwealth Games were held, they
got compliments about the success of the events, but here scams worth thousands of
crores have come to light," deputy leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia quoted
Advani as saying.

Addressing partymen, Advani said the winter session would be dominated by issues of
corruption and Kashmir.

Advani also alleged that the government had misused CBI to implicate RSS in terror
attack cases and asked party MPs to demand JPC probes into anomalies in 2-G spectrum
allocation, CWG projects and Adarsh Housing allotments. CVC and CBI are also being
misused and politicized. "Those involved in corruption are being appointed in CVC," he
said. The environment ministry has given Adarsh housing society three weeks to explain why it should not
be demolished. And YP Singh, an IPS officer turned lawyer, agrees with the move.

“Law always takes precedence over expedience. Logically, one would want the building to go to an NGO.
But one must not forget that our country has a constitution and we follow the rule of the land. According to
the Constitution, the building has to be demolished.”

The housing society may have violated rules. However, many feel that the flats should be allotted to the
people who the building was originally constructed for. “In this case, they have not adhered to the guidelines.
And this is because the laws have not been implemented properly,” says Simpreet Singh, activist with Ghar
Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan.

Many citizens believe that the building can be put to good use. “I am sure there are more ways of ways of
solving this issue. Completely demolishing the society will be colossal waste. The real problem here is how
we deal with corruption,” says Priyanka Bedi, a Mahim resident.

The scam exposes how corruption has gnawed at the roots of our system. Citizens and activists want the
government to take strict action against the culprits. “We should restructure our system so as to leave no
room for loop-holes. Let’s focus on eradicating problems from the grass-root level than talking about dealing
with ramifications of a particular scam,” adds Bedi.

“The only way to solve this problem is to punish the ones involved in the scam. Until and unless the
government plans to do about it nothing can be done,” says Pankaj Joshi, an urban planner.
There have been many land scams in past and authorities have to do something to prevent history from
repeating itself. “The only way to solve this problem is to punish the people involved in the scam. Until and
unless the government plans to do something about it, the case cannot go forward,” says Pankaj Joshi, an
urban planner.

“The building was constructed for war heroes and defense personnel and they deserve it. The people who
have used underhand tactics to procure the property should be denied the right to live there. And their
houses should be transferred to people who rightfully deserve it,” says Agnelo D’Silva, a Mulund resident.

Acts like RTI have empowered citizens. And activists want people to be vigilant and take actions instead of
waiting for authorities to act on it. In 2008, activists from Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan complained
about the discrepancies in the construction of the Adarsh building to the environment department, BMC and
MMRDA. They are now happy that action has been taken against the defaulters.

“If we can complain to the correct authorities, anyone can do so. Citizens have to start taking action so that
culprits can be booked. This way corruption can be eradicated,” says Simpreet Singh.

Citizens do nothing about it

Demolishing the society will be stupid. We could probably turn it into a government hospital.I don't believe in
the judiciary system in our country. It will take a lot of time for the verdict to be delivered. To regain people's
faith the government should act fast and punish the people who are involved in these scams. This should be
done faster when government officials or big political leaders are involved. But, we, the people have done
nothing to change this. We should speak up against injustice in our society.
Bhagwantrao Nalawade Kalyan

Resignations are a gimmick

I feel giving it to unsung heroes of Commonwealth Games would be a better option. Indian politicians are
extremely corrupt, before helping the country they fill their pockets. They just have to resign when the truth
about them being involved in a scam is unearthed. What purpose does this serve? We need an independent
authority to monitor such land deals. Moreover, the government should keep a watch over the politicians'
bank accounts. This might help reduce such scams in the country.
Akshat Jain Bandra

Transparancy need of the hour

These houses should be given to the Kargil heroes' families. The society was originally built for them. Giving
it to an NGO that will put it to good use is also a good idea. I don't think we should expect the government to
do anything, since its own officialsare responsible for this scam. CID or CBI should be put in charge of such
cases. There should be a proper record of the allocation of such flats. Transparency is what we need at the
moment. If we take care of this, there will be no moresuch scams.
Ruchika Srivastava Mira Road

The building can be put to better use

How can demolishing such a structure be a wise decision? A lot of money invested in the society will be
wasted. I don't think the environment ministry is doing the right thing. The building can be put to better use. It
is sad that many big politicians are involved in this scam. They should be punished severely. They should be
banned from contesting elections in the future. The judiciary should act fast and bring culprits to the book.
This will be a warning to any one who tries to take advantage of the loopholes.
Darshana Gupta Virar

OBAMA President Barack Obama’s visit to India might have been initially low and then
very high on atmospherics, but in strategic terms it has been a resounding success for the
United States. Not only has the joint statement provided for the creation of jobs that
President Obama had made clear from the start was a priority, but it has also taken US
and India several steps forward to becoming a close, intertwined ‘partnership.’ The big
question is whether this will be on equal terms, or whether India in the long run will end
up compromising much of what it has stood for in both economic, military and foreign
policy over the decades, and its own standing in the region of which it is a part.
Economically, it is clear that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is bent on taking India
down the US inspired global growth path. And has decided to open Indian markets as
never before to accommodate US demands for a ‘partnership’ that allows American
companies free access to the huge Indian market. Foreign direct investment will now
soon be a reality in the multi-brand retail sector allowing Wal-Mart and others such
multinationals into the Indian market despite the highly negative impact this will have on
the small and medium Indian business. FDI in the single retail sector is also going to be
increased dramatically to what some newspapers are projecting as 100 per cent. The gap
between the rich and the poor will grow, with small businesses being wiped out in what
could prove to be an invasion of US companies into the Indian market. But this, the
economic pundits advising the government insist, is what modern economy is all about,
with the poor not really included in the map of plans and statistics.
Militarily, the joint statement has ushered in a new era of cooperation, with big ticket
defence deals being the USP of the India-US relationship. The White House release that
gives a visibly different take on many of the points makes it clear that both Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama reaffirmed the importance of
‘unimpeded commerce’ in defence. Currently India is buying hardware from the US
under its foreign military sales programme, that many in the defence sector feel is not in
India’s national interests. However, the government has raised no objections and is now
set to include at least $30 billion worth of defence deals with the United States.
There is sufficient indication in the joint agreements that India is being carefully pushed
into the Proliferation Security Initiative that it had resisted for a long while. New Delhi
appears to be well on the way to joining the PSI under US tutelage, regardless of the
problems this will create for it in the region with other member nations.
The key to furthering a congruent foreign policy has been the statement by President
Obama that in the years to come the US would like to see India as a permanent member
in a reformed United Nations Security Council. This was touted by the UPA government
as a major achievement, regardless of the fact that it was at best a vague promise
dependent entirely on several ‘ifs’ and ‘buts.’ But in getting the media on board, the
government was able to hardsell the statement made in Parliament by the US president as
a major move forward. The two nations will work together to “comply with and
implement UN Security Council Resolutions, including UN sanctions regimes.”
In South Asia, India will now undertake joint ventures with the United States in
Afghanistan in the fields of agriculture and women’s empowerment that will make it
even less of a friend for the Afghans than it is at the moment. On both accounts India
could move ahead in Afghanistan without any assistance from the US but clearly Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh is of the view that we can only work in our neighbouring
country in partnership with the US. Indian and Pakistani women groups are working
separately, as well as jointly, with Afghan women at different levels. The women here
certainly do not need to collaborate with the Americans on this issue. A India-
Afghanistan partnership on agriculture too does not need the US.
The joint statement is breathtaking in its scope, making it very clear for anyone who still
might have entertained doubts, that India is moving full steam ahead into a close
relationship with the US on all fronts — military, nuclear, economic, strategic, education,
agriculture, space, youth with all doors being opened now for US multinationals in all
sizes and forms. The huge Indian market will be fully exploited now by the US in return
for peanuts such as the promise of a UNSC permanent seat, emphasis on the
commonality of democracy and of course, plenty of flattery to which all of us, including
our top leaders, are highly susceptible.
All said and done President Obama is a far more adept, skilled and acceptable seller than
President Bush. The latter alienated the people, even though he won over the Indian
government. President Obama on the other hand, comes through as educated and genteel,
says the same thing with a smile, is a great orator, intelligent and skilful and adept at
changing phrases and emphasis as and when required. His speech in Parliament at the end
of his visit showed how adaptable he was, and did not hesitate to give the promise of an
inch for a mile. He literally danced his way through the opposition and brought in
specifics into the agreement that Prime Minister Singh had signed earlier with Bush,
taking it far beyond what was originally conceived.
From colonialism to imperialism, India has come a long way. Or was it just a short way?
(The writer is National Affairs Editor, NewsX)
Topics:
Obama,
Manmohan Singh,
PM,
UNSC,
India visit