Adarsh housing scam : Court of inquiry ordered against Major General

Army and Navy are exploring the option of demolishing the housing society after extensive evidence that it was built on defence land

Another one bites the dust. The Army has instituted a Court of Inquiry (COI) against Major General R K Hooda in the Adarsh housing society scam.



Hooda will face the COI under the Army Act since he is a serving officer. Hooda had been approved for the next rank, but will now be attached at the Army's Southern Command headquarters in Pune to face the COI headed by a serving Lieutenant General.

Major General Hooda was the general officer commanding (Maharashtra and Goa) during former army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor's tenure, before being posted to Delhi five months ago. The officer's name figures in the list of the more than 100 allottees of the 31-floor high-rise in Colaba.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is looking into the role of retired army and navy officers, Defence Estates officers, bureaucrats, and Maharashtra politicians.

Meanwhile, a decision on finalising a case in the controversial Adarsh Housing scam is expected to be taken this week with the preliminary probe of the CBI indicating some alleged bungling by a few Army officials in connivance with some in Maharashtra Government.

While the CBI is officially maintaining silence over the issue, sources in the agency headquarters in New Delhi said a meeting is to be held this week to finalise the names of people who could be booked for professional misconduct and abuse of official positions under IPC including sections those dealing with forgery. Sources said the initial FIR could include names of some bureaucrats and politicians and later on names of some army officials may also be added as accused.

The Army's Pune-based Southern Command headquarters had ordered a probe to find out how these officers had issued a no-objection certificate to the private housing society to construct a 31-storey complex on a plot in upmarket Colaba in Mumbai. CBI had begun probe in the case after receiving a letter from the Ministry of Defence.

The 31-storey Adarsh Society, originally meant for Kargil war heroes, landed in controversy after media reports said several politicians, bureaucrats and defence personnel owned flats there. CBI had on November 15 registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) in Adarsh scam to probe the alleged role of former and serving Army officers.