Defence Ministry gets into offensive mode

Punitive action may be announced on Monday against serving and retired personnel allegedly involved in the scandal

It's come as a huge blotch on the clean image of the armed forces. Now the defence ministry is on a drive to put its house in order. Sources have told MiD DAY that punitive action may be announced on Monday against defence officials, serving and retired, who are allegedly involved in the Adarsh housing scandal. The steps will be taken after receiving reports from the Army, Navy and Defence Estates.


Stepping up: The Defence Ministry (above) has indicated that it wants
to rescue the image of the armed forces from the Adarsh scandal.

The action will be "comprehensive" to send a tough message down the ranks that such irregularities would not be tolerated at any cost, a senior Defence Ministry official said.

"The Navy has submitted its report on the Adarsh Housing Society issue. We are studying the reports submitted by Army, Defence Estates and the Navy to collate all relevant information. The punitive action will come on Monday and it will be so comprehensive that it would prevent such scams from occurring in the future," the official said.

The 31-storeyed building in upmarket Colaba with 104 apartments had provision for flats for Kargil widows and martyrs' families, Army, Navy and Defence Estate personnel, both serving and retired, apart from politicians and their relatives who were allotted 40 flats.

Former Defence Chiefs are among the allottees. "Some of the allottees from the services and defence estates were also part of the chain of command that had "colluded" with Adarsh Society promoters to transfer the land from the Army's possession and to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC). The Navy had security concerns over the 31-storey building in a military zone, saying it compromised the security of several installations including a naval air base nearby," sources stated.