Officer on Adarsh list cleared plot

MUMBAI: While the row continues over who owns the plot on which Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society stands, it has come to light that the defence estates officer who first gave a no-objection certificate for residential activity on the plot had himself applied for membership in the society.

On March 30, 2000, Masanam Gurusami , then employed as the defence estates officer, Colaba, signed an official communication stating that the “plot was located outside defence limits and there was no objection from his office to it being used for the welfare of defence personnel and war widows’’ .

Gurusami was referring to the society’s proposal regarding the allotment of the plot for a residential project , which it claimed would benefit these sections. The housing society forwarded the official communication to the city collector’s office on April 5, 2000. The collector’s office and the state revenue department treated this communication as a “no-objection’ ’ from defence authorities while handing over the plot to Adarsh.

Documents available with TOI, which were procured under the Right to Information Act by city-based activist Simpreet Singh, show that Gurusami had officially applied for membership in the same society. In fact, Gurusami’s name was listed as a member (proposed) in the society, even before he issued the “no-objection’ ’ letter.
The society had included his name in the first list of 40 proposed members , all of whom had a defence background , which was submitted to then city collector Debashish Chakravarty on February 28, 2000.

The conflict of interest did not end there. The first list included eight serving or retired officials from the office of defence estates. This included five who were serving, including Gurusami , and three who were retired.

30 apartments fall back on generators

Even as the festival of lights is being celebrated, around 30 households in Adarsh society are reportedly having a dim Diwali as they depend on generators for their electricity needs. A source said 30 flats remain occupied in the building to which the BEST has cut the power supply. Meanwhile, the society has sent a five-page reply along with attached documents to the CBI, which is conducting an inquiry.

Defence estates officer who gave NOC to Adarsh is no more, name off list

MUMBAI: There were eight serving and retired defence estates officers on the initial lists of proposed members in the controversial Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society.

Among the five serving officers was R C Thakur, the society’s chief promoter , who was then a junior defence estates officer.

The names of these eight officers were also included in the revised lists of 71 and 95 proposed members, which were submitted to the collector’s office on August 23, 2003, and March 13, 2003 respectively .

On June 12, 2003, Pradeep Vyas, who had taken over from Debashish Chakravarthy as city collector, objected to the membership of seven of the eight officers on the grounds that they didn’t have domicile certificates. Thakur, who
had submitted proof of a 15-year stay in the state, was the only exception.

Vyas had then argued that a waiver of the domicile requirement, which was applicable in the case of serving and retired defence personnel, could not be passed on to staff from the defence estates office as it was an allied service. And so Gurusami’s name, along with six others, disappeared from the list of proposed members.
One of the disqualified men, Parmanand Hinduja, a retired defence estates officer, was later readmitted in the “private’’ individuals’ category. He is a member of the society today.

According to defence officials, M Gurusami died some time back. Gurusami was the defence estates officer who had first written to say that the Adarsh plot fell outside the defence boundary. He was also one of the eight who applied for membership in Adarsh.

The Union ministry of defence is now claiming ownership of the plot. It claims that the plot where the society stands was given to it by the state government in lieu of a plot it gave up at the rifle range in Santa Cruz in the 1950s.