[Castigating (two) former Army chiefs Gens N C Vij (2002-2005) and Deepak Kapoor (2007-2010), three Lieutenant Generals and four Major Generals, apart from naming dozens of other military and Defence Estates Office (DEO) officers, the 199-page inquiry report says the government should take "appropriate administrative measures" against them.]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/most-military-officers-named-in-probe-own-flats-in-adarsh-cooperative-housing-society/articleshow/59508952.cms?utm_source=toimobile&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=referral Adarsh probe indicts ex-Army chiefs, top officers Rajat Pandit | TNN | Updated: Jul 9, 2017, 07.56 AM IST HIGHLIGHTS Most of the military officer were allotted flats in Adarsh housing society in Mumbai Ministry of defence probe has recommended that govt take ‘appropriate administrative measures’ NEW DELHI: A high-level defence ministry inquiry into the infamous Adarsh housing society scandal in the tony Colaba area in Mumbai has blamed several top military officers, including two former Army chiefs, for various alleged acts of omission and commission in the scam. Castigating former Army chiefs Gens N C Vij (2002-2005) and Deepak Kapoor (2007-2010), three Lieutenant Generals and four Major Generals, apart from naming dozens of other military and Defence Estates Office (DEO) officers, the 199-page inquiry report says the government should take "appropriate administrative measures" against them. Most of those named in the report were allotted flats in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society (ACHS), the towering 31-storey building which poses a grave security threat to the adjacent defence installations and helipad in the Colaba military station. The three retired Lt-Gens are G S Sihota, Tejinder Singh and Shantanu Choudhary, while the Maj-Gens are A R Kumar, V S Yadav, T K Kaul and R K Hooda. All these names had also found mention in an internal Army inquiry submitted to the defence ministry in 2011, as was then reported by TOI. But while six officers (Maj Gens A R Kumar and T K Kaul, Brigs T K Sinha and M M Wanchu, Col R K Bakshi and former DEO officer R C Thakur, who was the alleged kingpin) are facing criminal charges after the CBI charge-sheeted them in July 2012, even though the trial is yet to begin, the others have faced no action till now. The scandal, of course, claimed the then Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan's scalp in November 2010 when it became evident that top military officials had colluded with politicians and bureaucrats to subvert all rules and regulations in allotting the government land to ACHS, ostensibly in the name of war widows, children and ex-servicemen. The fresh inquiry, set up by the defence ministry after an order of the Mumbai high court in April 2016, recommends the government take "appropriate administrative measures" against the top military officers named in the repot since disciplinary action is not possible three years after their retirement under the Army Act. Apart from "suitably conveying displeasure to these officers for their conduct and role in facilitating the wrongdoings in the case", the inquiry report says they should be debarred from any future employment or contract with the government, or any of its bodies and committees. "Top level officers are role models and have to set an example. They have thus a greater responsibility to check wrongdoing. They are not expected to be part of such wrongdoing or condone it, and certainly cannot afford to have a vested interest in the wrongdoing," says the inquiry conducted by former IAS officer Rajan Katoch and Lt-Gen Ravi Thodge (retd). The report also names former naval chief Admiral Madhvendra Singh (2001-2004) and Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh as "beneficiaries" since they also got flats but holds they had no formal role to play in the scandal because the Navy is not responsible for land matters in Mumbai. The report, however, is harsh on Gen Vij, who it says "appears to have provided a protective umbrella to the efforts" of the Army's Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat Area and the Mumbai Sub-Area "to facilitate the alienation of the land in question". "An Army chief is expected to maintain the highest standards of rectitude and correct behaviour as a role model for all the officers in the service. His membership of the ACHS and securing allotment of a flat would have had a dampening effect on all the officers concerned, sending a signal to them to fall in line, and discouraging even those who may have wanted to safeguard Army's interest or speak out about the wrongdoing," it says. Top Comment 1) What about the then Congress MLC Gidwani who had 10 flats in Adarsh society allegedly on behalf of top politicians? Why was he granted bail? 2) What about Devyani Khobragade and her father who... Read More Samiksha The report says Gen Kapoor, in turn, may not have had direct responsibility for any of the decisions in the case but he "was not well advised in accepting the ACHS membership" and did not seem to have "adequately appreciated the full implications of doing so". "Attention in the Adarsh scam so far has centred on the wrongdoings and irregularities by the politicians and bureaucrats concerned with the approval process who exploited their position to become beneficiaries of ACHS. As we have found, perhaps as great a role was played by the military and Defence Estates Officers involved," it says. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. 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