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IBN7 was the first to expose the Adarsh Society scam. The channel broke the story as early as April
2 of this year. Here is what came out in that report.
Mumbai's posh Colaba area land (about 3800 square meters) with the complicity of military officers
was given to a private housing societiy. But army took no action in this regard because several army
officials, including former army Chief h

 himself, had flats in this society. IBN7 did the
special investigation on this.
This 31-storey building has been built in Mumbai's Colaba Navy Nagar area. But no one knows how
army gave the permission to build a housing society on this land.
The building was constructed at a place where there used to be Khukri park, inaugurated by Field
Marshal Cariappa. Since 2000 the army used to maintain the park but after that some army officers
attempted to grab this land.
Maharashtra Government Revenue Department issued an order in 2003, in which it was written that
the government has decided to hand over this land occupied by the army to the housing society at a
fixed government rate.
However, it was not stated anywhere that the army-occupied land has been handed over to the
housing society.
However, when IBN 7 tried to learn the details, the then Revenue Minister Shivaji Rao Patil
Neanalngre said it is normal for the army to lend any piece of land to a housing society. Former
Revenue Minister said in that particular respect where army gave the land to the housing society, no
one raised any objection on the matter.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan¶s kith and kin are not the only beneficiaries of the scam involving allotment of flats in the

Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society in Colaba. Three former CMs ² Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and

Narayan Rane ² all of whom have been, ironically enough, potential contenders for Chavan¶s post and at some point
served as the sanctioning authority for the project, also stand accused of owning flats under µbenami¶ names in

Adarsh.

Deshmukh, who is currently the union minister for heavy industries, reportedly owns three apartments ² each one a
3-BHK of 1,076 sq ft carpet area ² on the 15th floor. The flats (1502, 1503 and 1504) are in the names of Uttam
Ghakare, Kiran Bhadange and Amol Kharbari ² real or fictitious individuals whose relationship with Deshmukh is not
clear.

Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is said to own a 3-BHK flat in the name of Major NW Khankhoje, while
former state revenue minister Shivajirao Patil Nilengakar allegedly owns two flats in the name of Dr Arun V Dawle
and Sampat R Khidse (flat no 2602).

The Adarsh gravy train has more members on board: Maharashtra revenue minister Narayan Rane too is accused of
owning two 3-BHK flats on the 17th floor, in the name of Girish Pravinchandra Mehta and Rupali

Harishchandra Raorane. Also, Archana Tiwari, a doctor with Bombay Hospital, reportedly got a flat in Adarsh by
virtue of being a good friend of Ratnakar Gaikwad, commissioner of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development
Authority (MMRDA).

The project had been approved by Chavan himself in 2002 when he was the revenue minister. Deshmukh, as the
then CM, had given the initial permissions for the construction of Adarsh Society, while Shinde, when he was the CM
in 2004, gave the final sanction for the project.

When contacted, Deshmukh denied the allegations. ³None of my relatives or party workers or friends own a flat in the
society,´ he said. Rane told h
, ³I only facilitated the treatment of two defense officials as µspecial cases¶, as they
did not have domicile of 15 years in Maharashtra. Their cases were taken up before the cabinet for approval.´
Nilangekar and Shinde were unavailable for comment.

Set up supposedly with the aim of ³accommodating and rewarding the heroes of the Kargil operation and those who
had laid down their lives for the protection of the motherland,´ if one looks at the initial list of society members of the
Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society, it comprised 40 members and included mostly defence personnel. Now the list
stands at 103, out of which only 37 members belong to the army and just three members have anything to do with the
Kargil war.

Meanwhile, two of Chavan¶s relatives who had been allotted flats in Adarsh, his sister-in-law Seema Sharma and
brother-in-law Madanlal Sharma, resigned from the society on Friday. Chavan¶s mother-in-law Bhagwati Sharma was
also a member of the society, but she passed away earlier this year.

ã  
 

Some of the bureaucrats and politicians who are accused of fraudulently obtaining flats for themselves or their
relatives:
Ashok Chavan, chief minister, Maharashtra Jairaj Phatak, ex-municipal commissioner (flat in the name of his son
Kanishka J Phatak) Ramanand Tiwari, state information commissioner (in the name of son, Onkar Tiwari) Suresh
Prabhu, Shiv Sena (own name) Pradeep Vyas, ex-collector, Mumbai ( in the name of his wife and fellow IAS officer
Seema Vyas) Jitender Awhad, NCP (own name) Indris Kundan, ex-ollector, Mumbai (own name)
Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, Congress (along with 2 sons, Kailash and Amit) Uttam Khobragade, BEST GM (in the name of
daughter, Devyani, an Indian Foreign Service official) Babasaheb Kupekar, Congress (own name) DK Sankaran, Ex-
chief secretary (in the name of daughter, Devyani) Shriniwas Patil, NCP (own name)
CS Sangitrao, ex-collector, suburban (in the name of son, Ranjit
Krishnarao Patil, Congress SC Deshmukh, Collector, Pune (own name) Arun Pawar, ex-income tax commissioner
(own name)
PV Deshmukh, secretary, urban development (own name).
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