Adarsh Society scam: Where are the Kargil martyrs in the allottees?

Mumbai: Mumbai's Adarsh Housing Society may have become the catchment area for a massive political controversy, but Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan denied the complex was meant for Kargil martyr's families.

"The land was never reserved for defence personnel or Kargil heroes," Chavan said at a press conference on Friday, attempting to come clean on the issue while responding to allegations that top politicians, bureaucrats and Army officers appropriated land meant for Kargil heroes.

The question then arises: Just who was the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society intended for?

Sources in the Maharashtra government told NDTV that in the original application submitted in 1999-2000, Adarsh promoters asked for land in the name of retired and serving defence personnel.

The first time widows were mentioned at all was in a letter to the Mumbai Collector dated April 5, 2000 in which Colonel S S Jog GOC, HQ, Maharashtra and Gujarat said, "Necessary action at your end may be taken as deemed fit for the welfare of service personnel/ ex servicemen/their widows."

There was no mention of Kargil.

The first time Kargil was mentioned was in a letter in June 2000 to the then state Revenue Minister Ashok Chavan. Ironically, this was the time when the promoters wanted to extend the allotment to civilians saying, "We need your kind help to accommodate and reward our heroes of Kargil. We have many officers in the society who participated in Operation "Vijay"."

Not just once, but repeatedly the name of Kargil martyrs was used to wrangle benefits. Even though at the time they sent these letters, only three Kargil martyrs figured in the list of allotments.

"Only 3 Kargil martyrs were allotted flats in the society," Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said.

What's clear is, at the end of the day what started off as a defence initiative, ended up becoming general extending to bureaucrats, politicians and some defence personnel.

Here's a list of flat owners in the Adarsh Society:

1.  Shri RC Thakur      
2.  Brigadier MM Wanchu       
3.  Commander Rajiv Pilo     
4.  Commander AS Balakrishnan
5.  Surg Capt PS Tampi
6.  Shri Parmanand K Hinduja    
7.  Shri Sudhakar Laxman Madke    
8.  Smt Sushila Shaligram   
9.  Admiral Madhvendra Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
10.  Shri JM Abhyankar
11.  Shri PV Deshmukh (Was secretary in Urban Development department)
12.  Shri Gajanan S Koli     
13.  Shri Amol V Kharbhari     
14.  Shri Kiran Bhadange     
15.  Shri Kanhaiyalal Gidwani (Congress MLC)
16.  Shri Kailash K Gidwani (Son of Congress MLC Gidwani) 
17.  Shri Amit K Gidwani (Son of Congress MLC Gidwani)
18.  Shri Arun P Pawar
19.  Major Ashish Tandon   
20.  Lieutenant Commander A Puran Kumar     
21.  Major General VS Yadav
22.  Lieutenant General PK Rampal      
23.  Colonel Amarjeet Singh
24.  Lieutenant Colonel PH Ram      
25.  Brigadier AC Chopra
26.  Lieutenant Colonel RK Singh 
27.  Commander John Mathew    
28.  Major General Tej Kishen Kaul, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 
29.  Lieutenant General GS Sihota      
30.  Brigadier MD Singh      
31.  Commodore Gopal Bharati     
32.  Brigadier Romeshchander Sharma     
33.  Lieutenant General Shantanu Choudhry    
34.  Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh     
35.  Brigadier Tara Kant Sinha     
36.  Captain AP Singh      
37.  Lieutenant Commander Chunnilal 
38.  Shri Rajesh Shantilal Bora    
39.  Dr Arun V Dawle      
40.  Shri Sampat R Khidse     
41.  Shri Anand S Bharose  
42.  Smt Seema Vyas (wife of former collector Pradeep Vyas)
43.  Shri Kanishka J Phatak (son of former Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak)
44.  Miss Supriya V Maske     
45.  Shri Shriniwas D Patil     
46.  Shri Shivajirao C Deshmukh    
47.  Shri Shah Dhaval Rajesh     
48.  Ms Kavita S Godbole (related to Cong MLC Gidwani)
49.  Commander Harbhajan Singh (Retired)    
50.  Shri Malav J Shah  
51.  Shri Rajesh Kumar Das     
52.  Shri Aditya B Patil      
53.  Ms Sumeela Sethi      
54.  Shri Chandrashekar R Gaikwad   
55.  Shri Shivajirao Shankar Kale     
56.  Shri Krishnarao D Bhegade    
57.  Dr Sanjay Radkar      
58.  Shri Arun S Adate      
59.  Shri Jitendra S Awhad (NCP MLC)
60.  Miss Soniya S Kholapure     
61.  Shri Vishwas B Chougale    
62.  Shri Raghunath M Bhosale 
63.  Shri Suresh Prabhu (Shiv Sena)
64.  Shri Uttam Ghakare     
65.  Major NW Khankhoje     
66.  Shri Nivruti G Bhosale
67.  Shri Amar Singh Waghmare  
68.  Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh, VSM    
69.  Shri Krishnajirao Rakhmajirao Desai (alias) Babasaheb Kupekar (Former Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly)
70. Shri Ranjit Chintamani Sangitrao (son of bureaucrat)
71. Devyani Khobragade (daughter of former BEST GM Uttam Khobragade)
72. Lieutenant Commander Gurumukh S Grewal    
73. Smt Seema Vinod Sharma (Relative of Ashok Chavan)
74. Shri Jagdish Ambika Prasad Sharma
75. Shri Sajjan Singh Yadav     
76. Shri Kedari Vishal Kishore    
77. General Nirmal Chander Vij, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM
78. General Deepak Kapoor, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC
79. Smt Idzes Angmo Kundan (former city collector, currently working in Secretariat)
80. Shri Onkar Tiwari (son of Ramanand Tiwari, then secretary of Urban Development Department)
81. Shri Balasahib Yeshwantrao Sawant
82. Shri Sadusing Fulsing Rajput   
83. Mr Mukundrao Govindrao Mankar
84. Mr Sanjoy Shankaran (son of former Chief Secretary D K Sankaran)
85. Mr Paramveer Abhey Sancheti
86. Mr Suresh Gulabrao Atram
87. Ms Sheetal Vinod Ganju 
88. Mr Anil Kumar Thakur     
89. Mr Bhavesh Ambalal Patel
90. Mrs Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma (Ashok Chavan's late mother-in-law)
91. Mr Madanlal Milkiram Sharma (Ashok Chavan's relative)
92. Mr Satyasandha Vinayak Barve    
93. Major General Ram Kanwar Hooda     
94. Mr Dhondiram Ganpati Waghmare
95. Colonel KJS Khurana                                        
96. Ms Raorane Rupali Harishchandra
97. Shri Siddhartha Sonu Gamre    
98. Shri Girish Pravinchandra Mehta   
99. Shri Manilal K Thakur
100. Petty Officer Sushil Chand Sharma  
101. Shri S B Chavan
102. Captain Praveen Kumar
103. Dr (Mrs) Archana Tiwari