Former Generals under scanner in housing scam

Mumbai: The connection of defence forces to Mumbai's Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam is getting deeper. The taint is spreading and many top Army Generals are facing the heat.

CNN-IBN has accesses documents which show that former Army Chief of Staff General Deepak Kapoor sought membership while he was still Army chief and that two other serving Generals were also granted membership to the society.

General Deepak Kapoor and Lieutenant General NC Vij had written letters seeking membership in the housing society. The letters were addressed to the then Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh by General Deepak Kapoor on June 19, 2008 and by Lt General Vij on the June 18, 2008.

The utter lack of propriety and military discipline apart what will cause embarrassment to the force is that General Kapoor was Army Chief in June 19, 2008 when he wrote the letter to Deshmukh.

But the question being raised is this enough? Can former Army Chiefs really claim ignorance that they were unaware the land was meant for Kargil martyrs and war widows?

"At the time I applied for the flat, I had long since retired from service. At that time I had no idea whatsoever even remotely that these flats were for the war widows," says Lieutenant General (retired) NC Vij.

Nearly every General Officer commanding the Mumbai area from September 2000 to July 2010 have all been given apartments in the controversial building. These include Major General VS Yadav, Major General TK Kaul, Major General Tejinder Singh and Major General RK Hooda.

The documents available with CNN-IBN show that membership approval was also granted to serving officers Major General RK Hooda and Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh.

After the scam came into the limelight General Kapoor, along with Lt General Vij and former Naval Chief Admiral Madhvendra Singh returned their flats.

The five officers are among the 35 armed forces officials who are beneficiaries of the controversial housing society.

The Ministry of Defence's initial report has already hinted at a collusion between top Army officers and the real estate promoters, and the fraternity is clear that action should be taken at the highest level.

"The 'izzat' (honour) of these three service chiefs has already been consigned to the flames," says Lieutenant General (retired) Shankar Prasad.

Even as the status of the land on which Adarsh Housing Cooperative Society building stands remains under question. The latest revelations that an Army Chief in his tenure wrote to a chief minister asking for a flat will certainly not go down well for a force that prides itself in its image.

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