SC asks Adarsh Society to consider paying for maintenance

The Supreme Court today asked the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society to consider bearing the expenses to be incurred on maintenance of the 28-storey scam- tainted building, whose possession has been handed over to the Centre in pursuance to the apex court's order.
The observation came from a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre when the counsel for the housing society said the Centre be asked to ensure maintenance of the building as there was no power connection and hence, the lifts are not working and there would be safety concerns in case of any mis-happening.
Various equipments including lifts, power generator, fire-fighting equipment and a pump house, installed in the apartment premises, are not working at present, the counsel for the society said.

"You will have to bear the expenditure to be incurred on maintenance,only then we will ask the Centre," the bench said, adding "the choice is with you. If you want to pay, then we will ask the Centre to do the needful."
During the hearing, the bench also said if the society won the case, then why would it ask the Centre to pay for maintenance.
The court asked the counsel for the housing society to take instruction and apprise it on September 2 as to whether it was willing to pay for the maintenance.

Meanwhile, the Centre told the apex court that it has not yet received the entire possession of the building as out of 104 flats, 93 are locked and the keys are not with it.

The apex court had on July 22 asked the Centre to secure possession of Adarsh apartments, built at Colaba in posh South Mumbai locality, for Kargil war heros and war widows, after taking its possession from the housing society by August 5.
The bench had also said that the word "secure" meant that there will be no razing.
It had also issued notices on a batch of pleas, filed against the Bombay High Court decision ordering demolition, by the housing society and some allottees.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar had said that the building in question was built on defence land and the Director of Military Estate or his nominee would take over its possession.

The High Court, while ordering demolition, had stayed the operation for 12 weeks of its order to pull down the building close to the sea at Colaba, to enable the society to move the apex court with the appeal.
In its order, the HC bench had asked the Ministry of Environment and Forest to carry out the demolition at the expense of petitioners (Adarsh Society).
It had also asked the Centre and Maharashtra Government to consider initiating civil and criminal proceedings against bureaucrats, ministers and politicians for misuse and abuse of power to get plots under the scheme, originally meant for Kargil war heroes and war widows.

The Adarsh scam kicked up a huge political storm after it surfaced in 2010, leading to the resignation of then Congress Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.
In February this year, the Maharashtra Governor accorded sanction to the CBI to prosecute Chavan under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code in the case.
In 2011, the state government had set up a two-member judicial commission headed by Justice J A Patil to inquire into the scam.
After probing the issue for over two years, it submitted its report in 2013, which found that there had been 25 illegal allotments, including 22 purchases made by proxy.

Later, the CBI, the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also investigated the scam.
In January 2011, the union ministry of environment and forest had issued a demolition order mainly on the ground that the society did not have CRZ clearance.
Adarsh Society had filed a petition in 2011 in the Bombay High Court challenging the demolition order issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
The Defence Ministry had also filed a petition in the high court seeking implementation of its demolition order, besides filing a title suit in the high court claiming it was the owner of the plot on which the plush Adarsh Society building stands in South Mumbai.