‘Strong action’ against Adarsh wrongdoers: Antony

NEW DELHI - Assuring strong action against those found guilty in Mumbai’s Adarsh housing scam, Defence Minister A.K. Antony Wednesday said the government was probing the scandal in which some serving and retired armed forces officers are under the scanner for alleged wrongdoing.

Antony Wednesday said nobody, including armed forces personnel, found guilty in the housing scam would be allowed to get away.

Whoever is found guilty will be punished. Nobody will be spared, the defence minister told reporters on the sidelines of an aerospace seminar.

He said the armed forces have always been swift in taking strong action against its personnel found guilty of breaking service rules.

Whenever there are allegations and they are proved, we take strong action. Whatever the allegation, the armed forces and the government are taking action. No other agency takes this strong action. Only the armed forces take strong action, Antony contended.

He said two investigations are simultaneously taking place into the allegations that some senior serving and retired officers from the armed forces and defence ministry were allotted houses in the high-rise on prime army land in the upscale Colaba area of south Mumbai.

The land had ostensibly been transferred to a private housing society for building flats for war widows.

There are two inquiries by (the Central Bureau of Investigation) CBI and the army to fix responsibility. These investigations are going on. We will take whatever action is required. There will be no let up, he said.

We want to maintain integrity. We will not ignore it.

The defence minister was replying to questions on the 31-storey building that has come up within the security perimeter of an Indian Navy establishment. The scam was unearthed after the navy raised an alarm about the skyscrapper that was posing a grave security risk to vital installations.

A probe by the defence ministry has revealed that some army and defence estates officers had colluded with the private housing society to construct the building.