Adarsh Society: Tenor of order malafide, says lawyer Maneshinde

NEW DELHI - Reacting to the Ministry of Environment’s decision to demolish the 31-storey Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, the society’s counsel, Satish Maneshinde on Sunday said that the tenor of the order is completely malafide.

“The tenor of the order is completely malafide… unfair hearing… the minister was bent upon demolishing Adarsh since the beginning… we will challenge the demolition,” Maneshinde said.

Earlier, accusing the controversial Adarsh Society of violating the spirit of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) laws, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the society ’should be demolished in entirety’.

“Adarsh Society should be demolished because it lacked green clearance, Ramesh said in a report submitted today.

The Ministry of Environment had earlier served a notice to the society asking it why the illegal floors in the building should not be demolished.

The Adarsh scam claimed its first victim last year in the form of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who was forced to resign after reports surfaced that his kin owned flats in the society.

After Chavan, top bureaucrats too faced the axe, most notably among them being Maharashtra’s Chief Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari and Human Rights Commissioner Subhash K Lalla.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has announced a judicial probe into the Adarsh scam.havan said the commission would submit its report to the government within three months.

The 31-storey Adarsh Housing Society, originally meant for Kargil war heroes, landed in controversy after media reports said that several politicians, bureaucrats and defence personnel owned flats there.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had on November 15 registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) to probe the alleged role of former and serving Army officers, with the permission of Defence Minister A K Antony. (ANI)