PAC questions top defence officials in Adarsh housing scam

Top defence officials today faced tough questions from Parliament's Public Accounts Committee when they appeared before it in connection with the CAG report on the Adarsh Housing society scam.

The PAC demanded answers from them on how the society was formed with defence officials as part of it and why no objection was raised by the ministry concerned or the army top brass when the proposal was moved.

The defence officials were also asked as to why no alarm bells rang during construction of the 31-storey building, which was now being dubbed as a security threat.

Congress members including Sanjay Nirupam also questioned them on the ownership of the land on which the skyscraper had been built.

Nirupam asked the defence officials to present the ownership documents of the land on which the building had been constructed.

Defence Secretary SK Sharma, Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen AS Lamba, Vice-Chief of Naval Staff Vice Adm RK Dhowan and several other senior officials appeared before the PAC.

The PAC asked the defence ministry to submit all affidavits it has filed before competent courts in connection with the Adarsh Society case.

They have also been given a week's time to produce the documents as also the title deeds of the controversial piece of land.

A top army officer told the PAC that if CBI is able to establish criminality in the case, action will be taken against the guilty under Army Act and related provisions.

Secretaries of the ministries of Urban Development and Sports along with officials from Home Ministry and I&B ministries appeared before the PAC.

They briefed the Committee on the organisation, structure and budget of the Commonwealth Games held in Delhi in October last.

Some of the members wanted to know the procedure adopted in the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as the chairman of the CWG Organising Committee.

Organising Committee CEO Jarnail Singh was also present and is understood to have told the PAC that he had no significant powers.

The PAC has also asked for the report of the Shunglu Committee constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to go into the conduct of the CWG.

The CAG had dragged the PMO in the CWG mess by saying that Suresh Kalmadi, who is jail for alleged irregularities, was appointed as Organising Committee chief at its behest in 2004 despite "serious objections" from within government.

The auditor had also named Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for her "active involvement" in causing a loss of Rs30 crore as it highlighted how wasteful expenditure worth several hundred crore of rupees was caused in conduct of the CWG through "irregularities", "favouritism" and "bias" in award of contracts for projects.

The CAG, in its report on the Adarsh scam, had found that rules were bent to favour relatives of politicians, public servants and senior service officers, including former Army chiefs Gen Deepak Kapoor and NC Vij.

The government auditor had also named two former chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Sushil Kumar Shinde as part of the process of giving clearances to the Society's project. It came down heavily on concessions granted by the Maharashtra government.