Lalla, who was secretary in the Chief Minister's Office when the Housing Society's file was being processed in the state secretariat, is the first bureaucrat to resign for his alleged involvement in the Adarsh scam.
In fresh trouble for members of the scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society, which is already under a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate has issued notices to the Society and its members, asking them to furnish information regarding payment towards the purchase of flats. The ED began its probe into allegations of money laundering and benami transactions after facing severe criticism from the Bombay high court.
The Army said on Wednesday that it is carrying out an inquiry into Mumbai's Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society row in which a high-rise building has been constructed in alleged violation of rules with beneficiaries being former services chiefs, politicians and bureaucrats.
The two-member panel, which had submitted its interim report to the government last Friday, has also held that the building was not reserved for war heroes and Kargil widows.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday detained two people, including an IAS officer, for alleged irregularities in granting sanction to the multi-crore Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai. The two -- former Maharashtra Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Ramanand Tiwari and IAS officer Jairaj Pathak -- were called on Tuesday morning to the CBI office in Mumbai and questioned extensively by the agency in connection with the scam.
Of the nine accused, those who secured bail include IAS officer Pradeep Vyas, former deputy secretary in Urban Development Department P V Deshmukh, Brigadier (retd) M M Wanchoo, retired Defence Estates Officer R C Thakur, Major General (Retd) A R Kumar, Major Gen (Retd) T K Kaul and former MLC Kanhaiyyalal Gidwani.
The ruling Congress in Maharashtra has cut a sorry figure after its leader, former chief minister Ashok Chavan, has been chargesheeted in the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
Members of the controversial Adarsh Housing Society on Monday approached the Bombay high court, challenging the cancellation of the Occupation Certificate and the cut in electricity and water supply. The Society's occupation certificate was cancelled by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and its power and water supplies were cut by the civic body on November 3 after it was revealed that the building was constructed in alleged violation of civic rules.
Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said action against Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai for violation of green norms will be taken in the next two-three days.
Alleging that all government authorities were ganging up on Adarsh Housing Society, the society's counsel on Friday told the Bombay High Court that the Ministry of Environment and Forests had cleared various construction projects in the city without insisting for a clearance from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.
The Bombay High Court asked the controversial Adarsh Housing Society to submit a list of its original members, as well as that of existing members.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has claimed to have found incriminating documents pertaining to the Adarsh Housing Society from the premises of senior Indian Administrative Service officer and former Mumbai civic chief Jairaj Phatak.
The fate of Mumbai's scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society, which is facing a threat of demolition for allegedly violating green norms, is expected to be decided by the environment ministry by the this week-end "The ministry is likely to announce its final decision on Adarsh by Friday," said an official source.
In an attempt to put forth their version, the Adarsh Housing Society, which has been embroiled in a scam over alleged irregularities, has launched a website giving out details of the society and how they procured permissions from the Maharashtra government.
Earlier, the Navy had informed the Central Bureau of Investigation that it had not given clearance for the construction of the building.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday pleaded his innocence in the Adarsh housing society scam, saying he never cleared any files relating to the project.
Stung by the Adarsh Housing Society scam, the army is all set to order a court of inquiry into it while the defence ministry plans to slap show cause notices against serving officers.
The Centre gave an assurance to the court that the building would not be demolished.
Shinde was the chief minister of Maharashtra from 2001 to 2003 when he cleared many files including allotment of land to Adarsh.
After quizzing two Union ministers in connection with the multi-crore Adarsh scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation has examined former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, as the agency prepares to wrap up its probe in the housing society case.
Reacting to the Environment Ministry'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.
Government auditor Comptroller and Auditor General has started a comprehensive audit into the role of armed forces, Coast Guard and Colaba administration in land allotment to the scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, named an accused in the Adarsh housing society scam, on Monday continued pointing fingers at his predecessor and Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for decisions taken while allotting land to the controversial housing society.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to file chargesheet against diplomat Devyani Khobragade and her father Uttam Khobragade in the Adarsh Housing scam for allegedly acquiring a flat on the basis of false affidavit.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had issued directions to submit in 2003 a proposal regarding ownership of the land where the controversial Adarsh Housing Society stands, despite knowing that there was a park constructed by the Army there, City Collector Chandrashekhar Oak told a judicial panel on Wednesday. "A letter was sent by the then collector on August 26, 2003 regarding the allotment of land of Khukri Park to Adarsh Society," Oak said.
Stating that Adarsh Housing Society had brazenly violated the law, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on Monday ruled out the possibility of regularizing the 31-storey building, at a hearing before the Bombay High Court.
The Indian Army on Saturday ordered a court of inquiry into the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai and the alleged role of senior serving and retired officers, including Major General R K Hooda, in it.
Stung by the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai, Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation to fix responsibility of the armed forces and defence estates officers in the episode. He also asked the CBI to look into the circumstances under which a No Objection Certificate was issued to the housing society to construct the 31-storey building on a piece of land, which was in the 'de facto' possession of the army.
Amid apprehensions that several important files relating to the Adarsh Housing Society scam may have been destroyed in Thursday's fire at 'Mantralaya', officials of the CBI and the judicial panel probing it said they have copies of all relevant documents.
Acting on the Supreme Court's order, the Army has begun the process of taking over the possession of the scam-tainted Adarsh building at Colaba in South Mumbai.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to question former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan in connection with his alleged role in the housing society scam in Mumbai. The official said Chavan may be quizzed 'in connection with a letter he had cleared and signed recommending the inclusion of civilians in the society' which was originally meant for widows of Kargil war heroes and war veterans.
Contesting Environment Ministry's show-cause notice, Mumbai's scam-hit Adarsh Housing Society on Monday demanded an immediate end to proceedings against it, insisting that it had got all the required clearances and the contention otherwise was "misplaced and incorrect".
Nearly two months after he was chargesheeted in the Adarsh housing society scam, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan on Monday moved the Bombay high court seeking quashing of the cheating and corruption case registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In a severe blow to the Ministry of Defence, a defence estate official on Tuesday told a judicial panel, probing the Adarsh Housing Society scam, that the land where the controversial high-rise stands, is not owned by it and belongs to the Maharashtra government.
The special court in Mumbai on Thursday extended the Central Bureau of Investigation custody of former Principal Secretary of Maharashtra's Urban Development Department, Ramanand Tiwari, and former Mumbai municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak, till April 17 in the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
A day after registering a case in the Adarsh housing society scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday carried out searches at various premises in Maharashtra and Bihar that belong to the three main accused named in the FIR. The searches were conducted at the residences and other places of the society's general secretary R C Thakur, retired Brigadier M M Wanchoo and Congress leader K L Gidwani in various parts of Maharashtra and Bihar.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday accused the ruling Congress in Maharashtra of carrying on a cover-up operation to avoid the arrest of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in Adarsh Housing Society scam.
The inquiry commission probing the Adarsh Housing Society scam has issued summons to former Maharashtra chief ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan to appear before it as witnesses. The two-member commission, which summoned Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde last week, issued summons to Deshmukh, presently Union minister for rural development, and Chavan.Chavan had to step down as the state chief minister last year following the Adarsh controversy.
Two years after it was set up, the two-member commission which inquired into Adarsh Housing Society scam submitted its final report to Maharashtra government on Thursday.
t also stayed the order for 12 weeks to enable Adarsh Housing Society to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
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