Adarsh scam: SC announces stay on demolition, orders Military Defence Estate custody of society

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay, for now, the demolition of the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society building in Mumbai and told the Military Defence Estate office to take custody of it.

Justices J. Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre said an inventory of documents would be prepared under the supervision of the registrar of the Bombay High Court before being handed over to the office bearers of the Adarsh Society.

The handing over of possession has to be done on or before 5 August. The process will be supervised by Registrar General of Bombay HC or by his nominee Registrar.

“We will secure the building and there will be no demolition”, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told Supreme Court.

SC has asks Centre to take over possession and secure the controversial Adarsh society building in Mumbai.

The Bombay High Court had in one of its earlier hearing dating 2 May, 2016 had ordered the demolition of the 31 storey co-operative building.

The Court, while ordering demolition of the multi-storeyed Adarsh Housing Society, had squarely blamed its members for conspiring with politicians and bureaucrats to grab a plot “which was not in existence” in the development plan as a residential area.

It was “carved out” by eating into a road, it said.

Members of the Society happened to be close relatives of highly-placed bureaucrats and or related to politicians or ministers, said a division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Rajesh Ketkar in the 223 page-judgement.

On 29 April, delivering the operating part, the HC had sought criminal proceedings against politicians and bureaucrats for “misuse” of powers, holding that the Society, originally meant for Kargil war heroes and war widows, was constructed illegally.

With inputs from agencies