Bombay HC orders demolition of Adarsh Housing Society

Mumbai: Bombay High Court on Friday ordered the Union Environment Ministry to demolish 31-storeyed Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society. The court has also ordered inquiry against the politicians, ministers and officers involved in the high-profile Adarsh Housing Society scam. The court has given 12 weeks time to the Devandra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra Government to appeal in the Supreme Court against its order. The society, originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and war widows, was converted into a 100-metre-tall building. Meanwhile, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan while talking to ANI avoided commenting on the decision and said he doesn't want to react on the judgement. The Adarsh scam claimed its first victim in the form of 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. 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.