Mumbai:
If the Adarsh Housing society scam shocked Mumbaikars, now another controversy on similar lines is here to haunt them.
The Bombay High court stopped the sale of flats at Harsiddhi Heights in Mumbai's prime Worli area after the Navy complained it was too close to its missile base INS Trata and did not have naval clearance.
As investigations proceeded, NDTV found out that several top bureaucrats or their relatives owned flats in the building, again raising questions about whether their influence helped garner clearances.
Among those who own flats in the building is, Ajay Nair, the son-in-law of former Maharashtra Chief Secretary RM Premkumar who outrightly rejected all allegations.
"My son-in-law bought the flat at market rates. I was not involved in clearances. The letter was addressed to the municipality, collector and subsequently to the chief secretaries as well. It was up to the municipality to act on the clearance it had given," said RM Premkumar to NDTV.
Another flat-owner Rachita Ratho is the wife of state Energy Secretary Subrat Ratho. The flat was purchased when Subrat Ratho was in the municipality.
However, Ratho clarifies, "I have not handled approvals for the building. My wife bought the flat after due diligence."
Satish Bhide, the then Joint Municipal Commissioner, also owns a flat but denied he handled any file.
Nikhil Gehrotra, a relative of former state Finance Secretary OP Gehrotra, also owns a flat but was unavailable for comment.
Another flat owner is former IPS officer YP Singh, now a lawyer, who helped expose the Adarsh scam.
In the Adarsh case, the babus who got flats had directly handled clearances. But, that link is not clear in the Harsiddhi case.
After the Navy's objections, the government issued a stop-work notice in 2008. By then the building was almost ready. The Navy alleges that the construction continued despite the stop-work notice
"The file moved through ten tables and all these people are now beneficiaries of the flats," alleges Bharat Kumar Raut, a Shiv Sena MP.
Flat-owners on the other hand say that Navy's clearance was not required in this case. Also, they claim that the Navy has not opposed to other buildings in the area, hinting at a personal vendetta.
"The policy for granting No Objection Certificates is still pending with the Ministry of Defence. No orders have come. Why is one building being targeted?" said YP Singh.
While allegations and counter-allegations continue, the question is, how could so many bureaucrats ignore the concern of the Navy and buy flats in the building?