Scams that rocked India’s defence since 2007

Army chief General V.K. Singh on Monday dropped a bombshell by revealing that a retired lieutenant general had offered him a bribe of Rs.14 crore (Rs.140 million) for approving the supply of 600 sub-standard vehicles to the army.

He also made it clear that he had brought the matter to the notice of Defence Minister A.K. Antony soon after the offer was made to him.

With Antony now ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into Gen. Singh’s allegation, here is a low-down on some of the scams that rocked the defence ministry since 2007 and the outcome of the investigations.

Adarsh Housing Society scam:

The case involves top armed forces officers and defence estate officers issuing a no-objection certificate to Adarsh Housing Society, comprising retired and serving personnel, to build a 31-storey housing complex with 104 flats. The building came up on a 6,450 square metre plot of land inside a high security naval campus in upscale Colaba area of Mumbai.

Originally proposed as a housing scheme for widows of Kargil martyrs, it later came to light that politicians, bureaucrats and senior defence officers including three former army and navy chiefs had got flats allotted to them by misusing their official positions.

It also came to light that several norms relating defence land had been violated including issuing of no-objection certificates to enable the construction of the housing society.

The scam hit headlines in 2009 and later, the probe was handed over to the CBI, which has last week arrested several former armed forces officers including a retired major general and a brigadier .

Among those named as part of the beneficiaries of the housing society were former army chiefs Gen. Deepak Kapoor and Gen. N.C. Vij, and former navy chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh. The three officers, after their names became public as Adarsh beneficiaries, returned the flats.

Sukna land scam:

Two senior lieutenant generals and a major general were named in converting a 70-acre land adjacent to Sukna military station in Siliguri of West Bengal into an educational institution by handing it over to a private trust.

The controversy involved issuing of no-objection certificate for the private trust to buy the land for construction of the educational institution on the condition that wards of army personnel from Sukna military station too would get to study there.

Then army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor’s military secretary Lt. Gen. Avadesh Prakash and then 33 Corps commander Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath were court martialled in the case and punished for their involvement in the alienation of the 70-acre land that was originally a tea estate.

The court martial had dismissed Lt. Gen. Avadesh Prakash from service after finding him guilty in the case.

Ration supplies scam:

The case of a scam in ration supplies to army personnel in high altitude areas broke out in 2007 and then Army Service Corps chief Lt. Gen. S.K. Sahni was found guilty in the case in 2011 and dismissed from service.

Sahni had retired from service when he was court martialled and cashiered from service.

Frozen meat scam:

Another Army Service Corps top officer, Lt. Gen. S.K. Dahiya, was also indicted in a separate case involving irregularities in the procurement of frozen meat for troops posted in Ladakh and discrepancies in procurement of dry rations in early 2007.

Dahiya is now retired from service, though he was awarded a recordable censure by the Northern Army commander for the offences.

Ordnance Factory Board scam:

The defence ministry, earlier this month, debarred six defence firms — four of them foreign — from any future deals with Indian ordnance factories for the next 10 years, after they were named in a graft case involving former Ordnance Factory Board director general Sudipto Ghosh.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the case, had filed a charge sheet against Ghosh in June 2010 in Kolkata and recommended the blacklisting of the firms — Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK), Israeli Military Industries (IMI), Switzerland’s Rheinmetall Air Defence, Corporation Defence Russia, New Delhi-based T.S. Kishan and Company Private Limited and Ludhiana-based R.K. Machine Tools Limited.

-via India Today.

Society sits on army chiefs’ resignations

Rajshri Mehta.

Since the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam came to light, four senior retired defence officers gave up their flats in the Colaba building. The society, however, is yet to accept their resignations and refund their money.

Major General R K Hooda (retd) who had held the post of General Officer Commanding of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, and three retired chiefs in the Armed Forces-former Navy chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh and the two Army chiefs Generals Deepak Kapoor and NC Vij Hooda-have resigned as members of the housing society. Though they refused to comment on the issue, TOI has learnt that they’ve all paid a significant amount of money towards their flats.

Singh has allegedly paid around Rs 81 lakh, after taking a loan of Rs 70 lakh from the State Bank of India, according to Income-Tax documents. Vij had paid around Rs 67 lakh towards his flat, while Kapoor purchased his apartment through a combination of a home loan of over Rs 20 lakh, personal savings and the money earned from the sale of a property he owned in his hometown.

Society members who did not wish to be named said it would be a while before they discuss the four withdrawals. One member said: “We are awaiting an order from either the court or the commission set up by the state government about the occupation certificate, before which we cannot take a decision on the matter. We are angry with the chiefs for deserting us when we required them to defend us and are sure to revoke their membership even if they want to withdraw their resignation.”

At the time the Adarsh scam came to light, Singh, speaking for himself and on behalf of the two army chiefs, had said, “At no stage we were aware that these flats were meant for Kargil war widows as claimed by certain sections of the media and if that be so, then we have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever in returning these flats to the authorities concerned.”

R K Hooda had submitted his resignation from the society after Army Chief V K Singh ordered an inquiry into his role in the Adarsh scam. Though the inquiry found Hooda “not blameworthy”, he was not made lieutenant general. He has also been issued a show-cause notice for taking a loan without the army’s permission.

-via The Times of India

10 Army Generals indicted in Kargil-for-profits scam

Ex Army Chief, Gen Deepak Kapoor

An army court of inquiry (CoI) into Mumbai’s Adarsh Housing Society scam has indicted former chiefs Gen Deepak Kapoor and Gen N.C. Vij.

The CoI also indicted four lieutenant generals and three major generals. The officers indicted include Lt Gen G.S. Sihota, Lt Gen P.K. Rampal, Lt Gen Shantanu Choudhry, Lt Gen Tejinder Singh, Maj Gen Ram Kanwar Hooda, Maj Gen A.R. Kumar, Major Gen V.S. Yadav and Maj Gen Tej Kishen Kaul.

The CoI found the conduct of the officers blameworthy. It said that prima facie culpability had been exposed and it was now for the CBI to probe the matter.

Ex Army Chief, Gen N C Vij

The army submitted its CoI report to the defence ministry last week.

In December last year, Defence Minister A.K. Antony had ordered a CBI probe to fix responsibility of the armed forces and defence estates officers in the Adarsh scam, in which a private housing society got NOC to construct a 31-storey complex on a plot in Colaba.

The plot was meant for Kargil war heroes but they did not get homes in the complex. The scam also cost then Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan his job.

-via India Today and Times Now

Land scams mark 2010 for armed forces

The Defence Ministry and the Armed Forces were stung by the scam in Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai involving top serving and retired generals in 2010, leading to the case being handed over to CBI for investigating the rot in the system of defence land management.

Former army chiefs General Deepak Kapoor and General N C Vij, along with retired navy chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh, were named as some of the beneficiaries of the 31-storey apartment building that reportedly came up on an army land within the security perimeter of critical naval installations in upscale Colaba.

After the navy leadership in Mumbai shot off a letter to the Defence Ministry seeking a probe, it came to light that some serving army officers had allowed the building to come up in 2003 right under the military authorities’ nose, leading to the ministry asking CBI to probe the case.

Separately, the army also ordered a court of inquiry against serving officers, including the then Mumbai Area Army commander Maj Gen R K Hooda.

That apart, the Sukna land scam in West Bengal in which some top army officers from the military station in Siliguri district had issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to a private builder for constructing an educational institution continued to keep the defence brass on the tight rope.

After a court of inquiry, Kapoor, who retired in March last year, had to order disciplinary action against his Military Secretary Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash, who too had retired just about a month earlier.

Court martial was also ordered against Prakash, as also Lt Gen P K Rath, who was the station commander when the Sukna land NOC was issued to the private builder in 2009.

These land scams apart, Army’s then Engineer-in-Chief Lt Gen A K Nanda had to face allegations of misbehaving with the wife of another officer junior to him during an official visit to Israel in April last year.

A court of inquiry ordered into the allegations against Nanda said the charges could not be proved beyond doubt against him, but he did behave in a manner that went against service conduct.

DRDO too had failures in its efforts to develop weapon systems for the Armed Forces after nuclear-capable Prithvi-II 350-km range and Agni-II Plus ballistic missiles went dud during tests.

-via The Economic Times

‘Stringent action against army officers in Adarsh scam’

Named: Ex Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor Named: Ex Army Chief Gen N C Vij Named: Ex Navy Chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh

Army Chief General V. K. Singh on Wednesday said stringent action would be taken against army officers found guilty in Mumbai’s Adarsh Housing Society scam and added that an internal inquiry is on against the named.  “See the thing is that according to army’s law, inquiry has to be conducted. Because the case (Adarsh Housing Society scam) is with Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and when CBI hands over some inquiry details to us, then we will forward it,” General Singh told reporters. “The internal inquiry is on, when internal inquiry will be over, then we can take action against those who will be found guilty,” he added, while highlighting the ongoing inquiry by the army. Earlier in the day , Defence Minister A K Antony said the government and the armed forces will not spare any person, who is found guilty of wrongdoing in Mumbai’s Adarsh Housing Society scam. The 31-storey Adarsh Society, originally meant for Kargil war heroes, landed in controversy after media reports stated that several high ranking army/navy officers, politicians and bureaucrats owned flats there. The CBI had on November 15 registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) to probe the alleged role of former and serving Army officers, with the permission of Defence Minister A K Antony. The plush housing Society, built on prime defence land, has been constructed in alleged violation of rules. It was originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and their kin, but was later extended to 31 floors without mandatory permission. -via India Talkies