Adarsh scam: 40 out of 87 society members' income/month listed as Rs 12,500

Viju B, TNN, Nov 16, 2010,

MUMBAI: Can someone who earns a monthly income of Rs 12,500 or below afford a flat in a posh, new Colaba building? The members of the controversy-ridden Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society show that this is possible even if they have to pay anywhere from Rs 65 lakh to Rs 80 lakh for the flat.

Documents procured under the RTI Act from the Registrar of Cooperative Societies show that at least 40 out of 87 proposed Adarsh members declared monthly incomes of Rs 12,500 or lower as of January 23, 2004 (71-member list) and December 31, 2007 (16-member list). Under a GR released in July 1999, civilians as well as retired defence and government employees cannot be eligible for memberships in societies like Adarsh, which are allotted land by the state government at a concessional rate.

While there is no income limit for serving defence personnel and government employees, defence sources said that then Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor had still under-declared his family income, which was listed as Rs 23,450 a month in 2007. "He alone would have earned many times the amount as Army chief back then," said a retired Army officer. "While Kapoor has shown a family income of Rs 23,450 a month, his lieutenant general ( Tejinder Singh) showed a family income of Rs 41,000 a month," said Yogacharya Anandji, whose RTI query uncovered the documents.

Admiral Madhvendra Singh listed an income of Rs 22,500 a month in 2004, while Brig M M Wanchu, one of Adarsh's office-bearers, lists his income as merely Rs 10,000 a month. They own flats in Adarsh along with a Nagpur driver Sudhakar Madke, who reported earnings of Rs 11,000 a month. Kailash Gidwani and Amit Gidwani, who are the sons of former MLC Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, one of the main promoters of the society, have listed monthly incomes of Rs 12,500 and Rs 11,500 a month, respectively, thus barely making the criteria. Both have flats in Adarsh along with their father.

J M Abhyankar, once the state education director, listed an income of Rs 15,000 a month. Devyani Khobragade, of the Indian Foreign Service and daughter of bureaucrat Uttam Khobragade, listed a family income of Rs 15,000 a month in 2007. Ranjit Sangeetrao, son of retired bureaucrat C S Sangeetrao, listed his occupation as business with a monthly family income of Rs 15,500, while Onkar Tiwari, son of former urban development secretary Ramanand Tiwari, said he was in service and listed an amount of Rs 16,667 a month.