Nothing ideal about Adarsh

The Adarsh Housing Society scam, in the works for a full decade, is still to run its full course. The Bombay High Court has ordered the demolition of the housing complex in a tony part of Mumbai and inquiry against politicians, ministers and officers involved in allowing its construction. But the accused have three months to appeal in the Supreme Court. What is new about a demolition order? City administrations routinely chip away at protruding balustrades while courts keep ordering the pulling down of an offending extra floor or two. Mumbai has seen high-profile cases like allocating prime plots for a song to the evergreen BCCI administrator-politician Rajiv Shukla’s wife or to Hema Malini, Bollywood star turned ruling party MP. 

Adarsh Housing was different because of the roll call of people in high offices who colluded to corner flats meant for Kargil war widows. It was also bipartisan; politicians across party lines effected “blatant violations” that showed “greed, nepotism and favouritism”. As a result the six-story building usurped land earmarked for a bus depot and morphed into a 31-floor skyscraper on land barred for construction of any kind whatsoever. The Central Bureau of Investigation was also overwhelmed by the power list of the ineligible and the courts had to jolt it from inactivity.

Public trust in those holding public offices is so low that not many believe the building would ever come under the sledgehammer. Some are even asking for it to be converted into a government hospital or orphanage. Their altruism may be in order but law-breakers must not be allowed to escape because such blatant violation of the coastal regulation zone must pay the ultimate penalty. The sight of ball and cranes assaulting the tower should serve as a stark reminder to all those planning similar capers. At the same time, the government must allot a suitable plot of land for the 60-odd war widows and speed up the probe against politicians and bureaucrats identified by the court.