How Ministers children rule India?

Politician to son: Don’t come back to India
by Anant Rangaswami Oct 15, 2012
My dear son,
When you went abroad to study, it was with a clear understanding that, once you finish your education you would return to India. We took a family decision when your education ended; that it made sense for you to stay in the US for a few years more, enjoy your youth, money and then return and stand for elections as Member of Parliament from the constituency our family has represented for so many decades.
It has been five years since you left, and, last week, when we spoke on Skype, you told me that you believed that it was time to return. At first, I was delighted. Then, after the call was over, the import of what you planned to do sank in. My impulse was to call you back immediately, but I thought I’d put my thoughts down in an email so that you have a better understanding of what I want to say and why I say it.
In a nutshell, I do not want you to return to India. The India of today is not the India that you left. Much has changed – and much of the change negatively affects families like ours.
“The India of today is not the India that you left. Much has changed – and much of the change negatively affects families like ours”. AP There is a change in the balance of power in society. People do not understand what people like me, member of parliament, do – and no longer acknowledge that all of us, thanks to the great sacrifices we make for our constituency, do not live like normal people.
Just the other day, a fellow Member of Parliament was almost shamed in the context of what media is calling a Rs 71 lakh ‘scam’. The media, who no longer seem to have respect for people like us, are harassing him the whole day, treating him like a common cheat. Even worse is the case of Robert Vadra, Priyankaji’s husband. It seems DLF lent Robertji Rs 65 crore without any security – and the media and social activists are making that out to be a crime. What crime? Many friends in business have lent me hundreds of crores without any security over the decades – and they haven’t even asked for me to return it. Why would they? After all, as a friend, I’ve helped them on so many instances that they’ve earned fortunes from our friendship. Now, media is making it sound like it’s a crime for MPs and ministers to help friends. What a terrible state of affairs.
Sharad Pawar’s nephew has been forced to resign because of some allegations on a developmental work that he was involved in. Media says that he helped contractors make extra money by approving of rises in estimates after the contracts were awarded. What is wrong with that? Your grandfather used to do the same with his friends, as did I.
Ministers like Raja, Kanimozhi and Kalmadi have been jailed because of trying to help their friends. This is where our country is going to. No one has any respect for our class any more, and the media and social activists are being helped by the courts – they’re ganging up against us.
Things are bad in India, son. It is becoming difficult for people like us to carry on in the way we are used to. We are treated like commoners, we are called cheats and thugs. We’re reaching a stage when toll booth attendants expect us to pay – an FIR was filed against an MP who, obviously got upset at the request and threatened the attendant with a gun for his cheek.
It is getting very petty. The other day, Air-India staff at Guwahati charged three MPs for carrying excess baggage. MPs not being allowed excess baggage on the national airline, and lowly employees of Air-India not respecting them? This is the new India, the India you want to come back to!
That’s why I write this note to you. Do not come back to India, and forget about plans on a career in politics. Come to Geneva next week; I will meet you there. I will transfer money to your account so that you can invest in a house in New York. As far as business is concerned, maybe you could buy a university nearby. After all, your uncle has six universities in India and they are quite profitable. I will ask him to guide you when you begin your venture.
Will discuss in detail when we meet next week.
With love from your father.
Politician to son: Don’t come back to India

Adarsh Scam: Gen NC Vij did not apply his mind

Ref:‘I did not apply my mind to question whether Adarsh was security threat’
Former Army Chief General (retd.) N.C Vij, says he was not aware of a parliamentary query about land ownership
COMMENTS:

Dear Gen. Vij; This is not expected of a retd. army chief. Army chief not being informed about the parliamentary questions and applying for the membership of the same society after retirement. It is not done, Sir.
from: Krishnan Posted on: Aug 23, 2012 at 05:20 IST

Sad that an ex- army chief can give such evasive answers that reeks of malafide intentions. Despite visiting the 28 floor of the building where he had been allotted a flat, if he did not think of Adarsh as a security threat to the military installations surrounding the area, then he should not have been in the position of military chief. Any layman - not necessarily with a military background, knows that a civilian construction offering a birds-eye view of military installations is a security threat. And he says " people occupying the building need to be scrutinised from security angle and whether the persons occupying the building are trustworthy and dependable". How in the world is that possible in a civilian premises? Can he please offer an answer?
from: V.J. Nambiar Posted on: Aug 23, 2012 at 07:38 IST

Firstly, while unequivocally accepting the unimpeachable personal integrity of the former chief of army staff and former vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, the simple legal stand in most cases of land ownership and issue of encumberance certificate that precedes transfer of title to property presupposes that ignorance of a possible fraud, forgery, foul play or manipulation committed cannot stand in the way of title and access to disputed property being restored to the legal owner / lessee. Ignorance of law and absence of malice could only perhaps somewhat mitigate the legal exposure of the victims but cannot stand in the way of title of ownership from being restored to the rightful owner. Hence all those who had invested in or been awarded membership will stand to lose title to the disputed property if it is proven that the Society had no legal title to begin with or if the legal title had been obtained in violation of rules and regulations in force.
from: R.N. Iyengar Posted on: Aug 23, 2012 at 08:29 IST

MoD lays claim on Skinner Estate

MoD lays claim on Skinner Estate
Raman Mohan/TNS
Friday, August 31, 2012, Chandigarh, India
Hisar, August 30
The Ministry of Defence has laid its claim on the famed Skinner Estate in Hansi, a sub divisional town of the district about 25 km from here. The estate under litigation is located on the Delhi Road. Its commercial value is estimated at Rs 200 crore.
The Defence Estate Officer of the Bathinda circle of the ministry has filed an application in a court at Hansi saying that the land belonged to the Indian Army and its sale by a builder was illegal. It said that the estate was established by Col James Skinner who raised the Skinner’s Horse regiment, a cavalry unit which was now a part of the Indian Army.
Skinner established the regiment’s headquarters on this land measuring 214 kanals of land. The Officers’ Mess and a graveyard to bury the martyrs was also established on this land. Through a lawyer the Defence Estate Officer pleaded that the respondents had accepted these facts in a petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He reiterated that the land had historical monuments which are of great importance to the army and these should not be allowed to be demolished.
The estate has been a subject of controversy for three decades now when it was first sold in the late eighties. However, the deal fell through. About two years ago, a group of residents of Hansi led by a politician purchased this land from some of the descendants of Skinner. The legal complications however prevented the group of builders from selling plots carved out from this land.
After reaching a settlement with the company which had purchased the land in the eighties, hundreds of trees inside the estate were cut and plots were carved out for sale.
Some of the other descendants of Skinner filed a suit in a local court against the builder. The Defence Ministry has pleaded in its application that it be made a party to this case.
The land was granted to James Skinner as a ‘jagir’ by the British for the services he rendered to the British in the battle for Bharatpur in 1818. The ‘jagir’ rendered Skinner a revenue of Rs 20,000 a year in those days.
Skinner was born in 1778 in Calcutta to Lt Col Hercules Skinner, a Scottish officer in the British Army. James Skinner’s mother was a daughter of a blue-blooded Rajput zamindar. She was taken prisoner in her teens during a battle. James’s father took her under his care and married her. They had six children. His mother committed suicide when he was 12 years old.
Because of his Indian lineage, Skinner was ineligible to serve as an officer in the British army like his father. So at the age of 16, he joined the Maratha army as an ensign under a French commander of the army of the then Gwalior state. He served the Gwalior army for several years and impressed his superiors to rise in the ranks. However, he was dismissed from the Maratha army after the outbreak of the second Anglo-Maratha War. He was sacked along with all other Anglo-Indians.
He kept trying to join the British Indian Army then commanded by Lord Lake. On February 23, 1803, Skinner raised a regiment of irregular cavalry and named it as Skinner's Horse. The officers and men of the regiment were called the Yellow Boys after the colour of their uniform. The regiment showed its prowess in many battles and ultimately it became the most decorated regiment of light cavalry in the British Indian Army. It is still a part of the Indian Army.
In 1828, James was promoted to the rank of a Lt Col in the British Army, while his brother, Robert was promoted as a Major. Later, James became a Colonel after having been appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath on December 26, 1826.
MoD lays claim on Skinner Estate

Adarsh Scam: Army Chief's spin the Judicial Commission

Another ex-Army Chief Gen Vij says Adarsh no security threat
Published: Wednesday, Aug 22, 2012, 21:22 IST
Place: Mumbai | Agency: PTI
After Deepak Kapoor, another former Army Chief NC Vij today took a stand at variance with the defence ministry when he said he did not see the controversial Adarsh Society building here as a security threat.
Gen Vij told a judicial panel that what mattered was credentials of occupants, not the 31-storey building itself.
"I visited Adarsh building only for a few minutes. I did not consider the security aspect....it is not the building but the occupants who have to be scrutinised from security angle. If the occupants are trustworthy and dependable, then there is no question of security threat," Vij told the two-member commission set up by Maharashtra government to probe the Adarsh scam.
Earlier, Gen Kapoor had told the commission that he did not consider Adarsh -- which stands very close to a Defence premises -- as security threat, because there were several other high-rises in the area.
The stand taken by Vij and Kapoor is in sharp contrast to Ministry of Defence's claim that the highrise building in upscale Colaba is a security threat, and should be pulled down.
"As far as security threat aspect is concerned, it requires detailed appreciation of a number of factors like the population profile of cantonment, how many civilians and military personnel are there, the layout of the general area, the vulnerable targets and the surrounding area profile. This has to be done by the Local Military Authority," said Vij.
Soon after the scam broke, he learnt that several personnel of Local Military Authority and Southern Command were members of Adarsh Society, Vij said.
Both Kapoor and Vij were members of the society, and later sought to surrender their flats when allegations about illegal permissions granted to Adarsh by civic/state authorities cropped up.
"I have written letters to the society and Collector of Mumbai seeking to surrender my flat, but I have not got any reply," Vij said.
Another ex-Army Chief Gen Vij says Adarsh no security threat

Adarsh scam: Former Army chief under scanner

Former Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor was on Thursday (July 19) quizzed in connection to the Kargil for profit scam. Gen Kapoor today deposed before judicial commission probing the scam. The former army chief was quizzed on writing personal letters to politicians on letter heads. When asked by the commission, "Do army rules permit army personnel using of letter head to write personal letters to politicians?", Gen Deepak Kapoor is said to have replied, "I am not aware of any rule which prohibits doing so."
Contradicting Ashok Chavan, the promoter of scam-tainted Adarsh Society today said the former Maharashtra chief minister had suggested increase in the number of civilians in the Society, essentially meant for defence personnel.
Adarsh scam: Former Army chief under scanner
Comment: Exemplary punishment must be given to guilty Army Chief's who have proved to be cheaters and corrupt. Otherwise the morale of the Military will continue to sink.

Corruption of Indian Generals Proved

Almost every month, we see some odd case of corruption in the Indian armed forces, but involvement of the senior ranked army officers like Major Generals, Lieutenant Generals and full Generals in corruption cases is a matter of concern for the whole Indian Army. It is due to this fact that over the years, the confidence of the soldiers over their military leadership has been dwindling because of their mall-practices, raping women, involvement in sex scandals, becoming party to land mafia groups and involvement in financial embezzlements.
What are the probable reasons for Senior Officers to embezzle?
1. Greed and selfishness
2. Inculcating and enjoying the Five Star culture and beget VIP status cum treatment (living literally free on the house) during service.
3. Own and buy a palatial house prior to retirement which costs about Rs one crore. (Adarsh Scam is a pointer- few cases have surfaced in Pune and other states too).
4. Lavish Family living styles and compulsion of favouring relatives with monetary aid.
5. Costly education for children. Capitation Fees for Medical and Engineering colleges.
6. Lack of Professionalism which tempts Senior Officers to take bribes from contractors and vendors especially those posted in AHQ and Delhi.
7. Skewed ACR system which encourages sycophancy and corrupt dealings. More corrupt the better the ACR rating and promotion (9 pointer guaranteed).
8. Fake Gallantry awards for promotion purposes.
9. Exploiting the junior officers to collude into corrupt activities.
10. Detection of corruption and embezzlement is difficult in a closed loop military envirnonment. Lack of deterent punishments for senior officers.
11. Peace time fatigue is ideal and provides a fertile ground to breed and plot scams which will enrich them. The Bureaucrats become godfathers of Senior Military Officers for protection.(Military scams like Tatra doing the rounds is a testimony).
12. Management and fudging of Military Grants, Regimental Funds and Canteen profits encourages senior officers to plan bigger maney spinning rackets. (like CSD scam and NDA Scam).
13. Fudging Medical Records for promotions. Quid pro quo arrangements with Medical Authorities is common
14. Physically unfit Officers promoted based only on ACR.
15. Selection and appointment of poor quality leaders in the higher echelons by manipulating postings due to Political and Bureaucratic interference and compulsions is widespread and common.

Is corruption cooling or collapsing the economy?

I’d like to fight against corruption: Gen V K Singh
Sanjay Yadav, TNN Jun 11, 2012, 02.49AM IST
GURGAON: Former Army chief, General V K Singh, participated at a felicitation ceremony at Jatoli-Haily Mandi in Gurgaon said that he appreciates the efforts of Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare, who are campaigning against corruption.
Interacting with media persons in Pataudi, General Singh said that Ramdev and Hazare are fighting for the common man and people should support them.
However, the former Army chief did not drop a hint whether he would join either of the two camps.
Anna Hazare has already expressed that he would welcome like-minded people like Singh after his retirement to be a part of his team to fight corruption.
The Army chief said that during his 42 years of service in the Indian Army, he has hidden nothing from people. The former Army chief said that now he would live like a common man and would start a campaign to make people aware against corruption.
I’d like to fight against corruption: Gen V K Singh
Is India heading towards worst economic collapse?June 13, 2012
Corruption is mounting pressure on India’s economy. There is a significant economic slowdown posted by poor industrial output during the last couple of months. On 11th June, International Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has warned that India could become the first nation from BRIC countries to lose investment grade rating. And the recent downturn could be due to the poor economy policy of the coalition UPA Government at the centre.
So, what is wrong with Indian economy. All over world, people look towards India for any outlook that India is supposed to present to smaller countries for sustainable growth and development. But what is happening to one of the strong pillar of BRIC nations? Other BRIC nations like Brazil, Russia and China enjoys a higher rating of S&P at present than India. Why S&P has to come with a special report this time on BRIC nation’s economy titled `Will India Be The First BRIC Fallen Angel?’ The common people of India do not know how the Government is planning to revive the economy or what is the road-map for the next one year. However, there is a deep concern among citizens about the depraving level of corruption among various tiers of governments in the country. As usual, the politicians have summarily rejected report of S&P. But intellectuals of India are taking this report very seriously. We have the also the recent reports coming from the World Bank that they have cut growth forecast for India from 7.5% to 6.9%.
Chairman of Wipro Technologies Mr Ajeem Premji has recently commented that we are virtually living without a leader in the country. This is what an eminent businessman has to say about our prime minister. Infosys founder and well-known name in Software industry Mr N R Narayan Murthy has also joined the debate by raising the issue of policy paralysis at the centre and many pending matters before the cabinet which eventually affecting the growth.
If citizens of any country is facing challenges of poverty, inflation and non-development, they will directly blame government. And India is also not different. Baba Ramdeo is leading a crusade against black money stacked outside India in foreign banks. Anna Hazare is leading another protest of rampant corruption in public life and asking government to bring tough law to control this. Gone are the days when we were pointing fingers to other countries known for their corrupt public officers. We should not forget that when you are pointing a finger towards other person, the rest of your fingers is actually pointing towards you. This has become true in case of India.
Almost everyday, we get the news of a new corruption story through the media. Now, we feel that the rampant corruption is the real reason for inflation and poverty. It has now devastated our economic, political, social and moral structures. If immediate and drastic action is not taken, S&P will be forced to downgrade India’s investment growth rating. Then the nation will run into the risk of total and irredeemable collapse. The time has come for all the Indians to join hands together and support the movement of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdeo. Then only we can halt the collapse of Indian economy.
Is India heading towards worst economic collapse?
Comment
Printing money to solve a nation's economic problem can never be sustained. Eventually, it will lead to the debasing of a nations currency and run-away inflation. Yet for a short period, it can create an artificial prosperity, deluding the masses into believing this new prosperity can be sustained. The long-term consequences of inflating their money supply will spell disaster and have dire consequences for the economy and negatively impact the masses and their livelihood.

We pray that the accuser does not become the accused

9 Jun, 2012, 02.18AM IST, ET Bureau
Criminal defamation case: Delhi court summons Gen VK Singh, four others
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has summoned former Army Chief VK Singh and four top-serving officers in a criminal defamation case filed by retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh.
Metropolitan Magistrate Jay Thareja ordered VK Singh, Vice-Chief of Army Staff SK Singh, Lt Gen BS Thakur (DGMI), Major General SL Narshiman (Additional Director General of Public Information) and Lt Col Hitten Sawhney to appear in court on July 20.
Tejinder Singh filed the defamation case after VK Singh had alleged in an interview in March that he was offered a 14-crore bribe by the former to clear the purchase of 600 Tatra trucks from BEML. Tejinder Singh accused the five officers of misusing their official positions, power and authority to level false charges against him. He had filed the complaint alleging he was defamed by the Army through its press release issued on March 5.
The court said on Friday the summons were only for the alleged offence of defamation. "However, it is made clear that the accused are not being summoned qua the allegation of hatching a criminal conspiracy against the complainant (Tejinder Singh).
Upon appreciating the entire evidence and material produced before this court, the allegation regarding hatching of a criminal conspiracy by respondents appears to be absurd and without any foundation. The accused are only being summoned qua offence as described under Section 499 (defamation) read with Section 35 (act done with criminal knowledge or intention) of the IPC," the magistrate said.
The court directed Tejinder Singh to file a process fee along with copies of the complaint and documents within a week of the re-opening of the court on June 21. "Upon filing of the process fee, copies of the complaints and the documents, the accused shall be summoned for July 20," the court said.
The court had earlier directed the defence ministry to place before it the file related to the issuance of the March 5 press release to ascertain whether or not the five persons accused of defaming Tejinder Singh had any role in it.
The press release blamed Tejinder Singh, former chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency, and some 'disgruntled' serving officers of the Military Intelligence for 'planting' a report in the media relating to purported tapping of some sensitive phones in the capital. The file pertaining to the press release was submitted to the court by defence ministry's under secretary R Sunder. The court had also recorded his statement during an in-camera proceeding in which he said some of the documents placed were "privileged."
Criminal defamation case: Delhi court summons Gen VK Singh, four others
Comment
In India, 95% of the criminal cases are dismissed. Even if this case is not dismissed, it wont hurt the statistics. When we see the definition of defamation, it is any statement made, which is defamatory. A criminal complaint is a statement, certainly a defamatory statement. Off course the accused has certain exception as defence- truth of the complaint or information to authority. However, as per Section 104 of the Evidence Act, the court shall presume against existence of any such cisrcumstances. Further, onus is on the accused to prove that his case falls under any of the exceptions. So at the time of filing complaint process must be issued and trial should be conducted, so that the accused can prove his innocence by proving some exception. Generally in India most of the Political Criminals file for defamation. This increases their chances of getting elected again- calling it Political Vendetta. Readers footage
Himanshu • 13 hours ago•
There was story of discussion between people of hell and heaven... hell got the best lawyers to defend them by paying best bribes and kickbacks and heaven guys were struggling just for their basic rights by true means... Countries last hope was judiciary but even these seems to have gone to dogs and likes of Abhishek Manu Singhvi who get paid to proof right to wrong (UTube footage).... All honest guys just watch it.. Corrupts have started ruling this country... God save us... GOD has already retired from india, realising that no one can cure corruption plaguing this country...

Adarsh scamster confident of clean chit from CBI and court

Confident of coming out clean in Adarsh scam probe: Sushilkumar Shinde
Published: Saturday, Jun 2, 2012, 21:46 IST
Place: Solapur | Agency: PTI
Union Power Minister and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday expressed confidence that he would come out clean in the ongoing investigations into the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
He was questioned by the CBI last year in connection with the approval given to the scam-tainted multi-storeyed housing complex in Mumbai.
Both Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh, another former Chief Ministers, dealt with files and passed proposals pertaining to the 31-storeyed building in a posh south Mumbai locality, which was granted permission after allegedly flouting rules and regulations.
Talking to reporters here in Western Maharashtra, Shinde said he had done no wrong whatsoever. "I had only performed my duty as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra (in 2003-04) while sanctioning the permission for Adarsh building. That was a routine work," he said.
The CBI has registered a case against 14 persons, including former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who had to resign when the scandal broke out in 2010, some retired Army officers and Government officials on charges of criminal conspiracy, fraud and misuse of official power.
"I am clean and clear in my mind. There is no mental tension," the Congress leader said when asked about being summoned to appear before a judicial panel, which is also looking into the scam, later this month.
Confident of coming out clean in Adarsh scam probe: Sushilkumar Shinde
Comment:
Military Officers are 100% more cleaner than Politicians. It means all scamsters will be declared clean by the CBI and the Court. Indian Laws are mind boggling as all powerful lawyers who make laws are tainted. We need the intervention of the Almighty to steer us on the right course.

President's Pune Home: Is surrender of land a diversionary tactic?

President returns Pune plot to Govt.
April 28, 2012 2:20 am
President Pratibha Patil, who has recently come at the centre of a controversy over her post-retirement home in Pune, on Friday decided to give up the controversial plot back to the government.
Confirming the development, the Presidential spokesperson said, “President Patil has decided to give up the Pune land on which a bungalow, meant to be her post-retirement home, was to be built back to the government.”
“The President is answerable to the people of India, Constitution and her conscience. The land will remain with the government,” Presidential spokesperson said. The controversy about President Pratibha Patil’s post-retirement home erupted after an organisation of ex-servicemen in Pune alleged that over fives acres of land had been allotted for purpose of her residence after she demits office later in July this year when her five-year term ends.
Suresh Patil, a retired Lt Col of the Pune-based ‘Justice for Jawan’, part of NGO ‘Green Thumb’ group, who has accessed details about the Government’s measures for providing her housing in Pune, claimed that a large extent of land measuring over 2.60 lakh square feet had been allotted to her in Khadki cantonment in Pune.
He claimed that a house with a plinth area of 4,500 square feet was being built for her by bringing down two British-era county bungalows. The former Army official questioned why such a large extent of land was being fenced to protect this house for Pratibha Patil, who recently made news when an RTI application brought out the fact that over Rs 205 crore were spent on her foreign travels.
President returns Pune plot to Govt.

First President Vs Present President: Comparative Study

First President Deshratna Dr RAJENDRA PRASAD
He remained and lived in a thatched-roof house before he shifted to DELHI in 1946 & took to office as MINISTER, FOOD & AGRICULTURE, later as PRESIDENT of the CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (1946-1949) & still later, as the FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA (1952-1962). After relinquishing the office of the PRESIDENT OF INDIA in MAY 1962, he returned to PATNA on 14th MAY 1962 and preferred to stay in the campus of BIHAR VIDYAPEETH rather than anywhere else. He lived for some months in the old house with thatched roof, which he had occupied earlier till 1946. This house was not at all suitable for his age and the state of health. Therefore LOKNAYAK JAYPRAKASH NARAYAN volunteered and collected some funds to get a small house constructed in a corner of BIHAR VIDYAPEETH'S MANGO-GROVE. DESHRATNA Dr. RAJENDRA PRASAD lived in this house until his passing away on 28th FEBRUARY, 1963.

Present President Her Highness Pratiba Patil
Contrast this with our (Madame) Present President Pratiba Patil
Pratibha Patil has been indulging in luxurious life. Since becoming the President, Pratibha Patil made twelve trips to foreign countries with her family to 22 countries. This has cost the government a whopping Rs.205 crore. Her last visit with her family members ended yesterday with trip to South Africa before her term ends. On all her foreign trips, a chartered Boeing 747-400 was kept ready for her entourage including her family members. She also made the government incur expenditure on her luxurious accommodation in five star hotels, local travel, miscellaneous expenses and daily allowances. A life of lavish royalty. Will she be forgotten for her misdeeds? She attempted to ursurp military lands at pune for her family and build a Palace worth Rs 5 crore ... she just failed! She moved in with a dozen boxes to Rashtrapati Bhavan and she will leave with a couple of container loads of artefacts and furniture... totally denude the Presidential House! A shameful present President indeed.... Watch out for more news in the media...
India's growth story is really continous history.... slaves, feudals, political criminals, intrigue, Indian bureaucracy, Swiss secret accounts, terror, black money, money laundering, hawala transancions, benami operations and exploitation of the weak.....
A Banana Republic-
New Avatar of Democracy.... India's Growth story is worth watching... The President leads the nation in morals and ethics!

Army chief Gen VK Singh trashes Adarsh report

03 May 2012, 7:23PM IST| Duration: 03:14

Adarsh Housing Society Enforcement Directorate finds involvement of former Maharashtra CM Kanhaiyalal Gidwani in Adarsh scam Mail Today Bureau Mumbai, Saturday, May 5, 2012 | 08:45 IST
If the Centre wants information about black money, they need not go far. They could well start with Adarsh, feel investigators probing the multi-crore housing society scam. They claim to have unearthed unaccounted transactions worth crores that have been paid in order to purchase flats in the 31-storey housing society.
For starters, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had registered a case of money laundering against 13 people on March 5, has found the involvement of another former Maharashtra chief minister, who has two benami flats in Adarsh.
The politician in question was a chief minister prior to 1990. Investigators claim this politician has two flats, one of which is on the 26th floor of Adarsh. The flats have been brought through a third party. These two were part of the four mystery flats whose real ownership the investigators were trying to ascertain for some time now.
The other two flats in question are located on the 15th floor and were meant for another former chief minister as a favour for clearing the Adarsh file. The flats are in the name of Amol Kharbhari and Kiran Bhadange and money for these flats came from Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, who gave loans of Rs 55 lakh to each of them. But before the flats could be handed over to the former CM, the Adarsh scam broke out and the transaction could not take place.
What's interesting is that Kharbhari managed to get a loan from Gidwani even though he didn't have a PAN card nor did he manage to furnish income-tax proof for the past three years. They are also probing how a former collector and MP managed to buy a flat despite claiming his income to be Rs 12,000. Incidentally, as an MP, his allowances would be more than Rs 25,000 per month. They also claim to have found evidence that a part of the payment for a flat that was in the name of a relative of former chief minister Ashok Chavan, was not made by the Congress leader, but by another member of Adarsh society, as a favour for him being allotted a flat. Chavan was also Chavan was also alleged to have received Rs 65 lakh from former joint commissioner of traffic, Sanjay Barve, towards payment of a flat which is in the name of the former's motherin-law. Barve, in return, got a flat for his father.
It's not just politicians. Investigators claim a number of bureaucrats are also under the scanner. They are astounded as to the number of bureaucrats' children, who despite claiming their salary to be Rs 12,000, still managed to purchase flats worth Rs 65 lakh and above in Adarsh. The ED is now issuing summons to the owners, asking them to provide payment details while buying the flats and also give supporting documents.
"There are several owners, who by their financial standing, could not have managed to purchase the flats. These are the people who are under suspicion," an officer said.
Enforcement Directorate finds involvement of former Maharashtra CM Kanhaiyalal Gidwani in Adarsh scam

MHA now has Fake CBI Officials

Three arrested for cheating people by posing as CBI officials Press Trust of India | Updated: May 06, 2012 22:58 IST NDTV Report
New Delhi: Three persons, including a senior scientific officer of Central Forensic Science Laboratory and an employee of Revenue department, were today arrested for allegedly entering into a criminal conspiracy and cheating people by posing as CBI officials and demanding bribe. The CBI conducted searches based on a complaint from a property dealer in Ghaziabad against A R Arora, Senior Scientific Officer working with CFSL, alleging that he had threatened him with police action by lodging a complaint against him.
CBI examined the complaint and registered a case against Arora, an assistant posted in Department of Revenue Shiv Charan, a private person identified as Manish Sharma and an official of Central Excise Department under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, CBI spokesperson said.
After registering cases, the CBI carried out searches at various places in Delhi and Karnal in Haryana and claimed to have recovered Rs. three lakh in cash from Arora's residence.According to the CBI spokesperson, it was alleged that the Senior Scientific Officer, while introducing himself as Additional Deputy Director CBI, falsely informed a property dealer based in Ghaziabad that a complaint against him was pending, for which the property dealer was required to visit h Arora is alleged to have threatened the property dealer that he would use his powers and register a criminal case against him and later advised him to get the matter pursued through Sharma by giving illegal gratification for settling the "complaint", which was false, the spokesperson said.
In another case, Arora is alleged to have actually carried out an illegal and unauthorised search at the premises of some businessman in order to obtain illegal gratification, the spokesperson said.
It was alleged that an employee of Shiv Charan, an assistant in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, an official of Central Excise and Manish Sharma introduced themselves as public servants with powers to carry out search operations, and conducted illegal and unauthorised searches.
After the searches, they demanded an illegal gratification from the businessman to abate the search proceedings and allegedly received a huge amount as bribe, the spokesperson said.
click here for the original post: Three arrested for cheating people by posing as CBI officials
CBI and Chidambaram
CBI likely to whitewash Armsgate scam: ROOTS OF POWER by MADHAV NALAPAT

President Pratiba and MEA sing the same tune

The disastrous presidency of Pratibha Devisingh Patil
Apr 28, 2012by Abhay Vaidya
At a time when issues relating to land grab by politicians and politically-connected builders have been hitting the headlines day in and day out, the 12th president of India, Patibha Devisingh Patil, and her advisors should have picked up the first signs of trouble over her post-retirement home in Pune.
Patil is technically right when she says that she cannot be accused of “land grab” in Pune. Her defence is that the 2.61 lakh sq ft land being developed for her bungalow premises under the Khadki cantonment Board in Pune would continue to remain with the defence ministry. The land ownership had not changed hands and so, she has not “grabbed” any land.
Where Patil erred was in being insensitive to the issues raised by ex-servicemen in Pune such as retired colonel Suresh Patil and his NGO, Justice for Jawans. An infuriated Patil asked why so much land was being allotted to president Patil and a 4,500 sq ft bungalow constructed afresh when there was an acute paucity of accommodation for soldiers posted in Pune.
Pratibha Patil will be remembered for setting new standards in lowering the dignity of the president's office. Adrian Streun/Reuters
They pointed out that the land for Patil’s bungalow was meant for military use. Patil and his fellow crusader and RTI activist Anup Awasthi also used the Right to Information Act, 2005 to get the facts on the president’s post-retirement entitlements for housing. The reply they got from the president’s office further intensified their agitation: Under the rules, a retired president was entitled to 2,000 sq ft of “living area” to be taken on lease in case suitable government residence was not available. In the case of a government residence being allotted to the ex-president, the size of the bungalow could go up to 5,498 sq.ft – the highest entitlement for a union minister.
Patil’s mistake was to get 2.61 lakh sq ft land allotted to her and authorise the construction of a new, 4,500 sq ft bungalow on it.
Was the president taking her lavish lifestyle at Rashtrapati Bhavan a bit too far? Given the honour, prestige and dignity associated with the president’s office, her senior staff should also have done some background checks and intelligence gathering on the ramifications of the controversy brewing in Pune. At the end of it, it is the president who has cut a sorry face, despite her protestations.
Although this president is from Maharashtra — the northern Jalgaon district to be precise — she has no emotional connect with the people of Pune. Just as her foreign trips sparked a controversy because of the Rs 200 crore expenditure and the large family entourage, domestically, her many trips to Pune also became a talking point. Her trips to Pune were far more frequent than those of her predecessor, president APJ Abdul Kalam, who had a hectic tour schedule. In Patil’s case, however, questions were asked whether her trips and extended halts in Pune had anything to do with family visits as her daughter’s family resides in Pune.
Given this background, her decision to settle in Pune after retirement did not come as a surprise. The family connection made headlines in 2010 when the Maharashtra government allotted commercially attractive plots of land to trusts headed by her Pune-based daughter Jyoti Rathore and Maharashtra rural development minister Jayant Patil.
The two plots with high commercial potential were allotted in village Jambhe in Mulshi taluka, within five km off the Mumbai-Pune expressway and the IT park at Hinjewadi. Rathore’s Maharashtra Mahila Udyam Trust had to pay just Rs 6.72 lakh to the government for the 7.93 hectare plot with an estimated market value of Rs 19 crore. The plan included 27,300 sq metre of land for a residential school, 20,000 sq metres for a college and 32,000 sq metres for a playground. Rathore had then told the media that the trust paid the money as per government procedure and ready-reckoner norms, and did not get the land at a “throwaway price”.
In February, president Patil’s son and Congress MLA Raosaheb Shekhawat was interrogated by the Amravati police in connection with the seizure of Rs 1 crore in hard currency from a car coming from Nagpur. The money was hidden in the luggage compartment of the car and the Maharashtra Congress and Shekhawat explained it as “party funds” meant for distribution to poor Congress candidates ahead of the civic polls on 16 February. Many found this explanation laughable and wondered whether the cash was meant to buy votes.
A career politician from Jalgaon known for her loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family, Patil gave the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi the historic opportunity of nominating India’s first woman president. This decision to give preference to loyalty and gender over merit while selecting the presidential nominee, proved disastrous as Patil was already enveloped by many controversies.
She had already been accused of mismanagement at the Sant Muktabai Cooperative Sugar Factory controlled by her and the alleged involvement of her brother GN Patil in the VG Patil murder case in Jalgaon in 2004. These were among the controversies that resurfaced the moment Patil was nominated by the UPA for presidentship in 2007.
Among all the 12 presidents of India, it is President Patil’s term that began and is now ending on a low note. The previous low point that the office of the president witnessed was when the seventh president of India, Giani Zail Singh, clashed with then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He had also famously said that he was willing to become a sweeper but was asked by his leader (Indira Gandhi) to become the president of India.
It is now Patil, more than Singh, who will be remembered for setting new standards in lowering the dignity of the president’s office.
http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-disastrous-presidency-of-pratibha-devisingh-patil-292042.html
Comments: All her foreign visits were planned by MEA headed by a tainted Foreign Minister- both were lavish in denuding the exchequer... no accountibilty at all... victims are the citizens of the Nation. The tax payers taken for a joy ride.

Anti Corruption Activists unite the MP's

Now, Ramdev draws ire of MPs PTI New Delhi, May 3, 2012
After social activist Anna Hazare and his team, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has stoked a controversy calling MPs “dacoits and murderers,” evoking strong condemnation from parliamentarians who asserted that such “insults” are unacceptable.
Addressing the media while launching his month-long yatra in Chhattisgarh's Durg on Tuesday, Baba Ramdev said there were good people among the parliamentarians and he respected them. “But there are dacoits, murderers, illiterates among them. We have to save Parliament. We have to remove corrupt people.”
He accused the MPs of not caring for farmers and labourers.
“They are friends and slaves of money. They are illiterate, dacoits and murderers. They are devils in the form of humans, who we have elected to those posts. They are not worth it,” he said.
The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with Speaker Meira Kumar and several MPs, including senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, not mincing words in deprecating the Yoga guru's utterances and asked people to show respect to Parliament.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad was also unsparing in his criticism saying the yoga guru was a frustrated man and a “mental case.”
“Ramdev is frustrated, whoever speaks like this is frustrated. He is a mental case,” Mr. Prasad told reporters.
Samajwadi Party member Shailendra Kumar sought action under the rules of parliamentary privilege against people making such “derogatory” references against MPs. Such derogatory remarks made openly on public platforms amounted to breach of privilege of Parliament, he said.
The Speaker said, “The Constitution is supreme. It has granted a certain position to Parliament. We all should take care of this first.”
Lashing out at Baba Ramdev, Mr. Sinha said insult of Parliament and lawmakers and indeed that of Constitution had become a norm now. “And who insults the more is a bigger hero now. This is absolutely wrong. Nobody has the authority, no matter how big the individual is, .... it insults the democratic institutions.”
BJP MP Kirti Azad said, “It has come to such a situation that in this country, nowadays anybody can speak anything and get away with it. No one seems to be in any control. However, I am surprised that Ramdev made such remarks.”
Union Minister Harish Rawat said Ramdev was raising a question mark on the whole democratic set-up.
Congress MP Jagadambika Pal said character assassination of Parliament and parliamentarians was not acceptable.
As his comments enraged parliamentarians, the Yoga guru on Wednesday sought to defend his remarks saying he had repeatedly noted that there were many “good” politicians in different parties.
“But there are certain people who are corrupt, have allegations of being characterless, have criminal charges and socially have a bad name. I have not said anything new. I have been saying it for long. That is why, the honest, good politicians do not have any objection to what I have said. But those who are corrupt, and have criminal records, they will obviously object to what I have said,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hazare came to the defence of the Yoga guru saying whatever he had said “is not wrong.”
“There is one thing that whatever Ramdev has said is not wrong. If it is wrong, there is proof against so many people today. When parties give tickets, why they give it to tainted people,” Mr. Hazare asked.
MP's react to truth
Comment: Sad to say many of the MP's come to serve themselves and also their families found to dabble in launder money. Most of them live a life of comfort on the tax payers money. There is no accountabilty for most of them... the citizens are left high and dry. Every election is repeat performance... it easy for crimnals to get elected rather than those who can serve the Nation.

Adarsh: A calculated Military Ponzi scheme to reap a harvest

Adarsh case: Land does not belong to defence, says interim report
Reported by Priyanka Kakodkar, Written by Mala Das | Updated: April 18, 2012 01:40 IST
Mumbai: In a huge relief to the Maharashtra government, the judicial commission of inquiry looking into the Adarsh housing scam has held that the land on which Adarsh Housing Society stands belongs to the government, and not the Army.
The state government had approached the commission a few months ago seeking an interim report on the points of title and reservation. A two-member panel was set up to probe the scam in January last year.
The panel, which submitted its interim report to the government last Friday, also held that the 31-storey high-rise was not reserved for war heroes and Kargil widows.
Findings of the interim report, many say, could impact the case of the CBI that's running a parallel probe contending it's a Defence land grab. The investigating agency, however, says that these findings will not affect its case as it is not investigating the land title but the larger conspiracy and corruption.
When the Adarsh scam broke, politicians, bureaucrats and Armymen were accused of grabbing Defence land. This report comes as a vindication of the state's stand that it was government land and it was free to allot it.
"From day one, we have been saying the same thing. But the issue was so hyped by the media and after a lot of publicity and media attention, nobody accepted the stand of the government," said Union Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told NDTV.
"There is no conspiracy. That is established today," said former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan.
This report provides some relief to those involved in giving initial clearances like former chief ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde.
The judicial panel has been tasked with probing all aspects of the scam, including ownership of the land and allotment, as well as alleged violations of rules in grant of various clearances to the building. The commission is also looking into violation of coastal zone regulations.
The illegal green clearance against which the Union Environment Ministry has taken a strong stand came during Mr Mr Shinde's tenure. During Mr Deshmukh's tenure, doubtful additional building rights were granted to Adarsh. And Mr Chavan still faces charges of conflict of interest as three family members were allotted flats in Adarsh during his tenure as revenue minister.
Original Post- click here
Comment
Who then are the culprits who handed over the Khukri Garden Military Lands to Adarsh? Till that point of time there was no controversy regarding the Military Land Ownership. The criminals have arm- twisted the Military out of its fencing! The Adarsh scam is only a droplet in the ocean- an eye- opener to what is is happening in all the cantonments- Land sharks have ursurped Miltary Lands by paying bribes to title holders at the lowest level but operating from the top....

Adarsh scam: CBI arrests Maharashtra Finance Secretary Pradeep Vyas

Updated Mar 21, 2012 at 09:37pm IST
Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested IAS officer Pradeep Vyas in Mumbai in connection with the Adarsh housing society scam. Vyas is currently posted as the Finance Secretary of Maharashtra and is also a former collector on Mumbai.
This takes the number of arrests in connection with the housing society scam to seven.
The arrest has come a day after the CBI held three former government employees – Defence Estate Officer R C Thakur, Brigadier (retd) M M Wanchoo and former deputy secretary in Maharashtra Urban Development Department, P V Deshmukh – on Tuesday.
Thakur, Wanchoo and Deshmukh were on Wednesday remanded to the CBI custody till March 31.
Their arrests followed a censure by the Bombay High Court of CBI for not taking action against those who were allegedly involved in the scam.
The accused have been arrested under the provisions of IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act and Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, said CBI special prosecutor Ejaz Khan. (With Additional Inputs from PTI)
Adarsh scam: CBI arrests Maharashtra Finance Secretary Pradeep Vyas
Related News
Ahead of hearing of the case in the Bombay High Court on Thursday, CBI arrested two former Major Generals of the Army in connection with the multi-crore rupee Adarsh Housing Society scam
2 former Army officers held in connection with Adarsh scam

Adarsh: CBI arrests its own counsel, politician for bribery

The Hindu March 7, 2012
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested four persons including its own counsel and a former Congress legislator on charges of criminal conspiracy for diluting the charges against the politician in the Adarsh case. The CBI said that the politician paid Rs 1.25 crores to a tax consultant to be given to the CBI officials for favours. A special CBI court on Tuesday remanded all the accused to police custody till March 16.

The agency indicated it may arrest more persons in the case.
Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, the former Congress Member of Legislative Council (MLC) who has already been named in the Adarsh First Information Report (FIR) by the CBI, was arrested along with his son Kailash Gidwani, Retainer Counsel for CBI Mandar Goswamy and tax consultant sum lawyer J K Jagiasi.

The Gidwanis and Mr Goswamy have been booked under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC); and 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Mr Jagiasi has been booked under sections 120(B) of the IPC and 8, 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

While Mr Jagiasi was arrested on Monday afternoon, the Gidwanis were arrested late night on Monday. Mr Goswami was arrested early morning on Tuesday.

The CBI said that Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, through his son Kailash transferred Rs 1.25 crores over a period of time to Mr Jagiasi in instalments to be given to the CBI officials, so that they could dilute the charges slapped on the politician in the Adarsh case. The CBI counsel told the additional sessions judge A M Kshatriya that Rs 25 lakh of the total sum was given to Mr Goswamy, Special Counsel in the Ministry of Law & Justice who had recently started working as Retainer Counsel for the CBI here.

“The money was given at a particular place which has been identified by us in six hours. There are documents which show transfer of funds. Prima facie, we have evidence that there is connection (among the accused). Custodial interrogation is necessary to study the transfer of amounts,” special public prosecutor for CBI, ACB, Ejaz Khan told the court.

The CBI stumbled upon the conspiracy after it arrested Mr Jagiasi on February 20 in a trap case, while accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh from an Air India official. His investigation revealed information about the transaction of Rs 1.25 crores between him and the Gidwanis. The agency seized the tax consultant’s 13 lockers and 26 diaries in which they found records for the money transaction.

The CBI said that it wants to interrogate Mr Jagiasi to recover five Petty Cash Books of the relevant period in last year which has details of the cash transactions. “This is a case of deep-rooted criminal conspiracy and several more persons are involved in this case. Custodial interrogation of the accused is very necessary to unearth the whole conspiracy and the chain of transfer of bribe amount from one person to another,” the remand application submitted by the agency in the court stated.

CBI also said it wants to investigate if the money was procured through hawala transactions.

The accused argued that they were aware that Adarsh case was being supervised by the Bombay High Court and that none of the CBI officials in Mumbai were in a position to given an favour to them. They said that Mr Goswamy was one of the most junior counsels in the department and there was no evidence to understand how he was capable of influencing any officer.

Mr Goswamy’s counsel argued that he was handed over the case as recently as on February 28. “The dates given by the CBI and the date when he [Mr Goswamy] was handed the case, do not match. Till now, he has appeared only once in the Adarsh case. Mr Jagiasi worked as our tax consultant hardly for a year. How do we know what he does in his personal life by taking Mandar’s name?” Rajshree Goswami, wife of Mr Goswami, told The Hindu.

The court observed that prima facie, the allegations against the accused were serious and demanded custodial interrogation.
Adarsh: CBI arrests its own counsel, politician for bribery

Five steps: How to steal Army land

Sandeep Unnithan
What with defense land scams getting rampant, it seems it is too easy to cheat the Army these days.
In just three years, 1,073 acres of defence land-equal to 412 football fields-has been swallowed up through encroachments by builders and private developers. The Government admitted this blandly in the Lok Sabha in March 2011, noting that encroachments in military areas have increased from 3,510.16 acres to 4,583.588 acres. The Directorate General of Defence Estates (DGDE) reported these encroachments on the 66,000 acres of land it held directly. DGDE is the department in the Ministry of Defence which is responsible for audit, accounting and financial management.
Over 17 lakh acres of defence land worth Rs.20 lakh crore is vulnerable to encroachment. Of this, nearly 11,000 acres have been stolen, and no one cares. Records for land worth thousands of crores of rupees are maintained in tattered paper registers instead of secure electronic databases. The land is not demarcated. Worse, a corrupt nexus of army brass, defence estates officials and builders continue to bite large chunks out of this land bank.
The DGDE has 1,251 officials to administer defence land, but no one has been held accountable for failing to protect it. The defence ministry is yet to table its proposed Defence Land Management Bill in Parliament. If there was a scamster’s manual for looting defence land, it would read something like this:

1. IDENTIFY PLIABLE DEFENCE AND ARMY OFFICIALS
Nexus between the officials has been found in most land scams that have been unearthed.
On January 31, the CBI raided the Pune home of former army vice chief Lt-General (Retd) Nobel Thamburaj for his alleged involvement in a land scam. An army press release said that Lt-General Thamburaj had arrived at an outof-court settlement with a builder that resulted in the government losing 0.96 acres of prime defence land worth Rs.45 crore in the Pune cantonment area.
In most military land scams unearthed over the past few years, defence estates officials have been found to be hand-in-glove with army officials and private developers. The reasons are not far to see. The DGDE is represented by defence estates officers in military stations. These officials are custodians of defence land. The army uses the land. A General Officer Commanding of a military area heads the local administration in all of the 62 cantonment boards across the country. The board issues sanctions for construction of buildings within the cantonment area.

2. TARGET LAND NOT IN MILITARY RECORDS
Land sharks take advantage of loopholes in land documentation.
Roughly 25 per cent of all defence land has not been ‘mutated’ or not transferred to the land records of the defence estates department.
Bureaucratic lethargy is to blame for this. When the land-holding is ambiguous, it becomes ripe for exploitation by land sharks. In the Adarsh scam for instance, the housing society that was formed by retired military officials and defence estates officials homed in on a football fieldsized plot of prime land in Colaba, South Mumbai. The land was held by the army but owned by the state government. No records were available. The combination of defence estates and armed forces officials moved in to build a commercial residential tower.

3. SURREPTITIOUSLY ENCROACH DEFENCE LAND
Builders encircle defence land after buying private plots around it.
Unused defence land is sometimes not even fenced. At times, corrupt land sharks are known to buy private land around vacant defence land and then gradually encircle it. This happened in the case of the Srinagar air force land scam uncovered in 2009.
Nearly 200 acres of prime defence land worth over Rs.1,500 crore was quietly sold over the years. The defence estates officials issued no-objection certificates to show that the land never belonged to the defence ministry despite having bought it in 1966.
Camping grounds, another colonial relic located on the outskirts of military areas, are also considered fair game. The DGDE is meant to conduct land audits to assess the state of its land bank. The last major audit was carried out in 2000. Each year the department presents shrinking estimates of its landholding. The encroachments are termed ‘a complex socio-economic problem’. Surveys of disputed land holdings, ordered to buy time, are carried out with the state government and can take over five years.
Responsibility for the protection of the land is diffused and the landholding opaque. Guilty officials are punished only if a hue and cry is raised in public. The CBI is now investigating three defence land scams- Adarsh, Kandivli and at Lohegaon, Pune. In the Lohegaon land scam unearthed in 2011, three scamsters prepared fake documents claiming ownership of about 69 acres of defence land worth Rs.800 crore.

4. TARGET OLD GRANT BUNGALOWS
Buyers propose tearing down old houses and constructing a new residential building on it. Old grant bungalows are Britishera dwellings on prime government land. These bungalows dot most military stations and cantonments. They are now valuable for their land which is owned by the government. The modus operandi is for the builder to approach the original tenants and buy them out.
The bungalows are ‘dehired’- the process by which the government stops collecting lease. The builder then approaches the cantonment board with a proposal for demolishing the ‘dilapidated’ building and constructing a new residential building on it. An audit done by the Comptroller and Auditor General in 2011 mentions 16 such bungalows in military areas of Lucknow, Almora, Kanpur, Ranikhet and Bareilly as being illegally sold for Rs.150 crore. Several other such cases are under the scanner of audit authorities. In the Meerut cantonment, schools, colleges and residential properties have been built on old grant bungalows. A CAG report of 2010 mentions how the Residency Club was built on an old grant bungalow in the Pune cantonment.

5. CHALLENGE THE TITLE OF DEFENCE LAND IN COURT
Court proceedings can drag on for decades because ofweak legal defence.
Among the weakest links in the DGDE is its inability to protect encroached defence land in court. There are an estimated 13,000 pending cases relating to defence land in various courts. The way these cases are handled causes concern. The Government does not file its replies in time and court proceedings drag on for decades. A report prepared by the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) suggests that the defence estates department get a separate legal department to fight their cases. This suggestion has gone unheeded.
“Defence estates officials pose as victims of the situation. It suits corrupt officials to have a weak legal defence put up by the Government so that they lose in court,” says a defence ministry official. CGDA officials say land worth “thousands of crores” is locked in legal disputes all over the country. A case in point is a six-acre plot of defence land in Secunderabad on which the defence accounts department built houses. A private firm won a favourable verdict from the high court in 2002. The case continues in the Supreme Court after the defence ministry appealed against this verdict.
The options for the ministry are grim in this case. They have to either demolish all the buildings, hand the land back to the private society or cough up an estimated Rs.100 crore, the market value of the land.
Five steps: How to steal Army land

The defenders of our country and its borders are fighting a secret enemy, which has threatened their dignity and integrity - greed. And at the centre of greed is the humongous amount of land that has been given to the Indian Army by the government for the purpose of establishing its cantonments, offices, residential property, etc. In fact, the Ministry of Defence is the biggest landholder in the government with a holding of 17.31 lakh acres of land across the country.
Read more at:
Land Sharks and Senior Officers in the Land Grab Mode

Ex Servicemen con their own brethren

3 dupe ex-servicemen of sites; absconding
Published: Sunday, Mar 4, 2012, 9:31 IST
By Imran Gowhar | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA
The Ashoknagar police are on the lookout for three “ex-servicemen” who were on the run after duping their colleagues of crores of rupees, promising them sites under ex-servicemen welfare organisation.

The scam came to light when the accused, identified as Guru Govind, Ningappa and PC Ganapathy, abruptly locked up their office and also shut down their website. According to the police, the trio, claiming to be ex-servicemen, launched ex-servicemen association two years ago and issued advertisements in the media offering sites for the ex-servicemen and retired government employees at affordable rates at Whitefield and Mysore Road, within two months, under the project name Indraprastha Layout.Hundreds of ex-servicemen approached the organisation and even made down payments, ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh as advance for booking sites.

The association members claimed they had already purchased land at Whitefield, Mysore Road and the layouts are being developed by Karnataka Land Army.

However, later when investors went to check about the status, they got evasive responses. After postponing the deadline a couple of times, the association wound up the business and the members went missing. Even the website, and the telephone numbers of the organisation were temporarily withdrawn.

Ananth Krishnan P, an ex-serviceman, had invested his life time saving and is currently running from pillar to post to get back his money. He said the association members used to move in posh cars and lived lavish lifestyle with our money and finally vanished when we started pressurising them, he said.

Out of greed, the association had even started extending the offers to civilians and retired government officials later on and collected huge amounts from them too, he added.
Saurabh, son of a retired colonel, told DNA that he had paid `50,000 to the organisation, on behalf of his father, for a site on Mysore Road in 2010.

Few months later the members went underground and since then I am trying to contact them. The office is locked and the telephone numbers have been terminated, he said.

Saurabh is in touch with a few members who had invested money. I have been in touch with ten persons from the army, who had invested their lifetime savings after retirement, he said.

The Ashok Nagar police have registered a case of cheating and are on the lookout for the members of the organisation.

We have taken a few people into custody and are questioning them to track down the absconding members, a police officer told DNA.
3 dupe ex-servicemen of sites; absconding
Comment: All ESM need to exercise caution when seeking membership or services from the numerous dubious ESM organisations. The mute question how one is to check the background of the governing body?