Senior Military Officers caught in Money Spinning Spree

Army Maj Gen in the dock in electronic warfare equipment scam
[ Updated 30 Aug 2012, 14:09:27 ]
New Delhi, Aug 30: Major irregularities and siphoning off of funds have come to light in the purchase of electronic warfare equipment worth Rs 80 crore for the crucial Northern Command that covers Kashmir.
A Major General of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME) is in the dock in the Court of Inquiry, presided over by a Lieutenant General.
The Major General was attached to the Udhampur-based Northern Command earlier this month. The senior ranking officer has been divested of all operational responsibilities pending completion of the Court of Inquiry.
A newspaper report quoting sources said, the deal for electronic warfare and other sensitive equipment was signed last year and the Army carried out a preliminary probe when allegations of misappropriation by way of submitting fake bills came to light some months later.
Finding substance in the allegations, the Army then ordered a formal Court of Inquiry in May this year against a Colonel.
He, however, denied the allegations and pointed fingers at his Major General, who was the Master General (overall chief) of the Northern Command EME.
Officials said the officers were not able to explain expenditure of nearly Rs 30 crore out of the Rs 80 crore deal.
Sensing the seriousness of the charges, the Army ordered another Court of Inquiry after allegations surfaced against the Major General.
The latest scam involving senior officers comes in the backdrop of cases like Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai, Sukna land scam and allotment of defence land to builders in Pune. All these cases involved officers of the rank of Lt Generals.
A former Military Secretary was also divested of his rank in the Sukna land scam.
Besides these high profile cases, two Lieutenant Generals, now retired, were prima facie found guilty of misappropriation of funds in procurement of rations including dal and mutton for troops.
Army Maj Gen in the dock in electronic warfare equipment scam
Comment: EW equipment purchase scandal by EME seems to be a new avenue for kickbacks as the equipment is shrouded in secrecy... Thank heavens there are no imminent war threats... Our Corrupt senior officers and bureaucrats will ensure defeat even before combat commences!

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....

Does the President need free military lands for post retirement luxury?

Dear Veterans,
1. Do you really feel it is justified to allot Residential land out from the Defence Land to the President of India at Khadki Cantonment Pune. Why Prime Defence land only, Ms Pratiba patil is president of India and has proved to be a Dummy Supreme Commander of the Armed forces. Thousands of Medals belonging to Defence Veterans are lying with the President, deposited in Protest for granting OROP, a well deserve benefit required by ESM.The president has till date not even looked at the deposited medals lying in president custody and wants to reap fruits of Post retirement from the Defence quota of land.
2. Is there a dearth of land or place for the President from Maharatra in Maharastra. The govt is quoting rules about the desire of President without taking into account the land grab cases against her husband and son caught with crore cash during elections and her picnic with family members have costed Rs 250 Crores from the Sate Exchequer on foreign trips.God save India from such Politicians who have no more regard to the Armed forces and their preparedness for war. The combat soldiers are suffering for allotment of accommodation due to scarcity of buildup accommodation, they are allotted in turn as per the unit seniority register, but we have to Salute the Netas for their own benefits always in forefront.
3. The ESM of Pune headed by Lt Col Suresh Patil "Justce for Jawan", has taken the right stand to challenge the non-deserving Head of the state to occupy and get allotted more then five acres of land allotted from Defence Land. Do you really think such huge area is required by the President after retirement, keeping in view the Past roles of previous presidents in active Politics or in National building except Ex-President ABJ Abdul Kalam, who is still active.
4. ESM must unite together and raise their voice against the allotment of residential land to a non-deserving President who has done nothing for the welfare of ESM and has been a mute spectator. Did not even receive the medals of brave sepoys of the Nation. ESM must get together at Pune and organize a rally to oppose the allotment to convey the message to the President about the feeling of neglect by the Supreme Commander.
5. We request Lt Gen Raj Kadyan, Maj Gen Satbir Singh of IESM to spearhead against the largesse bestowed on the President, others will follow.
.... Sanjha Morcha

Army Chief and the Arms Lobby

An Outlook Cover Story
Officer, Gentleman And The Army Mess
One too honest to back off, the other honest to a fault. And the army suffers.
10 Unanswered Questions In V.K. Singh Affair
1. Have Gen V.K. Singh and defence minister A.K. Antony squandered their Mr Clean image through their recent actions and inactions?
2. Is somebody out to get Gen V.K. Singh? Could the powerful arms lobby and their agents and middlemen be behind leaks and plants?
3. Would Gen Singh have revealed the Rs 14 crore bribe had his version of DoB been accepted?
4. Was V.K. Singh’s letter to the PM leaked to protect A.K. Antony, who was on the mat? Or to deflect attention from the offer of bribe?
5. Does the flurry of charges have something to do with PM’s absence, the BRICS summit and defence expo in Delhi?
6. Are defence dealers who lost out on the £11.6 billion Rafale deal at work?
7. Could Gen Singh’s predecessors— Deepak Kapoor and J.J. Singh— get embroiled in the crosshairs?
8. What impact will V.K. Singh’s campaign have on successors Bikram Singh and Daljit Singh?
9. Could the V.K. Singh saga end up exposing top politicians across parties mired in arms deals, a la Bofors?
10. Will the armed forces retain the same glint in the eye of civilians henceforth? How does all this affect army rank and file?
Officer, Gentleman And The Army Mess: click here for the full cover story

Major Land Scams that Shamed the Army

At the corps of land scandals: The nation's biggest landlord the army is being exploited by unscrupulous officers to make money on the sly
By Gautam Datt UPDATED: 00:22 GMT, 7 February 2012
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.
However, in the recent years this land – thousands of acres of which has been notified as 'excess' by a CAG audit – has been utilised by some senior officers as an opportunity for corruption. And they didn't have to try hard for finding a partner and the ways to use this 'encroached' or excess land. Various land sharks always on the lookout for an opportunity to grab the defence land eagerly join hands with these unscrupulous officers to make a quick buck.
TAINT ON UNIFORM: MAJOR SCAMS THAT SHAMED ARMY
Read more: Click here for CAG report and List of Scams

Consumer Redressal Commission imposes Rs 10,000 fine on AWHO

Consumer body hints at ‘Adarsh-like scam’ in Army housing allotment in Panchkula
Rajni Shaleen Chopra,Rajni Shaleen Chopra Posted: Jan 08, 2012
Chandigarh Haryana Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has taken a stern view of the irregularities in allotments by Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) at its residential project at Sector 20 in Panchkula, and has said that “if enquired into deeply, this may again turn out to be another scam like Adarsh Society at Bombay”.
In a recent order, the Commission had taken note of the lack of transparency by AWHO, and “violation of rules...to accommodate their own favourites”. President of the Commission Justice R S Madan and Judicial Member B M Bedi stated, “Though the organisation was created for the welfare of serving/retired defence personnel and was expected to act in a transparent manner...allotments have been made by adopting to a system of fixing security arbitrarily”.

The order was delivered following the appeal made by the Managing Director of AWHO, New Delhi and Col Satish Kumar, Project Director of the Sector 20 project, against the order of District Consumer Forum, Panchkula. The Forum had decided in favour of the complainant, Subedar Raj Kumar Dhingra (retd) of Sector 2, Panchkula.

The Commission dismissed the appeal filed with scathing remarks against AWHO, and imposed costs of Rs 10,000 on it.

Dhingra stated in his complaint that in June 2004, he registered for the AWHO housing scheme in Sector 20 by paying Rs 90,500. The seniority of applicants was to be determined on the basis of the date of bank draft given for the registration fee.

Dhingra was given a registration number and placed at Serial Number 15. In May 2009, AWHO informed him that his waitlist seniority was ‘1’. He was told to either seek transfer to the AWHO project in Panchkula’s Sector 27 or withdraw his registration, as all dwelling units had been allotted. Dhingra complained to AWHO in this regard, but did not get justice.

In June, AWHO again informed him that all dwelling units except one had been handed over. Dhingra told the court that this was contrary to their earlier letter.

In its reply, AWHO said the seniority of applicants was fixed by a local computerised draw in July 2004. In this, Dhingra’s seniority was 723 against the availability of 348 apartments. Dhingra was given the option of changing his registration from Sector 20 to Sector 27, Panchkula, but he did not agree. AWHO said that Dhingra was ranked ‘1’ on the waiting list but no apartment was available, hence there was no deficiency of service on its part.

After considering the case, the Commission said the AWHO rules did not prescribe for any computerised draw. “AWHO has not disclosed the date of draw, the officer under whose supervision it was held, the manner of the draw etc,” said the order.

The Commission further added: “One of the registrants against whom the complainant has a grievance (a Brigadier) was not even a member of the scheme till August 2004 while the complainant had registered in June 2004 and the draw was held in July 2004.” Hence, Dhingra was high up in the seniority list.

After considering other aspects of the case, the Commission observed that allotment was not done fairly by AWHO. The Commission upheld the order of the Forum that AWHO must allot a flat to Dhingra at Sector 20 or 27, Panchkula or at Sector 114 in Mohali at the same price.
Consumer body hints at ‘Adarsh-like scam’ in Army housing allotment in Panchkula

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?

Army HQ restructuring gets under way

February 14, 2012 11:41 IST
The two Deputy Chiefs of Army Staff have been given new responsibilities to lessen the burden of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, the general who runs the 1.3 million-strong Indian Army [ Images ] on a day-to-day basis, reports Nitin Gokhale.

Amid the unfortunate controversy over the current Chief of the Army Staff, General V K Singh's age issue, the restructuring process at army headquarters under the new transformation plan has quietly begun to roll out at South Block.

Under the new plan, the two Deputy Chiefs of Army Staff (DCOAS) have been given new and specific responsibilities to lessen the burden of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS), the general who virtually runs the 1.3 million-strong Indian Army on a day-to-day basis.

The implementation of the first phase of this transformation has gathered speed with the appointment of Lieutenant General Ramesh Halgali as the new Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Information Systems & Training) on Monday.

The other Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Policy and Services), Lieutenant General Narinder Singh had taken over late last year.

Although Army HQ has had two deputy chiefs looking after various functions for some years, a new and clear demarcation of responsibilities entrusted to them is aimed at streamlining the functioning and speed up decision-making processes at the apex level.

So while Lieutenant General Halgali will be responsible for Military Training, Signals (communication), Information Systems (automation), Staff duties (UN Missions etc), Rashtriya Rifles, Territorial Army and Defence Service Corps (the security guards at select military installations and campuses), Lieutenant General Narinder Singh will look after Procurement, Financial Planning, Perspective Planning and various 'line' directorates like Armoured Corps, Artillery, Mech Infantry etc.

This arrangement is designed to somewhat ease the burden on the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant General S K Singh.

The Vice Chief of Army Staff has to not only give crucial decisions relating to day-today operational matters, but has to also liaise with the defence ministry and attend several high-level meetings with other functionaries from different ministries.

The streamlined hierarchy is likely to give little more time and space for the Vice Chief of Army Staff to function more efficiently.

In the Indian system, the Chief of Army Staff has traditionally been giving broad policy direction for others to implement his ideas and concepts.

Lieutenant General Halgali, who came into the limelight after he blew the whistle on the Sukna land issue when he was Chief of Staff at HQ 33 Corps as a major general, was scheduled to take over as Deputy Chief last November, but an adverse administrative remark on his record during the Sukna issue delayed his taking over the post by three months.

Lieutenant General Halgali was Director General, Military Training before taking over as Deputy Chief on Monday.

As Chief of Staff at 33 Corps HQ in North Bengal, he had resisted attempts by then Corps Commander Lieutenant General P K Rath and then Military Secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash to issue a no-objection certificate for a transferring a piece of land adjacent to the Corps HQ to a business consortium for establishing a branch of the famous Mayo College.

Both Lieutenant General Rath and Lieutenant General Prakash have been indicted in the case by an army court martial. Lieutenant General Halgali had initially received an administrative rap for not reporting the matter expeditiously, but has now been cleared of all charges since it later emerged that he had prevented the attempt by his seniors to allow the group of businessman and the two generals to take advantage of loopholes in the system.

As Deputy Chief, Lieutenant General Halgali will be in office for nearly a year and three months to take forward the process of transformation both at the Army HQ level and down the line.

Conceptualised in 2010 after a two-year study by a group of top generals under the current army chief, General V K Singh when he was the Eastern Army commander, the transformation aims to turn the lumbering Indian Army into 'an agile, lethal, versatile and networked force, which is capability-based to meet future challenges.'

In a couple of interviews with me, General V K Singh has said the transformation must be 360 degrees and 'enhance operational capability through reorganisation, restructuring, force development and relocation.'

The concept is based on 13 transformation studies. These range from ways to consolidate strike capabilities and 'flatten' HQs, to 'synergising' all resources. Some of the Indian Army's new transformative concepts are already being 'test-bedded.'
Nitin Gokhale is the Defence Editor, NDTV.
Army HQ restructuring gets under way

Generals rewarded for toeing the Government

From the archives
A GOOD DECISION ANMOL 04-Nov-2010
Power and Pelf by the Senior Defence Forces Officers has become a norm. We can understand the misdoings by Civilians but the same is not acceptable from Defence Forces as we consider them the last Bastion against the ills of Society. To get involved by the Chiefs who goad and coax their men to lead from Front but at the same time themselves indulging in such action is indeed shameful. Also asking for favours on Personal level is most demeaning to the wonderful Organisation they have served. These guys should be banned from any Military Functions, Clubs, Messes etc. An example should be set so that the Senior Officers who indulge in such activities think twice before taking such Noxious step.
Read more:
Adarsh cloud: Gen Kapoor no longer in list for disaster panel job

Indian Socialism, Success, Freebies, Politicians and Election Promises: A Fictional Account
When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Nehru's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Indian Socialism plan"... All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A...
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that?

Ride the Poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

When 75% of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the rest is going to take care of them, and when this entity gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Tailpiece
India's Socialism implies maintaining a spineless Military Force... Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Gen VK Singh and the like are rare exceptions

Adarsh Scam: IAS Officer is Rewarded with Promotion

Adarsh scam: CBI grills Ashok Chavan
Jan 31, 2012, 03.50AM IST
MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) quizzed former chief minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh housing society scam early this month. Chavan, an accused in the case, is the third ex-CM to be quizzed by the agency.
The CBI had earlier questioned two former state CMs, Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Union science and technology minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Chavan was not available for comment. The CBI refused to divulge more details.
Chavan is alleged to have abused his official position with an ulterior motive of getting flats for his relatives. On January 29 last year, the CBI registered a case against 14 persons, including Chavan and retired army officials and bureaucrats, on charges of fraud and misuse of official powers.
Adarsh scam: CBI grills Ashok Chavan
Corrupt IAS Officer Rewarded
IAS member embroiled in Adarsh scam promoted

Army chief age row should be settled in an honourable way

19 Jan, 2012, 05.56AM IST, The writer has posted comments on this article TK Arun,ET Bureau
Even now, it is not too late to douse the controversy eating up the reputation, primarily, of defence minister AK Antony and the UPA government and, secondarily, of the Indian Army. The controversy over the date of birth of chief of army staff Gen V K Singh should be settled in an honourable fashion.

The General, apparently, is more interested in getting his age record straightened out and his name cleared than in how long he stays on as army chief. He has reportedly no problem stepping down when the government wants him to. But the common people do have a problem, for a matter of principle is involved. The matter of principle is straightforward: a plan to anoint a particular person as chief of the army staff besmirching the name of an honourable soldier should not succeed.

If a section of the army brass deliberately got Gen V K Singh's date of birth recorded as May 10, 1950, instead of May 10, 1951, the only reason would be to ensure that Gen Singh retired in time to allow a favoured person to succeed him as the army chief. If Gen Singh's year of birth is 1951, he would retire a year later, and so would the intended successor, leaving the coveted post of army chief to someone else.

The precise identity of the favoured successor and of the successor were Gen Singh to stay on till 2013 is immaterial. The choice of India's army chief should not be determined by a conspiracy. If the civilian government has to establish its authority over the armed forces fully and completely, it is in demonstrating and consolidating this principle, not by insisting it has the writ to determine when someone was born.

If it wants to, the government can ask Gen Singh to go tomorrow, after setting his age record straight; but then, it should follow through by appointing as his successor not the intended beneficiary of a probable conspiracy but someone else.

V K Singh was born in an army hospital. The army keeps records of births and deaths. Army records show that Singh was born on May 10, 1951. His matriculation certificate says he was born on that date. It is in an application form submitted to the National Defence Academy that the 1950 date appears.

The General's case is that the application form was filled by the staff of his school, who made an error. He sought to rectify this error time and again, after he joined the service. This application form was the basis for a wrong date entering his official records.

In a telling comment on the efficiency of administration in the Indian Army, two sets of records were maintained in the army as to his date of birth, one in the Military Secretary's branch and the other in the Adjutant General's office. The Adjutant General's office is supposed to be the official record keeper and the citations accompanying V K Singh's many medals carry the date of birth May 10, 1951.

The MS branch continued with the 1950 date.

This mattered little to anyone till his promotion came up in 2006 to corps commander. Since corps commanders are the guys in the running for the post of chief of the army staff, Singh's date of birth mattered for the line of succession that would be followed.

Singh was virtually coerced into accepting 1950 as the year of his birth by the MS branch. He was told that his promotion was at stake, if he did not accept that date. Gen Singh made a wishy-washy promise to accept whatever was in the organisation's larger interest. This was interpreted by the MS branch to show that he had accepted 1950 as the year of his birth. He got his promotion and subsequently rose to the position of the army chief.

The legal opinion submitted by the Attorney General's office hinged on conflating correction of a mistaken entry as to the date of birth with amending the date of birth. Since amendment is not allowed, the MS Office record had to be followed, the law officer reasoned.

For the same reason, and since Singh had committed to his superior, Gen Deepak Kapoor (subsequently indicted in the Adarsh Housing Scam), that he would accept 1950 as his year of birth, the defence ministry also plumped for 1950 as the year of birth.

These are technicalities that serve to obfuscate the real date when the man was born. The army hospital record and his matriculation certificate are the most authentic documents available on the subject, not some NDA application form. Gen Singh's age was incidental to his promotions, not conditional on them.

As the political leader he is, it was up to Antony to cut through self-defeating technicality and get to the facts underneath. He failed to do so, and even told Parliament that the General's date of birth was May 10, 1950. He is, in the process, colluding in the conspiracy to anoint a particular person as the next chief of army staff.

This, certainly, cannot be his intention. For, Antony is an honourable man (not necessarily in the sense in which another Antony famously used that phrase).

Antony seems to suffer from a morbid inability to wield his political authority. This will not do. It is not his job to keep saying yes to whatever his bureaucrats tell him. He should use his political judgment to sort out the mess that has built up over the General's age.

A sensible course would be to correct mistakes in army records - this is different from altering the records - on Singh's age, ask him to leave and appoint as the next army chief whoever would have succeeded Gen Singh had he stayed on till 2013 or any other competent officer other than the intended beneficiary of a probable conspiracy.

Wouldn't this be injustice to Gen Singh? He would be paying the price for allowing himself to be bamboozled into accepting a wrong date of birth to get his promotion. This is not so important in the larger scheme of things.

Failure on Antony's part to use his political authority at a juncture like this would harm him, his party, his government and our nation.
Army chief age row should be settled in an honourable way

CBI to probe sale of Army plot to private builder in Mumbai

TNN: Jan 14, 2012
NEW DELHI: The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) into Maharashtra government's decision to sell a plot of just over an acre, occupied by the Army in suburban Kandivli, to a private company. The PE was registered on the basis of a report received from the additional director general, discipline and vigilance, (Army).

"It was alleged in the report that certain senior Army officers while serving in the Southern Command committed gross misconduct in as much as a plot of land which was in the possession of Central Ordnance Depot (COD), was relinquished unauthorisedly and later on, the same was sold to M/s Neo Pharma ( Kalpataru Builders)," CBI said in a statement.

According to the anti-corruption wing of CBI, Kalpataru constructed a 31-storey apartment on the plot which overlooks the ordnance depot of the Army and thereby compromises security of the depot.

The case is similar to the Adarsh housing society scam in which the defence ministry had alleged that state government officials had in connivance with private persons handed over the land which was under Army's possession.

According to the Army, in June 2007, the government sold the land for Rs 5.94 crore despite objections by the defence ministry.

The land now houses the car park and recreation area of the 31-storey Kalpataru Towers that has been built on an adjoining private plot.
CBI to probe sale of Army plot to private builder in Mumbai

The murky game against the COAS regarding his DOB

This explosive YouTube video is of ETV program "DO Tuk". It brings out in a very comprehensive manner the whole background of the case and many details about a conspiracy hatched by two former Chiefs and the Defence Ministry.

Military Land Scams: Culture of Corruption

Laudable aims but difficult to achieve when embedded in a culture of corruption!
DIRECTORATE GENERAL DEFENCE ESTATES
Directorate General, Defence Estates (DGDE) is the Headquarters of the Indian Defence Estates Service. DGDE provides advisory inputs on all Cantonments and Land matters to the Ministry of Defence and Service Headquarters ie Army, Navy, Air Force and other organizations under Ministry of Defence. Acquisition of lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation of displaced persons, Hiring and requisitioning of lands and buildings, are some of the responsibilities of DGDE. It also ensures implementation of Cantonments Act 2006, Policies, Rules & Regulations and Executive instructions.

DGDE has under its jurisdiction six Principal Directorates namely, Principal Directors, Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern, South-western and Western Command. Under the Principal Directorates there are 37 Defence Estates Offices and 4 ADEO Circles for management of defence lands in the country.

There are 62 Cantonment Boards. These are local bodies responsible for providing civic administration and implementing the Central Govt schemes of social welfare, public health, hygiene, safety, water supply, sanitation, urban renewal and education.

Vision
To manage defence land effectively and efficiently and provide an efficient, effective, transparent and honest civic and development oriented administration in Cantonments. To make the Indian Defence Estates Service an institution of Excellence.
Mission
Land being a scarce and precious national resource and Cantonments becoming part of urban agglomeration, Defence Estates Department would strive to achieve the following:
•Transform Cantonments into model local bodies for improving quality of life of its residents through:
1.People friendly administration
2.Effective delivery systems
3.Transparent and result-oriented governance
4.Zero tolerance to corruption and mal-practices
5.Making adequate provisions for health and education services including vocational training
6.Caring for senior citizens and the disadvantaged
•Protect environment and heritage
•Make optimum utilization of land resources
•Protection and maintenance of defence lands and land records
•Manage defence land effectively and provide help to stake-holders in land management
•Prompt problem resolution
•Be effective advisers to Government
•Leverage technology including e-governance in all aspects of administration and land management
DGDE

Adarsh scam: Bombay HC seeks status report from Income Tax dept

Published: Wednesday, Nov 23, 2011, 20:10 IST
Place: Mumbai | Agency: PTI
The Bombay High Court today asked the Income Tax authorities to file a status report within four weeks on its probe into the finances of the persons who were allotted flats in the controversial Adarsh Housing Society.

A division bench of Justices Sharad Bobde and VK Tahilramani was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations regarding the Adarsh scam, where environmental and civic norms were allegedly flouted while granting certain concessions to the 31-storey skyrise in South Mumbai.

Praveen Vategaokar, who has filed a PIL seeking inquiry under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act into how the 100-odd members of the society financed the purchase of flats, pointed out that in six cases, the IT department closed the inquiry, without giving reasons.

The bench therefore asked the IT lawyer to produce a report on the probe, stating the reasons for closing the inquiry in these cases and status of the probe in others, within four weeks.

The six cases mentioned by Vategaokar include that of former IAS officer and MP, Shrinivas Patil.

A Mehta, the counsel of Simpreet Singh, another petitioner, demanded that the high court monitor the probe as CBI has not made any progress after taking over the case in February this year, barring filing six reports in the court.

He also stated that in a related criminal case, where CBI was probing missing of a file related to Adarsh from the Maharashtra Urban Development Department, no chargesheet has been filed yet, though three clerks of the concerned department were arrested.

Responding to the query by Justice Bobade on when the CBI is going to file the affidavit, its counsel DN Salvi said the agency would file final report/chargesheet in the missing file case within six weeks.

He said that statements of all the 43 officers who had handled the file had been recorded, and hard disks of three computers had been seized for examination and are sent to a private agency.

However, the division bench then asked why the hard disks were not sent to the Central Forensic Laboratory (CFL) at Hyderabad, Salvi replied that CFL needed at least six months to give the report.

"So as to expedite the matter, disks were sent to a private agency which is reliable," he said.

The high court, however, still asked the investigating agency to file an affidavit in this regard.

CBI has filed FIR against 13 persons, including former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, in the Adarsh case.
Adarsh scam: Bombay HC seeks status report from Income Tax dept

Army lands in land row in Hastings, Kolkata

Headlines Today Bureau | Kolkata, March 21, 2011 | Updated 17:51 IST

Even as the Indian Army faces heat over serious land scams, another scandal has come to light in Hastings, Kolkata, where a 5-star hotel has been under construction for the past one-and-a-half years.
Hastings is a restricted zone where no building of any kind can come up without an NOC from the General Officer Commanding, Bengal Area. But according to documents available exclusively with Headlines Today, the 5-star hotel came up without the requisite NOC from the Army. It is to be noted, that even after the irregularity came to the Army's notice, the GOC in an internal report, recommended that a one-time exception be made for the construction of the 5-star hotel despite guidelines, which clearly state that such buildings should be demolished.
After Headlines Today started investigating the matter, the Army GOC made an about-turn, seeking the immediate demolition of the 5-star building.
The 14-storey 5-star hotel was 70 per cent complete when the demolition order came. The property in Hastings is right next to the military area which houses the Bengal Area Head Quarters as well as the Eastern Command HQ of the Army.
There has been no reply to the question, which Headlines Today posed to the Army, as to how this structure came up right under the Army's nose without an NOC till now.
Kolkata: Army lands in hotel row

NEW RULES FOR DEFENCE LAND USE- Military Powers to be degraded?
Defence minister AK Antony told parliamentarians the management of 17 lakh acres under his Ministry has been in focus following several scams. A new policy is being crafted that will address the issue of noc (no objection certificates) in cases where the local laws require consultation with Local Military Authorities for allowing construction of buildings on land adjacent to defence installations. In cases where the local laws do not provide for it, the local Military authorities will not directly issue noc, especially to private builders. Admitting ‘gaps’ in the system, Antony said the Ministry was according top priority to computerise land records. He said that the government would amend the Works of Defence Act, 1903, which provided for restrictions on building activity around defence installations so that it was made relevant to present day situations. The Act had not been amended for the last over 100 years.

Corruption Malaise- Reform and Improve Governance?

Who is to Reform and Improve Governance?
Extracts from PM's Keynote address at India Today Conclave
The shifts in the balance of power and its implications suggest that we need to adapt ourselves. In many ways, India is well placed to take advantage of the changes in the balance of international forces. We can contribute to the world’s recovery from the recent financial and economic crisis. We can become a pole of political stability in an uncertain world. But for all this we will need to show innovation and flexibility in our approaches. Some inadequacies have become apparent in our systems of functioning. We have to deal squarely with the malaise of corruption. We need to reform and improve governance at all levels.
I am sure that your deliberations in this conclave will contribute to a more informed debate on all the issues that this important topic raises.
Read full address: PM's key-note address at the India-Today Conclave

Army Officers assets will be in public domain: Army setting national standards

Army to get vigilance wing to curb scams: Gen VK Singh
New Delhi: Stung by a series of land scams and corruption cases, the Indian Army is now planning to set up an internal vigilance wing to keep a tab on its men and prevent such instances from recurring.

Army Chief General V.K. Singh said at the annual Army Day-eve press conference on Friday that one of his thrust areas since he took over office on March 31 last year was 'improving the internal health' of the force to stop corruption among its personnel.

"Though this (internal health) is a very vast subject, what we are looking for is a vigilance mechanism. We do not have this (vigilance) in the Army. We now looking at having one. Of course, we do take suo motu action on a lot of issues (corruption and scams) that come up," Singh said.

He was replying to a question on the numerous land scams and the action he had taken in the last nine months as army chief on improving the internal health of the force.

On the action against his predecessor, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, whose name figures in the last three land scams that the Army has faced, the army chief said that the former being a retired officer, the cases have been handed over to the defence ministry for appropriate action.

Kapoor's name figures in the Sukna episode in West Bengal, the Adarsh Housing Society in Colaba and and land adjacent to the Central Ordnance Depot Kandivali being handed over to a private developer. The last two cases are in Mumbai.

"We (the Army) do not have the means to do investigation on these matters, such as checking out some bank accounts. The defence ministry will decide on the action needed in these cases," Singh said.

With regard to serving officers involved in the Adarsh Housing Society episode, he said the Army would initiate action against them as per the service rules and the army law. "We have a legal system in the army which will take care of this," he added.

To a query if he would be the first army chief to declare his assets in the public domain and set a precedent for others to follow, Singh said there existed an internal system under which officers filed their movable and immovable property returns every year and on all occasions when they bought or sold property.

"I am sure at some point in time, the assets details of serving officers will come into the public domain," he said indicating he would not mind such open declaration of his property details.

In the last two years, the Army has been hit by a series of land scams beginning with the Sukna military station in West Bengal, Adarsh Housing Society in Colaba in 2009 and Central Ordnance Depot land in Kandivalli.

In all these cases, army officers had given No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to private builders to construct educational institution or highrise housing complex.

Taking note of these instances, Defence Minister A.K. Antony had announced Thursday that his ministry would make stricter rules for NOCs so that lower level officers could not misuse it and that the Defence Estates land would be computerised for maintaining proper records.
Army to get vigilance wing to curb scams: Gen VK Singh