Adarsh Society to file reply in Bombay High Court

MUMBAI - The Bombay High Court on Monday will hear a plea against the controversial Adarsh Housing Society on the environment violation.

Adarsh Society has to reply to the Environment Ministry’s show cause notice for “unambiguously” violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) laws.

Adarsh Society wanted four weeks to reply but the ministry gave only seven days more for reply, which expires on Monday.

In the notice, the ministry asked the society to show cause why the 31-floor structure should not be removed forthwith under section five of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.

The ministry also took a dig at the lawyer representing the society for claiming that his client was handicapped due to space and basic necessities while “you have been in no way impaired in the preparation and filing of a comprehensive writ petition in the Bombay High Court…

This apart, the ministry also pointed out that the contents of your letter show that your client is fully in possession” of all facts, pages and documents.

The ministry also brought to the notice of the society that the notice represented a culmination of the controversy, given that from the outset the question whether there was environmental approval was squarely an issue.

The scam relates to the controversial residential block being built in Mumbai’s upscale Colaba and in the neighbourhood of naval establishments. It was originally meant to be a six-storeyed apartment block for housing Kargil war heroes and widows.

However, it was surreptitiously converted into a plush 31-storeyed building.

The society has over 100 members, including former service chiefs, senior serving Army officials, bureaucrats, politicians and their kin. (ANI)