Accusing the state machinery of overlooking subversion of rules and regulations by the society and granting unreasonable concessions, the CAG has termed the scam as a "failure in governance at all levels". Many officers, who dealt with the matter, eventually became the housing society’s members.
The report cast aspersions on various decisions and relaxations taken with regards to allotment of the plot, change in reservation, relaxation in FSI (floor space index) and environmental rules. The entire episode is riddled with instances of decisions being taken by those who exploited their official capacity for personal benefits, the CAG report said.
"There is sufficient evidence to suggest that public servants betrayed trust and acted against all norms of public interest and probity. Individuals at many levels in the governance system participated and benefited from the deceit," the report, made on the basis of scrutiny of files and documents of various departments, said.
Referring to various correspondences from the society, defence authorities and government, where words like "welfare of the society, war heroes and ex-servicemen" were used to seek relaxations, CAG has claimed welfare of servicemen and ex-servicemen was only used as a ruse to grab public land. The Comptroller and Auditor General has concluded that not taking exemplary action would seriously erode government credibility.
The CAG has advised the government against demolishing the Adarsh building. Terming the suggestion to demolish the 31-storey building as hasty and inadequate, the CAG has asked the government to acquire the building and use it for government housing of "which there is a shortage". Society members could be compensated according to the law.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties slammed the government for tabling the CAG report on the last day of the session.
Opposition leader Eknath Khadse claimed that the report has been with the government for four months now. Khadse demanded that an Action Taken Report (ATR) be submitted during the budget session. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar acknowledged the delay in tabling the report. "We will try to table ATR in the budget session," Pawar said.