R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, July 22 

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the military establishment to take possession of the scam-tainted 31-storey Adarsh Apartments in the heart of Mumbai and maintain the building with 102 flats till the disposal of Adarsh Housing Society’s appeal against Bombay High Court’s April 29order of demolition.

A Bench of Justices J Chelameswar and AM Sapre asked the Bombay High Court’s Registrar to ensure that the housing complex was handed over to the Military Estate Director on or beforeAugust 5 after allowing the society to take away its records and the furniture in the flats.

Arguing for the society, senior counsel Shekhar Naphade pleaded for letting his client continue to maintain the upkeep of the tower till the disposal of the appeal, which normally took not less than five years. But the Bench said there was no question of accepting this plea.

Naphade noted that the Centre and the Maharashtra Government were fighting over the ownership of the land, which once was with the Navy, and as such it would not be proper to let the military maintain it. But the Bench was not convinced.

All the residents vacated the housing complex in 2010 as the municipal authorities cut off water and power supply on court orders.

The high court has also ordered criminal proceedings against the politicians and bureaucrats for their role in the illegal construction of the tower.