The Ministry of Defence has issued a notice to Maharashtra government and scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society asking them to hand over the possession of the land, where the building stands in south Mumbai to it. The notice was sent yesterday to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra , Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Adarsh society by advocate Dhiren Shah on behalf of the ministry.

The notice demands the state government to acknowledge the Ministry of Defence's title and ownership of the plot within two months. It further states that if the Maharashtra Government and Adarsh are unwilling to do so, then the ministry will be compelled to file a civil suit in the Bombay High Court or any other competent court.

The notice has been sent over a month after a two-member inquiry commission set up by the government submitted its report, saying the land belonged to the Maharashtra government and was not reserved for Kargil war widows or their families.

The notice claims that the 31-storey Adarsh society building has been constructed illegally and unlawfully and that the MoD is the sole owner of the land. It says that the land was transferred to Adarsh society by fraud, collusion and connivance on part of Adarsh members, ministers and bureaucrats of the state government and officials from the defence ministry acting beyond their scope of authority.