Based on three internal inquiries, the Defence Ministry on Tuesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a detailed probe into the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam and fix responsibility for any lapses.

The probe was announced on the heels of Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan resigning for his alleged involvement in the scam that included allotment of three flats in the highrise building in posh Colaba area of Mumbai.

Among other things, the CBI has been asked to look into the circumstances under which No Objection Certificate (NOC) was issued and possession of the defence land in question was relinquished even though there was a deficiency of land for Army purposes in Mumbai, ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in a statement.

The CBI will also probe the extent to which the commitments for welfare of war widows/service personnel were complied with, the statement added. The CBI probe will fix responsibility of the Armed Forces and Defence Estate officers in the episode. The probe agency will investigate the commitments made for allotment of flats in the 104-apartment society building to the Kargil widows and martyrs’ families.

Defence minister A K Antony ordered the CBI inquiry based on three internal inquiry reports of the Indian Navy, Indian Army and Defence Estate Directorate collated and submitted to him on Monday, the ministry sources said.

The CBI swung into action two weeks ago to conduct a preliminary inquiry based on some private complaints even before getting a defence ministry's nod to probe the messy involvement of the defence officials, bureaucrats and politicians in grabbing flats in the 31-storey building meant for the Kargil war widows and war veterans.

The internal probe brought out "criminal conspiracy" at the local level in army and Defence Estates to alienate the land, which was in army’s possession till 1999-2000, in favour of the Adarsh Housing Society. Also, over 40 officers from the armed forces and Defence Estates too had got flats allotted in building and among them were two former army chiefs Deepak Kapoor and N C Vij and former naval chief admiral Madhavendra Singh.

The scam came to light after Western Naval Commander Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin wrote to the Defence Ministry, expressing concern over security threats from the building towering over the Naval installations, pointing out that the land on which it stood falls within the security perimeter of the Naval base.