Asking scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society to surrender the 31-storey building to the defence ministry, the Bombay high court on Thursday said the structure posed a threat to sensitive defence installations nearby and lessons had to learnt from Mumbai terror attacks.

Invoking Mahatama Gandhi, a bench comprising justices P B Majmudar and R D Dhanuka, said, "There is nothing wrong in accepting your (society's) mistake and surrendering before the law. You may have committed the mistake then but there can be a change of heart. You are not murderers or terrorists or hardened criminals. Give the building back to defence ministry."

Observing that the security of the nation comes first, justice Majmudar said, "We have to learn from terrorist attacks. Terrorists have already come till Taj Hotel. Tomorrow they may attack sensitive defence establishments. It is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly."

Hearing a batch of PILs seeking monitoring of the probe by the high court, the bench, which had pulled up the CBI over its tardy investigations, expressed satisfaction at the progress in the case, saying it was on the "right track" following the arrest of seven accused since Tuesday.

Maharashtra government counsel Ravi Kadam also informed the court that IAS officers Pradeep Vyas and Jairaj Phatakhave been placed under suspension for their alleged involvemnet in the case. While Vyas was the collector of Mumbai, Phatak, who has not yet been arrested, was city municipal commissioner when the scam occurred.