The cost of the flat was meant to be Rs 8.75 lakh with a living room, a dining room, three bed rooms, three toilets, kitchen, study room and two balconies. But ``between 1994 and 1996, the then office bearers of the Board invested about Rs 40 crore of the funds of the society which had been collected against the priceof flats from the purchasers of various schemes with various high risk companies without the prior sanction or permission of the persons whose money had been collected towards the price of the flats allotted to them.

The 24 officers accusing the Board of criminal breach of trust said that approximately a sum of Rs 14 crore of the money invested was never refunded back and led to a total loss. The officers allege that to cover up the losses the Board had now hiked the price of the houses and was forcing them to either pay or had threatened to cancel their allotments.

The petitioners have submitted that the Board was established to promote and provide suitable housing for Air Force and Navy officials on a no-profit no-loss basis. Apart from the serving officials, the Board was also to provide housing to the retired officials or war widows but again on no-profit and no-loss basis. The cost of the Self-Financing Housing Scheme in sector 20 of Panchkula for officers was stated to be ``approximately Rs 8.75lakh which was inclusive of all costs and expenses towards the flat.''

``The office bearers adopted a clandestine device of recovering the losses by manipulating the costs of various flats being constructed,'' the petitioners added.