New judges in due course: AG

NEW DELHI, Aug 10 (PTI, UNI) — The government today told the Supreme Court that those persons, whose names had been cleared by the Chief Justice for appointment as judges to high courts and about whom there was no controversy, would be appointed in due course.

The pendency of the presidential reference before a nine-judge Bench on the consultative process for the appointment of judges to the apex court, the Chief Justices and DGEs of the high courts as well as the transfer of the high court judges, would not come in the way of making such appointments, Attorney-General Soli Sorabji told a Division Bench.

The assurance of the Attorney-General came during the preliminary hearing on a public interest litigation by the Committee on Judicial Accountability.

Another petition by lawyer Mohan Lal Gupta had sought directions to the Chief Justice and the Centre not to go ahead with the appointment of the judges unless the nine-judge Bench gave its verdict.

The court adjourned the hearing to August 17 with the direction that both petitions should be clubbed and listed together.

The Attorney-General said the union government had already been asked by the court to file an affidavit within 10 days in reply to a petition filed earlier by Mr Gupta and that the government would commit itself to honour the appointment of judges where there was no controversy.

Earlier, senior counsel Shanti Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, contended that the issues raised in the petition were of momentous importance. It would therefore be better that this petition and the petition by Mr Gupta should either be tagged with the presidential reference or heard together after the judgement in the presidential reference.

"We cannot take note of this public interest petition because it is defective under the Supreme Court rules inasmuch as it does not disclose the source of information about the serious allegations made against the CJI," Mr Justice S. Saghir Ahmad, heading the Division Bench, said.

Mr Bhushan replied that Article 14 of the Constitution which this court had been enforcing against others, equally applied to this court. The court should not discriminate between one public interest petition and another, he argued.

The assertion of Mr Bhushan was with reference to the public interest petition filed by Mr Gupta on which the court had already asked the union government to file its counter affidavit.

The Attorney-General suggested to the court that it would be better to await the verdict on the presidential reference.

"Why to complicate issues? When same issues are pending in the presidential reference, let this public interest petition be withdrawn," Mr Justice Ahmad observed.

But so long as the petition of Mr Gupta was pending, it would be unfair to ask us to withdraw our public interest petition," Mr Bhushan said.

The court ultimately adjourned the hearing to August 17.

HP enhances pension
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 10 — The Himachal Government today enhanced the pension for all categories of employees and doubled the rate of family pension.

The Cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, increased the minimum pension to Rs 1310 per month and revised the rate of family pension from 15 to 30 per cent of the total emoluments. Besides, dependent parents and divorced daughters, which were not covered under the family pension, will now be entitled to it.

The revised rate which will come into effect from January 1, 1996, will entail an additional recurring expenditure of Rs 50 crore annually. The burden on account of arrears will be Rs 125 crore.

The Cabinet also approved the support price for mango under the market intervention scheme. Grade C mango will be procured at Rs 3.08 per kg and the kalami variety at Rs 3.75 per kg. In all, 44 centres will be opened for the procurement of fruit.

The Cabinet also decided to liberalise the grant of housing loan to employees. It decided that loans would be advanced to all those who applied for it. The maximum limit of gratuity was enhanced from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh.

It also decided to open a tailoring centre each in the 2,922 panchayats of the state and enhance the honorarium of tailoring teachers from Rs 500 to Rs 700 per month. The recruitment of these teachers will be made by a committee comprising concerned Sub-divisional Magistrate, Block Development Officers and Panchayat inspectors.

The central sales tax on acrylic fibres was reduced from 4 per cent to 1 per cent to encourage bulk suppliers to set up depots in the state.

The Cabinet also approved the creation of 19 posts of Sanskrit Lecturer and the procedure for appointment of water carriers in schools. The selection will be made by a committee headed by the SDM with the BDO and District Education Officer as members.

SAD sticks to stand on US Nagar

NEW DELHI, Aug 10 ([PTI) — The Shiromani Akali Dal today reiterated its demand against inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed Uttaranchal state with Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal saying there was no change in the party’s stand on the issue.

"Whatever we say, we stick to that", Mr Badal, who arrived here today, told mediapersons.

When asked if the demand was not accepted by the Vajpayee Government would the SAD withdraw support, he merely said "let proper time come".

Mr Badal had a meeting with Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Madan Lal Khurana and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Mr S.S. Barnala said there was every possibility of the problem being solved amicably. "When very serious problems have been solved earlier, why can’t this be solved"? he asked.