& V I C I N I T Y
Wednesday, December 2, 1998
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Wednesday, December 2, 1998 |
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First permanent Lok Adalat
is in UT
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First
permanent Lok Adalat is in UT CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Do the departmental Lok Adalats conducted from time to time to settle long standing disputes of consumers have any legal sanctity? Legally speaking : "No". The only "Lok Adalats" recognised by the law are those set up under Section 19 the Legal Services Authorities Act,1987. The Union Territory of Chandigarh has the distinction of having the country's first permanent Lok Adalat set up under the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act. The award of this Adalat is a decree of a civil court and it is final and binding on the party. No further appeal against the orders of the Lok Adalats is competent. And in future the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) may not organise its own "Lok Adalat" for want of legal jurisdiction. The same will be the case with other such departmental "Lok Adalats". The Chandigarh State Legal Services Authority has recently considered high pendency of complaints with the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) and the DoT. The issue was discussed with Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi, a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and Executive Chairman of the Chandigarh State Legal Services Authority, where it was decided that before the permanent Lok Adalat set up in the Union Territory starts taking cognisance of complaints of the public, modalities should be discussed with senior functionaries of both the CHB and the DoT. As the Act empowers the Lok Adalats to take cognisance of the disputes at prelitigative stage, the concept of Lok Adalat as an additional forum to the litigants for conciliatory resolution of their disputes has assumed greater significance. The CHB and the DoT have pending before them disputes and claims awaiting resolution. For example, inaction on the part of the board to provide the conveyance deed to be executed by those persons who have got the lease of their dwelling units converted into free hold under the scheme of the Chandigarh Administration has been one of the concerns of the allottees. Similarly, delay in obtaining no due certificate from the board also figures prominently in the list of pending complaints. The DoT holds its own Lok Adalats wherein the complaints and claims of the subscribers are redressed yet the decision taken at the administrative level by such Lok Adalats has no legal sanctity. At present there are more than 600 cases against the DoT pending in the consumer courts in Chandigarh. When contacted the Member-Secretary of the Chandigarh State Legal Services Authority, Mr S.K. Sardana, confirmed that communications have been sent to the board and the department. Once the modalities are worked out, all such cases would come to the State Legal Services Authority for onward reference to the permanent Lok Adalat. Under the Act, the
Member-Secretary of the Chandigarh State Legal Services
Authority has the power to constitute as many benches as
required for quicker disposal of such disputes and cases,
Mr Sardana adds. Mr Reddy was of the view that it would be appropriate if the Permanent Lok Adalat intervenes in such matters and disputes to resolve them amicably. He wanted local police to be permitted to refer such matters to the Permanent Lok Adalat. Under the Legal Services
Authorities Act, 1987, combined reading of the sections
19 and 20 provides that the disputes at pre-litigative
stage could be taken congnisance of by Lok Adalats and
awards could be passed therein. In fact the matter had
earlier come up for discussion at a meeting held under
the chairmanship of Dr Justice A.S. Anand wherein
executive chairmen of all the State Legal Services
Authorities of the country were present. |
Stage set
for holding Agro Tech-98 CHANDIGARH, Dec 1— The Sector 17 Parade Ground is all set to host the AgroTech -98, premier agricultural business fair, which is to be held from December 2 to 6. Last minute finishing touches are being given to the 'Hi-tech agro village', which has come up in the past two weeks. A large number of workers were seen erecting tents and setting up stalls of different companies which are participating in the fair, for which the states of Punjab and Haryana have been designated as host states. While arrangements have already been completed by the staff of big concerns, still a number of people, particularly those from outside the region, could be seen arranging their products in stalls at the place. Officials of the CII said as many as six large weather proof hangers had been erected on an area of 16,000 sq metres. Each hanger has been divided into a number of compartments, serving as stalls, which have been rented out to the participant companies for display of their products related to agriculture, dairy and poultry. According to the CII officials, the number of the stalls in each hanger is between 26 and 30, depending upon the size of the stall. As much as Rs 16 lakh has been spent on each of the six hangers, which have been erected by two Delhi-based contractors. Arrangements have also been made for providing ultramodern facilities such as E-mail, STD phones, and canteens for the participants and visiting dignitaries. "Tremendous business opportunities apart, the participants could enjoy anything from coffee to dosa in a number of canteens at the place,"said an official of the CII while claiming that care had been taken to provide every possible facility. In addition to security arrangements, special care had been taken for carving out a special parking place for a large number of vehicles in an open space adjacent to Shivalikview Hotel. The entry to the place has
been restricted due to security reasons in the wake of
arrival of a large number of VIPs. "Only those with
entry cards will be allowed in," said a CII
official. |
CII’s
main problem providing accommodation CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Though the mega-event of the CII — Agro-Tech '98 — is set to start tomorrow, providing accommodation for the delegates and other participants continues to be the main worry of the organisers. Inadequate hotel accommodation for over 2000 delegates, exhibitors and visitors in the city has forced the organisers to rely on the neighbouring towns, including Dera Bassi, Parwanoo, Panchkula and Ropar. In spite of the arrangements at all these places, all participants, particularly who will be coming tonight or tomorrow morning, might face difficulties in getting accommodation. Mr Harish Kerpal, Executive Officer of the CII, who is looking after accommodation aspects of visitors, said over 800 rooms had been booked in Chandigarh and in neighbouring towns. Complimentary coaches from the corporate houses would be pressed into service for transporting the delegates from the outstation areas. He added that to avoid inconvenience, delegates from same countries had been lodged at one place. He conceded that delegates coming at the eleventh hour might face problems as Chandigarh was a small city. Meanwhile, hotel industry sources said there was hardly any scope for major expansion of the hotel infrastructure in the city as the demand for accommodation was not uniform throughout the year. The demand reaches its peak during October-March when major conventions and conferences are held. A prominent hotelier pointed out that the level of activity in the rest of the year was not much and the occupancy rate was much less. Moreover, Agro Tech '98 was a biennial event and one could not expect major hotels to come up for occasional events. In another development,
the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh today
placed advertisements in local newspapers, declaring that
accommodation was available in various units. This might
help ease the accommodation problem. |
Ban on
animal performances PANCHKULA, Dec 1 — You may no longer be able to see a monkey or a bear dancing to the tune of a roadside 'madari' or a lion performing to the dictate of a whip-carrying ring master in a circus. The performing animals have been relieved of unnecessary pain and suffering with the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment banning the exhibition and training of bears, monkeys, tigers, lions and panthers as performing animals under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The ban has come in to effect through a notification issued by the Ministry recently after the government constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of the Additional Inspector General of Forests (Wildlife) to have a fresh look at an earlier notification issued by the erstwhile Ministry of Environment and Forests in March, 1991. The committee was constituted after the Delhi High Court suggested the government to consider afresh a notification that it issued in March 1991 banning training and exhibition of certain animals in the country. The High Court had observed that the government might take into consideration such material available with it or any authenticated agencies or committee of experts. Following this the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment issued the fresh notification after taking into consideration the report of the above said committee. In the notification lions have been added to the list of other animals listed in the earlier notification. While the desired effect
of the the notification would take time, hundreds of
madaris and people employed in circuses, around the
country to train the animals for performance are bound to
lose their daily bread. Activists of animal rights are,
however, skeptical about the practical implementation of
the notification. |
Christians’
protest on December 4 CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — The Christian community has decided to observe National Protest Day on December 4. The call for the protest day has been given by the United Christian Forum for Human Rights. Addressing a press conference at the Sector 19 Catholic Church here today, the Bishop of the Diocese of Shimla-Chandigarh, Rev. Gilbert B. Rego, said the objective of the protest day was to draw the attention of the government towards increased violence against Christians by a band of fundamentalists in past one year which had instilled a sense of fear and insecurity among the members of the minority community. "What has sent shock waves among the Christians is that they are being singled out and targeted by some fundamentalists belonging to groups like the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh without any provocation," lamented the Bishop who was accompanied by a number of Christians hailing from different parts of the northern region. Giving the chronology of events of violence against the community, Bishop Rego said what had led to anxiety and fear was that in spite of growing violence against the community, nothing was being done by the government to punish the culprits or to safeguard the rights of the minority community as enshrined in the Constitution. Despite a number of memorandums to the President, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, no effort had been made to punish those who were behind heinous incidents of stripping of Father Christudas in police custody at Dhamuka in Bihar and those who burnt hundreds of books of the Bible in Gujarat. Such incidents were also on a rise in the city, he said. In May last year, a group of people tried to stop Christians from attending a function at the Sector 38 Begumpura Hall, said a local Christian leader, who was accompanying the Bishop. Similarly, Mr Patric Fernadese, from Mandauli village in Haryana, said a group of people attacked him, accusing him of being instrumental in converting a number of Scheduled Castes of the village. Referring to a statement reportedly made by Mr Giriraj Kishore, a VHP leader, that the country was facing a danger from Christians, the Bishop said it only reflected what "these people think of the community," while expressing concern that India was drifting towards religious intolerance. On the protest day, all Christian institutions, except hospitals, will remain closed. A delegation led by Bishop
Rego, will present a memorandum to the Governors of
Haryana and Punjab and to the Adviser to the UT
Administrator. A peaceful protest rally will start at 10
a.m. from the Sector 19 Catholic Church, a statement
issued by Fr. Anchanikal said. |
Motorcycle
rally flagged off CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — The Pine Yamaha Jessore Day motorcycle rally organised by the 9 Infantry(Pine) division was flagged off by Col R.K. Sharma, Officiating Station Commander, for its next leg to Gurdaspur from Raina Stadium in Chandimandir today. The rally has been organised to commemorate the battle honour Jessore conferred during the 1971 war. Comprising 24 men, including four officers, two JCOs and 18 jawans , the rally is being led by Major G.S. Virk. Organised with a view to promoting the spirit of adventure and motivate the youth to join the Army, it is the brainchild of Major Gen A.J.B. Jaini, GOC, Pine division. The division had in 1971 set the stage for the total collapse of the Pakistani army by capturing Jessore, thus paving the way for the birth of Bangladesh. The rally will culminate
at Meerut on December 7 after covering a distance of 5,
000 km and pass through Punjab, Delhi, Himachal, Haryana,
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. |
Arguments
heard in Sikh council case CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Mr B.C. Gupta, Civil Judge, Senior Division, today heard arguments on an application, seeking stay against the functioning of Mr Kuldip Singh, a former Judge of the Supreme Court, as head of the World Sikh Council. The appointment of Justice
Kuldip Singh has been questioned by Mr Baldev Singh Brar
and Mr Talib Singh Sandhu. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — The faction-ridden BJP in the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) had to bite the dust today when its candidate for the post of a member of the Finance and Contract Committee (FCC) received a severe drubbing at the hands of a nominated councillor after cross-voting by seven party councillors. The party candidate, Mr Kanhaiya Lal, however, was elected to the post of Senior Deputy Mayor unopposed. Later the party president, Mr Dharam Pal Gupta, suspended the seven councillors for anti-party activities, including Mr Kanhaiya Lal. The suspended councillors are Mr Prem Sagar Jain, Mr R.L. Arora, Mr Bachan Singh, Mr Kewal Krishan, Air Marshal RS Bedi (retd), and Ms Kamla Sharma. The executive committee of the party asked these councillors to resign from the councillorship for "betraying" the party. The committee also reportedly urged the disciplinary committee to expel the councillors from the party. At the today's meeting of the MCC, the day began on a happy note for the BJP when Mr Kanhaiya Lal, apparently a consensus candidate of the two factions, was elected unopposed. But the happiness was shortlived when the third candidate for the post of the member of FCC — Mr Mohinder Singh — withdrew in favour of the nominated councillor, Mr R.S. Kailey. In the contest that followed between Mr Kailey and Mr Des Raj Tandon (BJP), the latter was humbled by a margin of 13 votes. While Mr Kailey received 19 votes, Mr Tandon could only get six votes. Two votes were declared invalid. Two nominated councillors — Ms Parsun Kaur and Ms Surya Pandit — were not present. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Gupta accused the seven councillors of being "insincere" to the interests of the party. He said he would sent the report to the party high command. He accused the SAD of trying to break the pact with the BJP by fielding its own candidate. In the original pact, the post of Deputy Mayor and a chairman of the one committee was to be given to the SAD, which the party had already done, he added. The Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, came down heavily on what he called the "lust" for power among nominated members. He said the nominated councillors, instead of playing "petty politics" should perform advisory roles. Meanwhile, the Congress councillors — Mr Raj Kumar Goyal, Mr Gurcharan Dass Kala and Ms Kamlesh — have demanded the dissolution of the MCC as the BJP had lost majority in the House. Mr Gurpartap Singh Riar,
SAD chief, accused the BJP chief of attempting to break
the alliance. |
CHANDIGARH: The fact that the level of art consciousness has grown amongst Chandigarhians is evident by the number of exhibitions being held these days. It is remarkable to see that most of these have been good. One more exhibition which falls in the same category was inaugurated on Tuesday at Indus Ind Bank Art Gallery. The artist is Balvinder. Balvinder needs no introduction. He has been associated with paints and brushes for the past 30 years and won the Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Award for the year 1983. He has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions. The current show, according to the artist, is a "complete exhibition". He has also put some of his old works on display. These have been picked up from his collections on T.V. isation of the world and on the similarities between man and animal. Besides, it also has three canvases titled "unheard melodies" which were absent previously. Conforming to his style,
Balvinder has used bold strokes in bright colours. One
can find all creations outlined with black and this lends
a definite shape to those, catching the eye instantly.
The exhibition will be open till December 15.
—Priti Verma |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — In a major breakthrough the CIA staff of the Chandigarh Police today arrested Bittu, allegedly involved in four gang rapes in the city during the past few days. The police after nabbing him also seized a single barrel .12 bore gun that he and his accomplice had hidden in the woods near Raipur Khurd village after raping three women at gun point around five days ago. At around 11.30 a.m. today, Bittu alighted from a bus near the Punjab Engineering College and started walking towards Nayagaon village in Punjab. A police party acting on information gathered through sources and tips provided by Santa Singh, who was nabbed on the day of the crime itself, arrested Bittu. Some days ago Bittu had managed to give a slip to the police party at Una. He has reportedly confessed to the police that he used to be the first to initiate rape. He had been released from Ambala jail a few months ago. He explained the manner in which his community — 'dheh', a criminal tribe — initiates youngsters into crime. An experienced criminal is taken in as a "guru". The youngster then offers 2 live fowls, a bottle of liquor, some sweets and scarf to the guru. The fowls are killed and cooked outside the house and the women are not allowed to eat it. The guru then takes his disciple and teaches him to break a lock. The little finger on the left hand of the youngster is sliced with a knife and the oozing blood is applied on the lock. The "dheh" community thinks this to be a good omen. Bittu, aged about 25 years, had graduated to be a guru and had started teaching young boys. British nationals held: Three British nationals were arrested by the police this evening. One of them was reportedly carrying 100 grams of charas while the other two were found carrying knives. The three — Samuel Jones Philips, Tobias Flex and Alexander Daniel — were staying at a hotel in Sector 22. PANCHKULA Proclaimed offenders held: Seven proclaimed offenders have been arrested by a special cell of the district police. According to the information available three persons — Harvinder Singh, a resident of Ambala; Raju, a resident of Ambala Cantt and Raj Kumar, a resident of Solan — were wanted in two separate cases of assault, rioting and intimidation. Lakhan and Chandrawati, both residents of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, were on the run in a case of kidnapping registered early this year. Two other persons —
Amarjit Singh and Harikrishan — who were declared
proclaimed offenders in two separate cases of the Excise
Act and trespassing with an intention to assault,
respectively, have also been arrested. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Students of B.Com (Part III) and certain postgraduate classes of the Department of Correspondence Studies (DCS) are a harassed lot. They have not received a single lesson even though the exams are only four months away. Students from far-off places, who had come to the DCS for the personal contact programme (PCP), which commenced today, alleged that in the absence of study material they were at their wits' end and did not know what to do. Repeated requests to the department seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, they complained. Students wondered if there were any norms as to when they should get the study material. The department should at least make sure that various instalments of the study material reached them in time. Nisha, a student of B.Com (III), alleged that it was not for the first time that the department had delayed the despatch of the study material. Last year the study material for one of the papers was distributed during the course of the annual examination. Mohinder Singh, a student of B.Com (Part I), claimed that when he went to the department to collect his lessons he was told to come again as the lessons were "out of stock." When contacted the chairperson, Ms Santosh Sharma, said that every effort was being made to distribute the lessons during the PCP. Supplementary exams: The supplementary examinations of M.F.C. (Part I and II), public administration (Part I and II) and psychology (Part I) of Panjab University will be held from January 7, a press note said here. Fellowship: Dr Naresh, an eminent poet, has been offered fellowship in Hindi by Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. Dr Naresh, who holds the Bhai Vir Singh Chair for Modern Literature at the university, is a recipient of several state and national awards. Applications invited: Dr Naresh has invited applications from students of the university interested in pursuing creative writing in Hindi, English, Punjabi and Urdu. The idea is to provide them a platform to further their interests and enable them to interact with eminent writers. Teachers' demands: A delegation of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers' Union on Tuesday met the UT Education Secretary, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, in support of its demands. The delegation demanded
the early implementation of the revised pay scales for
the university and college teachers. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today upheld the order of the Additional Sessions Judge, Mr S.S. Lamba, charge-sheeting D.S. Rajput and other suspects in the Burail jail-break case, under Sections 41, 468 and 471 IPC, and Sections 4 and 8 of the Explosives Substances Act. Mr Justice R.L. Anand, before whom a revision petition filed by Rajput came up for hearing, dismissed the petition contesting the order of Mr Lamba. Rajput had also made a prayer before the High Court that in case it reached the conclusion that a prima facie case had been made against him, there should be a separate trial of the case registered against him. On October 16 Mr Lamba had charged Rajput, Jaspal Singh Dhillon with "unlawfully and maliciously conspiring to cause explosion at Burail jail." The Judge had charged Baljit Singh, Jaswant Singh, Balwinder Singh, S.P. Mishra, Jaswinder Singh (constable), Jagtar Singh Tara and Jagtar Singh Hawara with abetting Satnam Singh by supplying material and money for the purchase of RDX, detonators and wires for blowing up the jail. Notice to Badal's kin in double murder Our Legal Correspondent adds: Mr Justice K.K. Srivastva on a criminal petition filed by Mrs Rajinder Kaur, widow of ex-minister Teja Singh Dhillon, issued notices to the DGP, Bathinda, SSP Harnek Singh and Mr Gurdas Singh Badal, ex-MP, for January 21. Mrs Rajinder Kaur stated
in her petition that her son Sandeep Singh has been
falsely implicated in a double murder case at the behest
of Mr Gurdas Singh Badal, brother of the Punjab Chief
Minister. One Jagrup Singh, along with his sons, had
tried to forcibly evict "seeri" (farm hands)
from his house on land owned by Mrs Rajinder Kaur. In
self-defence the labourers fired shots resulting in the
killings. The Bathinda SSP, under the influence of the
Chief Minister's brother, involved Sandeep Singh and was
also destroying evidence so that the plea of self-defence
could not be sustained. The labourers had already
surrendered in the court and had confessed to the
killings in self-defence. Mrs Rajinder Kaur has also
stated that her relatives were being picked up and
tortured by the police. Even she was under threat of
being eliminated. The reason stated by her is that there
has been old political rivalry with the Badal family. She
sought directions for the investigation to be handed over
to the CBI. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — In an O.A. filed by Mr Sarbjit Singh and two other senior I.P.S. officers of the Punjab cadre who challenged the extension of service given to Mr P.C. Dogra, Director-General of Police, Justice R.K. Nehru, Vice-Chairman of the local Central Administrative Tribunal Bench, today advised the parties to approach the Chairman of Principal Bench of the tribunal in New Delhi to take up this matter. The order was passed on the prayer made by the applicants for interim relief during the pendency of their O.A. The three applicants who hold the rank of Additional Director-Generals of Police, had challenged the extension given to Mr Dogra for six months, w.e.f. October 1, 1998 by the Union Government on a proposal moved by the Punjab Government. They had also prayed for stay of the impugned order. It is a matter which under the rules is to be heard by a multiple-member Bench of the tribunal. However, since Mr N.K. Verma (administrative member) had retired on January 1, 1998 and Mr S.C. Vaish on October 30, no multiple-member Bench could be constituted for deciding the matter because in each Division Bench there has to be an administrative member. The main point involved in the case was whether the respondents were empowered to give extension to Mr Dogra after the 1958 Rules were amended vide notifications dated May 13 and May 22, 1998. Justice Nehru in his order observed that taking into consideration the peculiar facts and circumstances borne on record, and the fact that life of impugned order is to expire on March 31, 1999. "I strongly feel that the matter is definitely of an urgent nature. However, I am also of the view that any decision in the matter of interim relief would definitely give rise to an expression of opinion and would thus cause prejudice to one or the other party. A final decision of the O.A. at this stage is not possible because it is a D.B. matter". The tribunal in an order
dated December 26, 1997 had rejected Mr Dogra's plea for
a change in his date of birth. Thereafter the Punjab
Government vide order dated December 31, 1997 granted an
extension to Mr Dogra. The Union Government gave a
further extension to Mr Dogra till March 31, 1999. |
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