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| Friday, March 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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HC quashes retirement order Haryana to disburse Rs 2000 cr
loan Haryana House adjourned sine die Probe ordered Gram panchayats elected Dalal’s charges baseless: CM Ram Pal Majra sworn in |
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309 left in fray for MC
poll Hooda pleads lawyers’ case HUDA workers on warpath Seminar on tax provisions SI commits suicide 3 dead in separate incidents 1 killed, 4 hurt in road mishap 3 criminals killed in crash
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One killed in poll violence ROHTAK, March 16 — Sahi Ram (80) was killed and 12 others injured when supporters of two rival candidates clashed with one another at Bahu Jamalpur village today during the polling for panchayat elections. The injured have been admitted to the local Civil Hospital and the polling suspended. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rajesh Khullar, said the matter had been reported to the state Election Commission for ordering a repoll in the village. The dispute started over a person accompanying a "near blind" voter inside the polling booth. Two rival groups came out of the polling booth and clashed. They reportedly used lathis and threw stones at one another. A member of one group fired in the air to scare his rivals. The polling came to an abrupt end following the firing incident and some miscreants poured water into the ballot boxes. The Deputy Commissioner ordered the suspension of polling and asked the staff to return to their headquarters. The deceased was reportedly attacked with blunt weapons. A case has been registered. All 522 voters of Kultana village boycotted the elections as village elders wanted a unanimous election of their sarpanch. The three contenders for the post also agreed to the dictates of the village elders. A fresh date for repoll will be decided later by the state Election Commission. HISAR: Barring one incident in Fatehabad, the second phase of panchayat elections passed off peacefully in Hisar and Fatehabad districts. Reports reaching here from various parts of the districts said heavy polling was reported in a majority of the villages. Though the situation was tense at some places due to a keen contest, no untoward incident was reported from any of the 133 panchayats for which elections were held on Thursday in Hisar district. One persons received injuries in his hand when some persons allegedly shot at him from a point-blank range in Dhani Khasa Mahajan village in Fatehabad district. The injured, Mr Mahadev, alleged that when he went to cast his vote some persons fired at him. Polling passed off
peacefully in Hansi subdivision where 23 panchayats went
to the polls in the second phase. About 80 per cent
voters cast their ballot in Thursday's election. |
3 hurt in poll violence AMBALA, March 16 — The second phase of the panchayat elections passed peacefully in the district baring one incident of violence. According to information, three people were injured in Tepla village when supporters of Congress and INLD had a scuffle over the issue of canvassing for candidates inside the polling booth campus. The polling was delayed for one-and-a-half-hour. According to a police
report, the three persons injured in the incident were
Lakhwant Singh, Bhupinder and Joginder Singh. On the
complaint of Lakhwinder Singh, a case was registered
against 11 persons. No arrests had been made so far,
report added. |
HC quashes retirement order ROHTAK, March 16 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed orders of the state government prematurely retiring Mr Ram Mehar, Executive Engineer (Irrigation), and allowed all consequential benefits to the petitioner. Mr Ram Mehar was retired prematurely on May 16, 1997 by the Bansi Lal government on the recommendations of the officers committee which after evaluating the service record of the employee recommended that he was no longer fit to be retained in service. Mr Ram Mehar challenged his retirement orders mainly on the ground of violation of the principal of natural justice, stating that no notice or opportunity of hearing was given to him to defend himself in respect of the allegations of misconduct which constituted the foundation of the decision taken by the state government. He also averred that the impugned decision was vitiated by arbitrariness and non-application of mind. The Division Bench comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Iqbal Singh said a perusal of the ACR dossiers of Mr Ram Mehar showed that in a period of 10 years he had carried four "very good" and four "good" reports. For the remaining period, he was either on leave or under suspension and for the next two years he had earned "good" and "very good" reports. On the perusal of these entries, the judge said no reasonable person could have formed a bona fide opinion that the petitioner had outlived his utility or that his retention in service would be contrary to public interest. "In fact, the respondents have not even attempted to justify the petitioner’s premature retirement on the basis of entries made in the annual confidential reports (ACRs). Rather, they have relied on the charge sheets issued to the petitioner in February, 1991, and June, 1996", the order said. "We may have considered at length the question whether the pending enquires could have been made the sole basis for retiring the petitioner before the age of the superannuation, but the necessity of doing that has been obviated because during the pendancy of the writ petition, both enquiries have been finalised and the same have either been filed or dropped", the judges said. "In our opinion,
the decision of the government to drop or file the
enquiries pending against Mr Ram Mehar has the effect of
removing the substratum of the recommendation made by the
officers committee not to extend his service beyond the
age of 58 years and, therefore, the impugned order cannot
be sustained", the judges ordered. |
Haryana House adjourned sine die CHANDIGARH, March 16 (UNI) — The Haryana Vidhan Sabha today adopted by voice vote an Appropriation Bill, authorising payment of Rs 12,415.60 crore from the Consolidated Fund of the state during the next financial year. The demands for grants relating to the next year's Budget were voted by the House yesterday. The House also adopted another Appropriation Bill by voice vote relating to supplementary demands totalling Rs 879.65 crore, authorising payment from the Consolidated Fund of the State during the current year. The supplementary demands were passed by the House yesterday. The Vidhan Sabha also passed a Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill and a Municipal (Amendment) Bill relating to the postponement of Faridabad Municipal Corporation and Municipal Committee elections in the state. The two Bills replace ordinances issued on December 14 last by the state government in this regard. The Assembly also passed a Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, Punjab Ayurvedic and Unani Practitioners (Haryana Amendment and Validation) Bill. Haryana General Sales Tax (Amendment) Bill was also passed to implement uniform Sales Tax rates. With this Bill Sales Tax will be levied on certain items which were earlier exempted, including text books and literacy books and diaries. The Bill also provides for the imposition of 20 per cent Sales Tax on some luxury items as had been recommended by a committee of Finance Ministers constituted by the Centre on Sales Tax reforms. Later the Assembly
adjourned sine die after its eight-day-long Budget
session. |
Gram panchayats elected SONEPAT, March 16 — The Pipli Khera gram panchayat in Ganaur block has been elected unanimously. According to official sources, the post of the sarpanch was reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate and Mr Sube Singh, a supporter of Mr Ved Singh Malik, a former state minister was elected sarpanch at a meeting held at the village yesterday. The elected panches are — Ms Darshana Devi, Mr Dhara Pandit, Ms Darshana, Mr Om Parkash, Ms Bhano Devi, Dr Ved, Ms Sakeena, Ms Krishna, Mr Azad Singh and Ms Nechar Devi. Mr Azad Singh (Ram Nagar) from ward No. 9 was elected member of the block samiti unanimously. According to another report, the Ghasauli gram panchayat was elected unanimously. Ms Usha Devi was elected sarpanch. Twelve panches were also elected unanimously and they are — Mr Satish Tyagi, Mr Jagdish Tyagi, Ms Shama Devi, Mr Dhoop Singh Balmiki, Mr Sunder Paul Tyagi, Mr Ram Bhaj Panchal, Mr Nand Ram Tyagi, Mr Ram Phool Prajapat, Ms Giano Devi, Ms Kamlesh Devi, Ms Usha Devi and Mr Ram Phal Tyagi. Mr Naresh Tyagi from ward No. 26 and Mr Azad Singh (Ram Nagar) from ward No. 9 were elected members of the block samitis, respectively. Official sources also
revealed that four sarpanches were elected unanimously
and they are — Mr Dilbagh Singh Antil (Murthal
village), Mr Inder Singh (Bayyanpur village), Mr Hazari
Lal (Harsana Kalan village) and Mr Kanshi Ram Tyagi
(Malikpur village). Mr Randhir was unanimously elected
the village sarpanch. |
Dalal’s charges baseless: CM CHANDIGARH, March 16 — Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala today termed as baseless and concocted the allegations levelled by a member of the Republican Party of India, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, in the state Assembly. Mr Chautala said anybody could get an FIR lodged, but just lodging an FIR did not mean that the allegations were true. He described the FIR as a complaint lodged against anyone, the truth of which could be revealed only after investigation. He said the allegations were not true, which was evident from the fact that the Additional District and Sessions Judge of Sirsa, Mr K.K. Chopra, has found the report as a bunch of lies and had dismissed it. He said Mr Dalal had
also tried to mislead the House, which did not behove a
legislator. He said Mr Dalal wanted to get cheap
popularity by raising hue and cry in the House. |
Haryana to disburse Rs 2000 cr
loan CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Haryana State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank will disburse loans amounting to Rs 2000 crore during the next five years under various schemes. Disclosing this here today, Chairman of the Bank, Mr Nafe Singh, said that it would advance Rs 280 crore during the current year as agricultural and non agricultural loans through its primary, cooperative and rural development branches set up a tehsil and sub-tehsil levels. He said that the bank had already disbursed loans amounting to Rs 212 crore amongst its 35,000 members up to February end during this financial year as against Rs 190 crore given to equal number of members in the corresponding period last year. The 18th general body
meeting of the bank has been convened at Karnal on March
18 to discuss various issues pertaining to the bank and
its future programmes, Mr Nafe Singh said. |
Ram Pal Majra sworn in CHANDIGARH, March 16 (UNI) — Haryana Chief Minister Mr Om Prakash Chautala administered the oath of office to Mr Ram Pal Majra as Chief Parliamentary Secretary here today. Mr Majra (46) represents Pai Assembly constituency in the state Assembly. He first was elected to the Assembly from the same constituency in 1996 and was returned from the same constituency as Indian National Lok Dal candidate in recent Assembly elections. Assembly speaker Satvir
Singh Kadian, Town and Country Planning Minister Dhirpal
Singh and a number of ministers besides legislators and
senior officers of the state government were present on
the occasion. |
309 left in fray for MC poll SIRSA, March 16 — There are 309 candidates left in the fray for one Municipal Council and three Municipal Committee seats, the election for which is scheduled for April 2 in the district. For Sirsa Municipal Council there are 31 wards, of which 4 wards have only one candidate. They are Mr Atma Ram from ward No 9, Mr Radhey Sham from ward No 10, INLD district President Padam Jain from ward No 20 and Mr Rajender Gujjar from ward No 22. For the remaining 27 wards 131 candidates are in the fray. For Rania Municipal Committee the election of Mr Gopal Das from ward No 6 is unopposed, whereas for the remaining 14 wards there are 48 candidates in the fray. For 15 wards of
Ellenabad Municipal Committee there are 88 candidates
whereas for 33 wards of Kalanwali there are 37 candidates
left in the fray. |
Hooda pleads lawyers’
case CHANDIGARH, March 16 — Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, today condemned the apathy of the Centre towards the agitation launched by 10 lakh advocates to protest against the amendments in the Civil Procedure Code and the proposed amendments in the Advocates Act. Mr Hooda emphasised that the amendments in the CPC would make justice not only expensive for the poor but also make it beyond their reach. The amendments tended to benefit the multinationals based corporate lawyers. Mr Hooda also criticised
the Central Government for the proposed amendments in the
CPC to deposit Rs 50,000 to get the interim orders or
stay orders because the poor people in the country could
not afford it. |
HUDA workers on warpath FARIDABAD, March 16 — Employees of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) here are on a warpath. Yesterday they held a noisy demonstration and staged a dharna outside the HUDA office in Sector 12. They are particularly irked by the "indifferent" attitude of the HUDA administration towards their demands. No official was present at the HUDA campus yesterday to negotiate with the workers despite a prior notice. Mr Dharam Vir Vaishnav, circle secretary, and Mr Mohar Pal, district president of the HUDA Karamchari Sangharsh Manch, which is spearheading the agitation, said a local court had declared as "illegal" the allotment of houses in two colonies in Faridabad to non-HUDA employees last month. But the administration had taken no action to implement the directive and allot the houses to HUDA employees on the waiting list. Their other demands
include jobs to the next of kin of employees who die
during service, reinstatement of 57 persons and promotion
on merit. |
Seminar on tax provisions AMBALA, March 16 — The Ambala Cantonment Traders Federation organised a seminar on Income Tax Provisions and the Duties of Tax Payers here. The seminar was headed by Dr N.C. Jain. Income tax officers, Mr M.K. Jhulka and Mr Ravi Shanker, talked about duties of income tax payers, a press note said. The officers said there
were a lot of provisions which could be of interest to
the industry and trade sectors. He said whatever tax
these sectors paid, a part of it was transferred to the
state governments for the development of education and
health facilities. |
Probe ordered AMBALA, March 16 — The Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, has ordered an inquiry into the allegation of an independent candidate of ward number 17 against the candidate of the BJP contesting the municipal councillor election from the same ward notified as reserved for backward class person. The City Magistrate, Ambala, has been deputed to hold the inquiry. Two days ago, Mr Pawan Kumar, an independent candidate from ward 17, filed a petition before the Haryana Election Commission against the candidate of the BJP, Mr Rakesh Kumar, alleging that he does not belong to backward class but has been contesting from the ward reserved for this category by producing a false certificate of backward class. Mr Pawan Kumar had also
alleged in the petition that Rakesh Kumar had also
obtained a certificate of Scheduled Caste from the SDM
office. |
SI commits suicide ROHTAK, March 16 — Sub-Inspector Baljeet Singh allegedly shot himself with his service revolver while on election duty at Akehari Madanpur village in Salhawas Block of Jhajjar district today. The Deputy Commissioner,
Jhajjar, Mr Srikant Walgad said the Sub-Inspector was
posted in the Police Lines at Jhajjar. The cause for the
suicide was not known. |
3 dead in separate
incidents ROHTAK, March 16 — Three persons, including a woman, died in separate incidents in the district in the past 36 hours. According to police sources, a woman Anita, a resident of Dobh village, died of burns. She was seriously injured when the stove on which she was cooking food, reportedly got blasted. In another incident Balwant Singh, died after his motorcycle rammed into a tree near Sunarian village, about 10 km from here. The police found another
body, having injury marks from Khidwali village near
here. The victim could not be identified. A case of
murder has been registered in this connection. |
1 killed, 4 hurt in road
mishap PANIPAT, March 16 — One person was killed and four others injured, two of them seriously, when the Tata Sumo in which they were travelling overturned near the Karnal octroi post here this afternoon. The deceased has been identified as Kani Ram who was driving the vehicle. He was a resident of Adarsh Colony in Faridabad. The injured are Rakesh,
Rajbir and Sanjay, all of Adarsh Colony and Nain Kumar of
Gandhi Colony, Faridabad. The condition of Rakesh and
Rajbir, who sustained multiple injuries on the face, head
and limbs, was said to be critical. One of the injured,
Nain Kumar, said all occupants of the vehicle were in an
inebriated state when the incident occurred. They were
going to Karnal from Faridabad. |
3 criminals killed in
crash SONEPAT, March 16 — The three persons who were killed in a road accident on GT Road near Murthal Chowk on Tuesday while fleeing from the police were identified as Jaiveer (25), Samsher (26) and Ram Diya (25) of Hisar district. According to the police, the trio had allegedly shot dead the driver of the Tata Sumo they had hired near Narwana town in Jind district and thrown his body into a well there. Thereafter, they drove the vehicle towards Delhi via Panipat. When the police learnt of the murder and snatching of the Tata Sumo it gave chase. The driver of the vehicle Shamsher Singh accelerated to evade capture, leading to a collision with an oncoming truck resulting in the death of all three. Police sources say all
three were wanted in a number of robbery cases. The
police recovered a loaded pistol and a knife from the
vehicle. |
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