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Friday,
April 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Four Haryana Bills await
Governor’s nod CM dares Bhajan on ‘jail bharo andolan’ Sadhus angry over temple take-over Ruchika molestation case witness deposes
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KU plugs leak, resumes college exams Surjewala
flays VAT
implementation Truckers’ stir: special task forces formed Marginal impact of truckers’ stir Haryana fodder for Rajasthan Bansal re-elected Bar Association
president
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Four Haryana Bills await
Governor’s nod Chandigarh, April 17 Eleven other Bills passed during the session have already been cleared by the Governor. Three of the Bills awaiting the Governor’s nod are regarding amendments to the Municipal act, the Municipal Corporation Act and the Panchayati Raj Act. The proposed amendments have the same objective — to make it mandatory for the State Election Commission (SEC) to consult the state government before
announcing the dates for the municipal committee, municipal corporation and panchayat elections, respectively. The fourth Bill, is relating to amendments of section 5A of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961. If the amendment is carried out, it will enable panchayats — with prior approval of the state government — to gift land for the hospitals, dispensaries or educational or charitable institutions or for any other purpose beneficial to the inhabitants of the village concerned. It has been about a month now that these Bills are with the Raj Bhavan. The Governor is understood to be particularly worried about the first three bills as he is of the view that the amendments will effectively mean curbing the autonomy of the SEC. Earlier also the Governor refused to issue ordinances because he felt that the proposed amendments were violative of the spirit of the Constitution, sources having access to Raj Bhavan said. While the Opposition had objected to all four Bills when they were tabled in the House, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Leader of the Opposition, had also taken a delegation to the Governor after the session was over and urged him to withhold assent to these Bills. About the amendment proposed in the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, Mr Hooda and his colleagues told the Governor that there were ample chances of misuse of power by the Om Prakash Chautala-led government in case the amendment was carried out. They opposed the amendments to the Municipal act, the Municipal Corporation Act and the Panchayati Raj Act, saying that the changes would restrict the SEC from functioning independently. The Governor has two options if he is dissatisfied with the Bills he can either send them back to the Assembly for reconsideration or he could refer the Bills to the President of India. In case the bills are sent to the assembly again which passes them a second time, the Governor will have no option but to give his assent. Reserving the Bills (or any of the bill) for presidential assent would entail examination of the proposals by the union ministry concerned and the Law Ministry. Earlier, the state government’s ambitious proposal for setting up casinos in the state was sent by the Governor for presidential assent, a step which was widely welcomed by all opposition parties during the last session of the assembly. |
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CM dares Bhajan on ‘jail bharo andolan’ Fatehabad, April 17 The Chief Minister alleged that Congress leaders had nothing to do with the welfare of the farmers or the state and were only interested in politicking. He criticised Mr Bhajan Lal by saying that he had announced to organise the andolan from Baisakhi day but postponed it till May 15 on the ground that farmers would be busy in harvesting. He said now the Congress leaders had postponed the movement further on the excuse of Fatehabad byelection. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister got a shot in the arm when the Punjabi community of the town offered its unconditional support to the party in the forthcoming byelection to the Fatehabad Assembly seat. The Punjabi community today hosted breakfast in the honour of the Chief Minister at the local Shri Sobh Raj Batra Dharamshala. Prominent leaders of the Punjabi community Dev Raj Batra, Diwan Chand Mal, Balbir Singh Chowdhary and Vinod Mehta, Press Secretary to the Chief Minister, along with former minister Mani Ram Godara, INLD MPs Surender Barwala and Sushil Indora were present. The Chief Minister today toured Bothan Kalan, Bothan Khurd, Hasanga, Nadori, Ghotru, Dholu, Tibbi, Lahrian, Buan Kothi, Dahman, Gorakhpur, Mochi and Chobara villages on the third day of his first phase of campaigning. Several local INLD leaders also accompanied him. Meanwhile, the Haryana Vikas Party secretary-general, Mr Surender Singh, will begin his four-day tour of the Fatehabad assembly constituency from tomorrow. According to a press note issued here today, Mr Surender Singh will cover all 84 villages of this Assembly constituency during his tour. Former Haryana ministers Mr Kanwal Singh, Attar Singh Saini and several party functionaries will accompany the former MP. Meanwhile, the CPM today maintained that it had no plan to support any political party in the forthcoming Fatehabad Assembly byelection and would contest it on its own. Mr Krishan Swaroop, a member of the state secretariat of the CPM, said the party was in touch with other political parties to seek their support. The district unit of the party, he added, would meet tomorrow to discuss the candidate for the poll and strategy to be adopted. SIRSA: The INLD candidate in the coming Fatehabad byelection will double the margin of victory with respect to the last Vidhan Sabha election. This was claimed by the president of the youth wing of the INLD and Member of Parliament Ajay Chautala at his residence here on Thursday. The INLD leader said they would fight the election on the issue of development. |
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Sadhus angry over temple take-over Karnal, April 17 The Haryana Government has constituted a three-member committee comprising Mr Ashok Arora, Transport Minister, Dr M.L. Ranga, Health Minister and Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, Agriculture Minister to identify the temples to be taken over. The committee met at Parakeet Tourist Resort Pipli last night. Officials of the KDB were also present there. Dr M.L. Ranga, could not attend the meeting. The meeting is said to have decided not to take over the temples like Kali Mandir, Dukh Banjneshwar Mandir located on at the banks of Sannihit Sarovar. It also decided not to touch canopies used and erected by the ‘pandas’ on the banks of the sarovar. It also felt that temples managed by the registered sadhu akharas should also be left out. The Transport Minister is said to have tried to assuage feelings of the Sadhu Samaj. Mahant Gangapuri, General Secretary of the Maha Nirvani Akhara which manages Shiva temples in Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Maharashtra, Himachal said the government move aimed at destroying the “Sanatan way” of life of the Hindus. Mahant Gangapuri clarified that the Bombay High Court had held that religious temples of the Sadhu Akharas “were their personal places of worship. Mahant Parbhatpuri of the historic Sthaneshwar Temple (Kurukshetra) also echoed similar sentiments. Mr K.K. Kaushik, a former president of the Teerath Udhar Sabha of Brahmins maintained that the KDB’s move was a blatant interference in the religious way of life of the temple owners and devotees. He alleged that some district officials were misleading the government. Enquiries show that even religious places functioning under the KDB were not being looked after as per expectations of people and desired standards. Piles of dirt around Sannihit Sarovar and Brahman Sarovar and the Ban Ganga Teerath etc can be seen. Even roads around the religious sarovars are not swept. The government move is being looked with suspicion. |
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Ruchika molestation case witness deposes Ambala, April 17 Deposing before the judge, Mr Anand Parkash during his examination-in-chief stated that it was at 7 pm on August 14, 1990 that his wife Madhu told him that Ruchika was molested by Mr S.P.S Rathore, the then IGP, Haryana and president of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association ( HLTA), Panchkula, on August 12, 1990 at about 12 noon. He further corroborated that Ruchika was molested by S.P.S Rathore. His daughter, Aradhana, was sent to call Mr Thomas, the coach of the CLTA. She found that Rathore had his one hand around Ruchika’s waist and that he had tightly pressed her against his body. He told the court that even as Ruchika tried her best to free herself from his clutches Rathore fell into his chair only when Aradhana came to his HLTA’s office. Mr Parkash said he got all facts verified from both Ruchika and Aradhana and thereafter went to the tennis court at 7 pm Mr Rathore had left the place. He then along with Mr C.P Bansal, DIG, Haryana police, and Mr Sham Lal Goel, DSP, Haryana police, and several others reached the CLTA office, where they were told by an attendant that the Rathore would be there in the next 10-15 minutes. “However, we waited there for about 40 minutes and he did not come,” he said. It was also stated by Mr Parkash that Mr Rathore called Ruchika’s father, Mr S.C Girotra, the next day through the HLTA manager, Mr Kuldip Singh, but he did not meet Rathore. Further, residents of Panchkula went to submit a memorandum to the then Chief Minister, Mr Hukam Singh, and when they could not meet him they gave the same to Mr J.K Duggal, the then Financial Commissioner and Secretary Home, Haryana who assured them that an inquiry would be conducted and action taken against those found guilty. He also assured that the SDM, Mr S.K Joshi, would visit the HLTA court on August 16, 1990, along with an SHO to conduct an inquiry. Thereafter, the SDM, conducted the inquiry and recorded the statements of the manager Kuldip Singh and coach Thomas. Finally, the deputation met the Chief Minister on August 17 and they were assured of action against the culprit. Mr Anand Parkash today identified in the court the copy of the memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister and others and also recognised the accused, who was present in the court today. The CBI, which is the prosecution in the case was represented by its advocate, Mr C.S Sharma. The case was adjourned till tomorrow since the examination of the witness remained inconclusive today. The defence counsel, Mr Ajay Jain, strongly objected to the statement of Anand Prakash and submitted before the court that his entire evidence was inadmissible in law as it was full of hearsay versions, which cannot be permitted to be taken on record. The objections of the counsel were recorded and would be taken up later. |
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KU plugs leak, resumes college exams Kurukshetra, April 17 At a press conference at Kurukshetra University Guest House here today, the university Vice-Chancellor, Dr A.K. Chawla, said every examination centre had been visited by flying squads and the examination papers had been opened in the presence of an observer appointed by the university. Dr Chawla said that he himself had been in touch with various examination centres. Dr Chawla said the police patrolling at the examination centres had been intensified following instructions from the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. He was going to call upon the Governor of Haryana, Babu Parmanand, at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh today to apprise him of various steps being taken for the smooth conduct of the examinations. In reply to a question, he said two college Principals and the university Chief Warden had also been included in the question-papers leakage inquiry committee that had been told to submit its report within a week. The cost accounting paper of B.Com III, cancelled on April 10 and rescheduled for April 27, in view of a clash of dates with another examination, would now, be conducted on May 3. The Vice-Chancellor said the university had, now, restored two special chances to candidates for clearing the compartment papers. It had also allowed girls to appear as private candidates. |
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Surjewala flays VAT implementation Ambala, April 17 Addressing mediapersons here today, he pointed out how could it be made applicable in a single state even as traders and manufacturers were spread all over the country. Mr Surjewala alleged that the tax had only been introduced on a partisan basis to trouble the traders and shopkeepers, who were not his party supporters. He also lashed out at the Chautala Government for introducing the new formula for calculating house tax, which had burdened the tax payer. Opposing the calculation of the same on the basis of the Collector’s rate in 29 wards of Ambala Sadar and on the old rates in the wards under the cantonment board, he demanded that the government should not discriminate and have a uniform policy in the same area so that the public was not fleeced. He also opposed fire tax, which had also been imposed in places like
Narwana, where there was not a single fire station and even a fire tender. Mr
Surjewala, who is also the president of the Haryana Krishi Samaj, also criticised Mr Om Prakash Chautala for his anti-farmer policies. He pointed out that suicides among farmers were on the increase as hard-pressed farmers preferred to end their lives to save themselves from the clutches of money-lenders. Farmers were under heavy debt due to non-payment of sugarcane arrears by the government and were likely to suffer more due to a 4 per cent increase in the prices of urea and DAP fertilisers under VAT. |
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Truckers’ stir: special task forces formed Chandigarh, April 17 A spokesman of the Home Department said here today that all Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and SPs had been directed to ensure that the movement of essential commodities like oil, gas cylinders and foodgrains was not allowed to be disrupted. All General Managers of Haryana Roadways had been asked to issue instructions to allow the transport of vegetables and eatables in the buses during the strike period. A control room to review the position had been set up at the State Transport Controller’s office. |
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Marginal impact of truckers’ stir Ambala, April 17 According to a dealer in the wholesale vegetable market, potato is now being sold at Rs 160 per quintal against the earlier price of Rs 120 per quintal. Similarly, onion, which is brought from Gujarat, is being sold for Rs 5.50 per kg against the usual price of Rs 4.50 per kg. The price of green chilly that comes from Siliguri area has increased price to Rs 17 per kg from its usual price Rs 12 per kg. The strike has resulted in hike in the freight charges as the availability of transport vehicles has decreased. |
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Haryana fodder for Rajasthan Sirsa, April 17 This would be in addition to truck loads of fodder being sent from Haryana, Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala said here today. He instructed the officials concerned to make adequate arrangement for the same. He said the Railway Ministry was being requested to provide special goods trains for taking the fodder to Rajasthan. The first lot of fodder, he said, would be dispatched after April 20. He urged the farmers to go in for manual harvesting of their wheat crop instead of using combine harvestors to save hay for drought-hit Rajasthan. UNI |
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Bansal re-elected Bar Association president Ambala, April 17 Mr Bansal who polled 57 votes, defeated his rival Mr S.S. Rao, by 10 votes. Mr Anil Kumar, who polled 75 votes, was elected vice-president. His opponent, Mr Jatinder Kumar, polled 31 votes. |
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