New Delhi, December 14
The Delhi High Court today asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to demolish all illegal structures across the city in four weeks.

Observing that there was a strong nexus between MCD officials and the builders, a Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma sought a compliance report from the civic body by January 18, 2006.

The sweeping order to demolish an estimated 18,000 illegal structures in the Capital was made after the court found that its earlier order with regard to 36 illegal structures in Patel Nagar here was flouted by the officials.

The court expressed its anguish over the defiance of its December 6 order wherein the owners of illegal structures were asked to demolish the unauthorised part of the said 36 building on their own within three days failing which the MCD was to carry out the same.

“What has happened to our December 6 order? Why did you not carry out the demolitions when the owners failed to do it on their own?” Justice Vijender Jain asked.
The court also clarified that no further notices will be sent to the owners of the illegal structures while carrying out the demolitions. The clarification was made after counsel for one of the petitioners complained that the MCD was deliberately buying time in the name of issuing fresh notices to those who have already been served with such notices as early as in 2002.

When the MCD counsel sought to make submissions on behalf of the property owners, the Bench rejected the same and directed that today’s order should be implemented strictly.

“We are not happy with your dereliction of duty and indifference. We would not have come to the present state but for your indifference,” Justice Jain observed.

The court also felt that no mercy should be shown on the owners and builders of the illegal structures. “Until and unless we take strong action people will continue with their illegal construction. As such we make it clear that all illegal structure should go in the city,” the Bench remarked while passing fresh orders.

The Court had on December 6 given three days time to the owners of the 36 odd illegal structures in the Patel Nagar to voluntarily remove their encroached portions, failing which the MCD would demolish the same.

The court had also asked the MCD Commissioner to furnish a list of builders responsible for the illegal constructions so that they could be taken to task for duping gullible purchasers of flats/apartments built by them in violation of norms.

The Bench noted that gullible owners adversely affected by the drive needed to be compensated as they were tricked into purchasing unauthorised structures by the builders in connivance with the MCD officials.
The 36 structures were ordered to be demolished by the court on the basis of a report submitted by a three-member fact finding committee of lawyers appointed by the court to investigate the complaints.

The court observed that if the officials of the MCD were vigilant, rampant illegal constructions in the Capital would not have taken place.

The court said unauthorised constructions went on unabated and no serious efforts had been made to check them.

It was a lucrative business to permit the people to illegally construct structures flouting the building bylaws, said the Court.

Until and unless serious action was initiated against the erring officials, illegal constructions would remain rampant, the Judges observed.

Meanwhile, in another case, the High Court issued contempt notices to the City Police Commissioner and Special Secretary (Power), NCT for their failure to implement its 2002 order to remove encroachment on a public land on the Ring Road near Pragati Maidan here.

A Bench Comprising Justice Vijayendra Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma asked the contemnors, including the Chief Engineer, PWD to explain why action should not be taken against them for “willful violation of court order”.

The Court asked the officers to file the reply by February 1, the next date of hearing.

New Delhi, December 14
The BJP has demanded the dismissal of the sitting MLA from Kamla Nagar from the Assembly for his alleged connivance in getting a forged Scheduled Caste certificate to a Councillor whose election has been set aside by the Supreme Court.

In a joint statement, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Dr Jagdish Mukhi, the BJP president, Dr Harshvardhan and national secretary of BJP Mahila Morcha, Ms Meera Kanwaria, said that it was travesty of constitutional propriety to “authenticate” and recommend granting of a forged Scheduled Caste certificate to Ms Sunita, Councillor from Subhash Nagar, when she was filing her nomination in 2002 despite not belonging to the category.

They demanded that Kamla Nagar MLA Shadi Ram be dismissed from the Assembly to set a precedent and discourage any repetition of such an incident.

Since Sunita’s election, who contested on the Congress Party ticket, has been rejected, her nearest rival from the BJP, should be declared elected.

Sunita should be arrested on charges of forgery and she should also return all facilities provided to her by the MCD since the last four years. An inquiry should also be made to find out how the S/C certificate was issued to her.

The amazing part is that the certificate was applied for and issued on March 5, 2002 itself, and later attached with Ms Sunita’s application despite the last date of nomination being March 4, the leaders said.

BJP chief Dr Harshvardhan said now that since the Supreme Court’s December 8, 2005 verdict had vindicated the stand of Ms Meera Kanwaria, who lost against Ms Sunita in the 2002 Municipal Corporation elections by about a 1,000 votes, she should be declared as the winner.

“We are asking the Lt-Governor to get the deposed Councillor’s assets reevaluated so as to unearth her illegal earnings besides asking her to deposit the cost of all benefits she savoured during her more than three-year tenure.”

Ms Meera, on her part, said the apex court’s verdict had restored the faith of Schedule Castes all over the nation that justice, though delayed, was never denied to the aggrieved.

New Delhi, December 14
The Delhi High Court today gave a clean chit to electronic meters installed by the power distribution companies in the national Capital and said that past consumption cannot be used to determine the correctness of the device.

Disposing of a petition filed by one Suresh Jindal seeking re-installation of electro-mechanical meters, Justice Pradeep Nandrajog said that “the petitioner has not been able to show that the electronic meter replaced was not as per the ISI specifications. The meter was tested twice and was found to be in order. CPRI, an independent agency, also checked the meter and found it to be correct”.

The court said, “In the teeth of intrinsic evidence, external aid being fast consumption is of no use and can not be used to determine the correctness of electronic meter”.

However, the court directed BSES Rajdhani Power Limited “to notify all the consumers in whose premises electronic meters have been installed to check their wiring and ensure that no two connections have a common neutral”.

The court also asked the company to check inter-mixing of neutral wires and give one week notice for removal of the same to the consumers in case of such inter-mixing.

“‘To some extent the blame must be shared by the distribution companies. They are aware of the problems. I see no reason why the power suppliers did not educate the consumers at whose premises electronic meters were installed,”’ the court said.

The suppliers also did not educate the consumers to segregate the supply line by removing the intermixing of the neutral wires, said the court, fixing the onus on the discoms.

New Delhi, December 14
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) today cancelled its land lease agreement with four private schools in the city for not admitting poor students as per the lease agreement.

Lease agreements have been cancelled in the case of Gyan Mandir Education Society in Naraina Vihar, Rukmini Devi Seth Pokhar Mal Education Society, Bal Bharti School (Child Education Society) in Pitampura and Babs Naronha Educational Society (Pinnacle School).

DDA has initiated eviction procedure for all the four schools to take over the physical possession of the sites under the Public Premises Eviction Act.
Notices had been served on these schools in July and August on violation of the agreement to provide free education to poor students.
“It is expected that the cancellation of these schools will have a deterrent effect on other schools and thus schools may start adhering to the terms and conditions of lease,” a press statement issued by DDA said.
Both the DDA and the Delhi government have been monitoring compliance of terms of allotment of concessional land to various schools in the Capital since 2004.

As many as 133 schools were initially identified as violators and their performance was monitored. Many of them later improved their record in admitting poor students.

New Delhi, December 14
Rural areas in the national Capital can look forward to alleviation of at least some of their troubles should a new scheme of development, approved in principle by the Rural Development Board, become a reality. These schemes, amounting to approximately Rs 130 crore, are likely to be executed by the MCD and will be funded by the Delhi Government.

This decision was taken in a meeting convened by Delhi Chief Minister Ms Shiela Dikshit. Mr Rajkumar Chauhan, Delhi Development Minister, said that in the current year, MCD has been given Rs 40 crore against which proposals amounting to approximately Rs 101 crores have been sanctioned by the Board for execution of development works in the rural areas of Delhi.

The Chief Minister, it was pointed out, has assured the MCD that it should take up all the proposals and the amount required for the execution shall be granted to it in the next financial year i.e. 2006-07.

The Irrigation and Flood Control Department is also entrusted with the execution of development work in the rural areas. Mr Chauhan said over and above the amount which is being given to MCD, work on various schemes likely to be taken up by Irrigation and Flood Control Department amounting to Rs 30 crores approximately has begun.

New Delhi, December 14
Announcing that 28 new fire stations will be set up in the city, the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, today said that the government will ensure the strict enforcement of fire safety norms.

The additional 28 fire stations in the Capital will take the figures of fire stations up to 70 by the end of 10th Five Year Plan. A provision of Rs 120 crore has been provided for this purpose, Ms Dikshit said addressing the passing out parade of 61st batch of fire operators at a function organised by Delhi Fire Services at Rohini in the Capital today.

The Chief Minister said her government will also strive to enforce fire and quake safety norms. She said builders, individual constructors and other agencies must comply with all instructions relating to fire safety at the time of construction of buildings, adding that the government on its part is doing its best to provide maximum fire safety.

The Chief Minister informed that three Disaster Management Centres have also been established at Laxmi Nagar, Rohini and Nehru Place fire station to provide immediate response in case of natural and manmade disasters.

The fleet of Delhi Fire Service is equipped with 197 fire fighting units and various specialised equipment, it was pointed out.

The Chief Fire Officer, Mr R. C. Sharma, said that 87 fire operators after completion of six-month rigorous training have joined the Fire Service.

During the course of training, they have been trained in all aspects of fire fighting, rescue operations and disaster management.

The Chief Minister on this occasion also gave away prizes to four Fire Officers, Ashok Kumar, Rupesh Kharab, Arvind Kumar and a special prize was awarded to Narendra Kumar.

New Delhi, December 14
A city court today sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his wife and later burning the body suspecting her of having an extra-marital affair.

Additional Sessions Judge Rajiv Mehra awarded the punishment to Shayam Babu Prasad Yadav, an autorickshaw driver, after finding him guilty under section 302(murder) and 201 (destroying the evidence) of the IPC. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 on the convict.

Yadav was married to Gayatri in 2001. Soon they ran into financial hardship following she joined sewing classes so that she could join in a tailor shop and earn some money.

But frequent quarrel broke out between them after some Yadav’s friends told him that his wife was always late to her sewing class as she was “going to meet some secret lover”.

Matters came to a head on May 20, 2003 when following an argument over the issue, he beat her severely. She sustained grevious injuries to which she later succumbed.

To make it seem like an accident, the convict then poured kerosene over the body and burnt it. The prosecution examined 19 witnesses to prove their case.

Noida, December 14
A man was kidnapped from outside the Narula Hotel in Sector-2, Noida by some bandits in his own Indica car at gunpoint.

The man, who works for an Australian company, was freed in Surajpur after cash, cell phone, credit and ATM cards were looted from him. He is said to have been deprived of a total of Rs 37,000.

The victim, Aashu Ohri, has complained to the police in writing about his kidnapping and loot.

However, the S.O. in-charge police station Sector-20, R.N. Singh denied that such a kidnapping or loot had taken place, he said.

Aashu Ohri lives in house No. G-54, Sector-56, Noida. He had thrown a party for his clients in the Narula Hotel. The party went on till 12 midnight. As soon as Ohri came out of the hotel and got into his car No. DL8-CJ 4418 in the parking lot, some bandits forced their way into his vehicle. Pointing a gun, they beat him up and blindfolded him. The miscreants then pushed him aside while one of them took the wheel.

After about two hours, Ohri was taken to a lonely place and deprived of Rs 12,000, ATM and credit cards. A little later, the bandits freed him with his car.

When Ohri did not reach home till 2.30 am, his wife informed the police control room. He reached home around 4 am and informed the nearest police station. When he checked his ATM account, he found that the bandits had withdrawn another Rs 25,000. Though Ohri has lodged a complaint in Sector-20 police station, Noida, the police are yet to take any steps to nab the criminals.

Greater Noida, December 14
The police administration in Gautam Budh Nagar has been caught napping. It came up with a kneejerk reaction on receipt of information from the National Commission for Women that three minor girls were being married off in Kulesra village.

On Tuesday, the police started getting proof of the actual ages of the girls in question – three girls were taken for their medical examination. Today, the parents of the girls had fixed 11 am as the marriage time of the three minor girls.

Yesterday, the GB Nagar police had received a letter sent by the National Commission for Women, informing it about the proposed marriage of three minor girls in Kulesra village – Avita, 16, Preety, 14, and Rakhi, 12.

The commission had asked the GB Nagar police to confirm the actual age of the girls. SSP Piyush Mordia had immediately asked the SO, Surajpur, to investigate the matter. The girls were sent to the district hospital for medical examination while the police started perusing the records of Amar Jyoti Public School in the village.

The SSP said only after confirming the actual age of the girls would the next step be taken. Meanwhile, Ms Malini Bhattachrya, member of the women’s commission, is likely to visit the village to study the situation first hand.

According to the police, the father of the girls, Janesh Tyagi, has refuted the allegation that all girls are minors. The National Commission for Women had received an anonymous complaint about the marriages for which the bridegrooms and marriage parties were to come from three different villages.

Greater Noida, December 14
Even after having gone through ‘saat pheras’ of the marriage ceremony and all the attendant rituals, a wedding party was returned by the bride’s family without the bride in Rabupura village on Tuesday.

This happened as the girl’s family demanded that the sister of bridegroom must be married to the brother of the bride – a tradition of reciprocal marriages.

Mangoo of Mohalla Rajputana in Rabupura had fixed the marriage of his daughter Meena (name changed) with Tota of a village in Dibai near Bulandshahr.

Mangoo had made it clear that when Tota’s marriage party came on December 13 to his village, the bridegroom’s family should be prepared for the marriage of the groom’s sister with the bride’s brother.

The party came with a band with all pomp and show. It was accorded a traditional welcome by the bride’s family. The ceremony was being solemnised in a traditional way. But since the marriage party had not brought the bridegroom’s sister for marriage with the bride’s brother as agreed, the village panchayat was called. The panchayat had a long session.

The family of the bridegroom told the panchayat that at no cost they would marry their daughter with the bride’s brother.

Though the panchayat had advised Mangoo to send his daughter with the marriage party, he stuck to his guns: Either his son is also married in the same ‘mandap’ or he will not send his daughter with the bridegroom.

So the party had to return without the bride even though the ceremony had been completed.

Ghaziabad, December 14
The Income Tax department has sought the list of builders from Ghaziabad Development Authority and the details of buildings and properties bought by each from GDA during the past four years.

The department estimates that it will earn a revenue of crores of rupees from this information. The information will also make it clear how far the details furnished by builders to the IT Department were correct.

This information can also give details to the people who buy buildings and houses from the builders. The communication received from income tax authorities on November 30 has landed the GDA in a predicament as only two days are left and there is a rider that in case the GDA fails to furnish this information within two days it will have to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000 a day.

One reason why GDA officials are in a fix is because many GDA employees had got highly valuable plots allotted to their own kith and kin under pseudonyms. All these plots are worth crores now. The Income Tax Department intends to go to the root of the problem as to how the builders had accumulated such highly priced properties. GDA secretary Devi Shankar Sharma said the list will be sent to the Income Tax Department in time. After the receipt of the letter dated November 30 from the Additional Director, Income Tax, Dr Amar Bir Singh, the GDA appears to be in a fix. Officers of its commercial department are busy preparing the list of builders who had bought plots from the GDA since 2001.

According to Dr Singh, the list of those builders has been sought from GDA who had been allotted plots in Kaushambi, Vaishali and Indirapuram colonies. Details of the area and price of each plot have also been sought.

The Income Tax Director said similar information had also been sought from the Housing Development Council regarding builders who had purchased plots in Vasundhra.

New Delhi, December 14
Delhi government today decided to ban the running of Light Commercial Vehicles on the Capital’s streets in the mornings and evenings in order to de-congest the roads during rush hours while making it safer for its users.

In a high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Ms Shiela Dikshit, it was decided not to allow LCVs in the city from 8.00 to 11.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. to 10.00 a.m., official sources said. However, it would not affect LCVs providing essential services like milk.

It was also decided in the meeting that trucks will be allowed into the Capital after 11.00 p.m. instead of 9.00 p.m. earlier.

A notification for the new rules will be issued in a day or two, officials said after obtaining Lt Governor B L Joshi’s accent. State Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf, Chief Secretary
as well as Transport Secretary were present at the meeting.

Heavy and Medium Commercial Vehicles, except under certain cases, are already not allowed to run on Delhi roads during
the day.

New Delhi, December 14
The police have arrested two persons, including a peon of a school, from Rohini area of north-west Delhi for trying to extort Rs 50 lakh from the owner of a leading chain of schools in the name of notorious gangster Chhota Rajan.

Khalsa College graduate Ajay Grover (30) and Jai Prakash Misra, a peon, were arrested from Rohini’s Sector III yesterday after sleuths of the Crime Branch raided the place, DCP (Crime) Tajendra Luthra told media persons.

“The two were arrested after the driver, whom they had sent to get the first installment of Rs 10 lakh from the victim, led the team to the place where they had been waiting for him.”

Both the accused knew each other for the past 20 years and disclosed that the idea to extort money came after they watched the recent blockbuster Bunty Aur Babli, he said.

“In their first extortion call, made to the victim on December 11, the accused said they belonged to the Chhota Rajan gang and if Rs 50 lakh was not given he and his family would be eliminated.”

New Delhi, December 14
A Delhi court has sentenced two persons to prison after they pleaded guilty to charges of illegal possession of drugs in two separate cases.

Additional Sessions Judge Lal Singh sentenced Sheikh Insan Ali and Mohammed Ali to the period of sentence they have undergone in custody under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on both.

Insan Ali was caught with 10 grams of smack on July 16, 2003 by the Srinivaspuri Police, while Mohammed Ali was caught with smack of the same quantity on December 7, 2003 by the Defence Colony Police, both in south Delhi.

Insan Ali has been in jail for more than 14 months, while Mohd Ali has undergone custody for nearly two years.

New Delhi, December 14
A man accused of kidnapping today escaped from a court here moments after the judge pronounced him guilty.

Sri Om, who was on bail and present in the court room as Additional Judge S P Garg read out the order to him, broke down and appeared to have fainted.

He then requested the court’s leave to call his lawyer, who, he explained, had stepped out a few minutes ago. The court give him permission and Sri Om walked out of the courtroom, never to return.

A quarter of an hour later, the Judge, still finding the convict missing, asked the waiting police escort to go in search of the convict.

The police however, returned empty-handed after which the court issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest against the convict. The court asked the police to get back to it with a report on December 23.—TNS

Ghaziabad, December 14
A final year student of a medical college here today attempted to commit suicide by consuming some pesticide after his complaint to the management that he was allegedly beaten up by some junior students of the college went unheeded.

As the senior students protested against the alleged harassment of Sobhagya Mishra’s, who has been admitted to a hospital here in serious condition, the college authorities suspended 9 students, six of whom were rounded up the police.