Chandigarh, August 4
Almost 19 years after the taxation inspectors’ recruitment scam of the Haryana Subordinate Services Selection Board (HSSSB), the CBI Special Court of Jagdeep Jain today sentenced the board’s then secretary, A.P. Jain, the prime accused in the case, to five years of rigorous imprisonment.

The other 19 accused in the case, including the five former members of the board, were sentenced to three-year RI.

The accused were convicted last week on charges of substituting the names of selected taxation inspectors with those who had not even appeared for the examination. Interestingly, Punit Jain, son of the then secretary, A.P. Jain, was one of the 14 candidates, who were selected by forging the records.

The sentenced board members are Bachan Ram, Samay Singh Kamboj, Devi Dayal, Rao Inderpal and Sukhdev Singh.

Interestingly, Devi Dayal revealed that he was related to former Haryana Chief Minister Devi Lal.

A.P. Jain and the five former members of the board were held guilty under Sections 120-B, 420, 466, 468 and 471 of the IPC and under Section 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Meanwhile, the 14 candidates were held guilty under Sections 120-B and 420 of the IPC, Sections 466, 468 and 471 read with Section 120-B of the IPC and Section 13(1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The accused were held guilty for record manipulation, preparation of false records and forgery.

The accused were booked after an inquiry was conducted by the CBI on the directions of the Supreme Court in 1991.

The inquiry was marked on the complaint of the candidates who had appeared for the selection test but failed to make it to the list of successful candidates.

According to the prosecution, the complainants had appeared for the post of taxation inspector in the Haryana Subordinate Services Selection Board in 1989. They had filed a writ in the Supreme Court stating that the board had substituted their names with other candidates, whose names were not even mentioned in the list. Thereafter, an inquiry was marked. The charges were framed against the accused on May 28, 1999.

Tohana (Fatehabad), August 4
A pall of gloom descended on Tohana town in Fatehabad district as 16 persons of the district died in the Naina Devi stampede yesterday. The bodies of the victims reached here this morning.

Ten of the victims belonged to Tohana town, two from nearby Jamalpur Shekhan village, two from Diwana village, one from Ratia town and one from Chormaar village. Three out of 10 Tohana victims were of a single family.

Shops remained closed in the town today and a large number of residents rushed to the cremation ground where all 10 bodies were cremated at a mass cremation in afternoon.

Deputy commissioner O.P. Sheoran attended the cremation and conveyed Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s condolences to the families.

He also announced a relief of Rs 1 lakh each for families of the victims as ex gratia from the state government.

Parliamentary secretary and Fatehabad MLA Dura Ram expressed shock and grief at the tragedy.

According to reports, Sohan Lal, a resident of Jawahar Gali of the town, had purchased a truck and decided to take his relatives and family friends to Naina Devi to pay obeisance. The vehicle left Tohana with over 40 persons on Saturday.

They offered prayers at the temple on Saturday but decided to visit the temple again on Sunday before returning to Tohana.

Efforts to contact those away to Naina Devi proved futile, as their mobiles unreachable. Some local residents rushed to Naina Devi in four vehicles yesterday to find the missing people.

The victims have been identified as Mamta, Pooja, Mohindero, Surinder, Santosh, her son Birbal, her daughter Mamta, Deepak, son of Pahlad Singh, another Deepak, son of Joginder Singh, and Sapna, all residents of Tohana, Gurmeet Kau and Malkiat Kaur of Jamalpur Shekhan village, Jasmine and Puneet from Diwana village near here, Soni from Ratia and Vineet from Chormaar village.

Vineet’s body was brought to the village here today. Baljit Singh of the same village was injured and has been admitted to a hospital. Vineet had gone to Naina Devi with his relatives and some other villagers.

Vineet and Baljit Singh were trapped in the stampede and were crumbled under the feet of the mob. Most of the victims were women, young girls and small children.

Volunteers of the Manav Sewa Sangh, a local NGO, and followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda helped the victims’ kin in making preparations for the cremations.

Rohtak, August 4
In view of apprehension of terror strikes at places within and around the National Capital Region on the occasion of Independence Day, the Rohtak police has stepped up vigilance in the district.

This was stated by Rohtak SSP Alok Mittal while addressing a press conference here today. Mittal asserted that following specific instructions from the department authorities, the district police had taken a number of steps to prevent any untoward incident.

He said as part of the drive, meetings were being held with representatives of different sections of society to seek their cooperation. "At a recent meeting, traders have been advised to remain vigilant, especially during the rush hours, and immediately inform the police about any unclaimed objects and suspicious persons," the SSP said.

He said similar meetings would also be held with representatives of taxi and autorickshaw operators, maxi-cab drivers, parking contractors, dhaba owners, cinema house owners, cyber cafés, STD booth owners, the managers of inns and hotels, the principals of schools and colleges and the heads of religious places in a couple of days to seek their cooperation in the police efforts to prevent terrorists from striking in the district.

"Nakas have already been set up at various points in the city and registers are being maintained at all nakas to make entries of details of vehicles and their drivers for verification," Mittal said, adding that the SHOs had been directed to increase police presence in their respective jurisdictions.

Yamunanagar, August 4
The police has arrested Pradeep Khanna, XEN of the Marketing Board, on a charge of rape.

He was today produced before the Duty Magistrate, who sent him to 14-day judicial custody. The XEN was arrested by the police from Rohtak yesterday.

Police sources said the victim in her complaint had alleged that she had worked for the Ladwa Marketing Board and quit the job a few years ago. She met Khanna two and a half months ago while searching for a job. He, however, told her to meet him at his residence in Sector 18, HUDA, where he allegedly raped her after making her drink an intoxicant-laced soft drink. Besides, he also clicked the victim’s objectionable photographs and had been blackmailing her in this regard.

He called the victim again at his residence on June 22 on the pretext of returning her photographs. However, the accused allegedly beat up the victim, when she went there, police sources added.

The SP, Dr C.S. Rao, said a case had been registered under Section 376 and 506 of the IPC against Khanna.

Rohtak, August 4
Perturbed over lawyer husband’s alleged illicit relations, a woman reportedly committed suicide along with her two minor daughters by jumping before a train here late last night.

The deceased have been identified as Usha (30) and her daughters, Rashmi (8) and Kashish (2), residents of local Jagdish colony.

On getting information about the bodies of a woman and two girls lying on the railway track, a Government Railway Police (GRP) team rushed to the spot.

Sources said Usha, with her two daughters in her arms, jumped before the train. They were killed on the spot.

The police has found a suicide note, in which Usha has alleged that her husband, Sanjiv, had illicit relations with another woman, due to which she was committing suicide along with her two daughters.

She has reportedly held her husband responsible for her and her two daughters death.

The Rohtak GRP has registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC on the charge of abetment to suicide against Usha’s husband Sanjiv. He has been detained for questioning.

The bodies of the deceased were handed over to the family after a postmortem.

Jhajjar, August 4
A woman allegedly axed her husband and brother-in-law to death at her in-laws’ house in Suhra village here yesterday.

The deceased have been identified as Ratan Singh (32) and Himmat Singh (28), husband and brother-in-law of Ramjano, respectively.

The police has registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC against the woman on the complaint of her father- in-law, Lilu Ram. It has also recovered the axe used in the crime from the spot.

Lilu Ram alleged that his daughter-in-law, Ramjano, had illicit relations with his younger son, Himmat Singh, who wanted to distance himself from her.

Ramjano allegedly murdered her husband Ratan Singh while he was asleep on the first floor of their house in the village, the complainant said, adding that after killing her husband, the woman waited for about four hours to find an opportunity to kill her brother-in-law, Himmat Singh, who was sleeping on the ground floor.

Ramjano reportedly sent her mother-in-law out of the house on pretext of fetching milk and then also hacked Himmat with the same axe. Both the victims died on the spot.

Villagers overpowered Ramjano and informed the police regarding the incident when she was trying to flee from the village. The police has arrested the accused and registered a case of murder against her. The bodies have been sent to the Civil Hospital here for a postmortem.

Sirsa, August 4
After a series of negotiations between the management of Dera Sacha Sauda and members of the peace committee, the dera followers put off their plan to organise a protest march in the town today.

Residents of Sirsa town, who are now fed up with bandhs and protest marches every day, heaved a sigh of relief with the dera's announcement.

Hisar, August 4
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has directed all deputy general managers (operations) to organise at least one open darbar at the subdivisional office under their jurisdiction every month to mitigate consumer grievances.

A nigam spokesperson here today said the management had observed that consumer grievances regarding meter reading and billing were still on a higher side, particularly in Gurgaon area.

The management prepared a special plan to mitigate the grievances by holding one darbar in each subdivision at prominent places in Gurgaon during August.

He said the general manager (operations), Gurgaon, would accordingly hold open darbars and the DGM concerned would also attend the darbar.

The causes of wrong meter readings and billing complaints would be looked into at their personal level and action against the erring officials would be initiated as per rules.

According to the programme, an open darbar in the South City subdivision, Gurgaon, would be organised in the HUDA market, Sector 31, on August 6, in which grievances of consumers in Sectors 29, 30, 31, 32, 32-A, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, Adee City, South City, Uppal South End, Malibu Town, Sun City, Green Wood City, Mayfield Garden, Silokhera, Samaspur, Togra, Jharsa Baliawas, Gwal Pahari and Bandhwali would be redressed.

In the area of New Colony, Sector 4, Gurgaon, the darbar would be organised on August 7 in the Community Centre of Sector 4. It would cover areas of Sector 4, 5, 7, 9, 9-A, Devi Lal Nagar, Railway Road, New Colony, Krishna Colony and Ashok Nagar.

The DLF city subdivision, Gurgaon, would organise open darbar on August 12 in its office building in Sector 31, where grievances of consumers of DLF I, II, III, IV, M.G. Road, Sushant Lok, Sectors 27, 28, 42 and 43, Sikanderpur, Chakkarpur, Nathupur and Saraswati Vihar would be redressed.

The open darbar of operation Kadipur subdivision would be organised in the Community Centre, Sector 10, Gurgaon, on August 13, which will cover the areas of Civil Lines, Patel Nagar, Friends Colony, Rajnagar, Omnagar, Shivajinagar, 4 and 8 marla, Shivpuri, Khandsa road, Khandsa village, Kadipur, Pragati road, Gorali Kalan and Khurd, Naharpur Roopa, Sectors 10, 10-A and parts of Sector 33, 34 and 37.

The Maruti Industrial Area subdivision would organise the darbar in the Community Centre, Sector 23, on August 19. It would cover the areas of Sectors 1, 2, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 23-A, Electronic City, Palam Vihar, MDI, Surya Vihar, Old Delhi road, Old DLF, Rajiv Nagar, Sanjay Gram Sarhol, Sukhrali, Bajghera, Dindahera, Moulahera, Pem Nagar, Sector 12 market and Udyog Vihar.

The operation subdivision, IDC, Gurgaon, would organise open darbar on August 20 in GIA house, Mehrauli road, IDC, Gurgaon. It would cover the areas of IDC, Mehrauli road, Police Lines, Sadar Bazar, Adarsh Nagar, Sector 12-A, Bus Stand, Nuhianwali Colony and Jacabpura.

Chandigarh, August 4
Power generation plants of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation set a new record when they generated 433 lakh units in a single day. This record was achieved despite the fact that one unit of 110 MW at the Panipat thermal plant is not working these days.

Stating this here today managing director of the corporation Sanjeev Kaushal said before this, the highest captive generation of the state was on August 1, when its plants generated 424 lakh units. The third highest generation record was on June 1 last, when 414 units were generated in a single day.

Kaushal said the Panipat unit was expected to start generation by the end of next month.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the second 300 MW unit of the Yamunanagar thermal plant is generating power to full capacity, while the generation from the first 300 MW unit ranges from 220 MW to 250 MW.

Kaushal, who visited the Yamunanagar plant on August 2 and August 3, said once two coal mills (C & D) of the first unit, which were giving some problem, were set right, this plant would also start generating power to full capacity. It would take another four days. The performance guarantee tests of the second unit started from today and would be completed in about 15 days.

Engineers are not unduly perturbed over what many see as the “not-so-satisfactory performance” of the Yamunanagar thermal plant. The engineers say every thermal plant undergoes the “process of stabilisation” after commissioning. The stabilisation process lasts about six months, before the plant starts generating to full capacity. 

Chandigarh, August 4
The Haryana government’s tardy approach, while dealing with the retirement benefit case of an employee, has not gone down well with the spirit of judicial activism.

Taking a serious view of the state’s failure to settle the matter even after six years of the employee’s death, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 while allowing a petition filed by his sons for the benefits.

The order, reflecting humanitarian side of law, was passed by the Bench of Justice M.M. Kumar and Justice Jitendra Chauhan on petition filed by sons Jai Pal and Pawan Kumar of Bhayana village in Sonepat district.

The two had moved the high court, asserting in their petition that their claim for the grant of financial assistance had been rejected by the State of Haryana and other respondents in the matter.

In their petition filed before the high court against the state, the two had contended that their father had served the Haryana irrigation department since 1972. He had, in fact, died in service in November 2002.

The state, instead of taking a sympathetic view of the matter, had not paid even the death-cum-retirement benefits. The argument of the state was that their mother too had died and the two sons were not nominees on record. As such, succession certificate was required.

The sons applied for, and procured the certificate on June 4, 2005. Taking up the certificate, the authorities concerned in the department directed the release of the gratuity to the petitioners.

Subsequently, the petitioners moved the authorities concerned for the release of ex-gratia financial assistance also.

But the same was rejected on the ground that the petitioners had applied for it after a gap of three years from the date of their father’s death.

Refuting the allegations of delay, the petitioners, on the other hand, contended that they had managed to get the succession certificate in June 2005. The same was submitted to the department concerned without delay. Moreover, the authorities had granted gratuity on the basis of the same certificate. As such, the claim for financial assistance could not be refused on the ground of delay.

After dealing with their contentions, the claim was again turned down by the authorities on August 20, 2007, on the ground that the succession certificate was for limited purpose.

It was against this order that the petitioners had moved the high court and suceeded. 

Chandigarh, August 4
In the first-ever attempt of its kind, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has decided to set up a cremation-cum-burial ground in Gurgaon. While Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians will have one address to perform the last rites of their near and dear ones, the cremation ground will also have an organ donation chamber.

This has been added to the facilities to facilitate the voluntary donation of organs before the last rites are performed.

The authority proposes to have a modern cremation ground in Sector 52 of Gurgaon, spread over 10.5 acres with the provision of a burial ground. Separate exit and entry points have been planned for people of different faiths.

At the cremation ground, for which land has been acquired, provision for 72 pyres has been made. The design of the pyre area has been evolved to provide a combined shed for a group of nine pyres, with green space in the centre of the group of sheds.

“The designs are in place and we will begin work on the project shortly.Its completion will take nearly two years. The cremation ground will have a buffer zone of green trees to prevent the smoke from the pyres from spilling out into the neighbourhood. This added feature will provide a thick belt of 150 ft on three sides and 300 ft on one side so as to segregate the environmental impact of cremation from other areas. While this is a maiden effort of its kind, we have plans to follow it up with another such ground in the same area,” chief administrator T.C. Gupta said.

Space for an electric crematorium has also been provided. It will have a capacity of cremating up to four bodies at a time. Facilities like a seating shelter, space for keeping the ashes and wood stores have been provided for. The organ donation chamber to come up at the cremation ground will enable voluntary, on-the-spot donation of organs.The chamber has been designed to have a small operating theatre suitable for the purpose.