Chandigarh, October 29
The Gurgaon District Bar Association president and secretary, along with a Delhi-based advocate, are in a contempt loop.

Taking suo motu cognisance of alleged humiliating and insulting remarks passed against a judicial officer, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the issuance of notice to Bar association president Meer Singh, secretary Ajay Chaudhary and Delhi-based lawyer Vikas Yadav.

The three have been asked to show cause why criminal contempt proceedings be not initiated against them in the matter. The Division Bench of Justice SK Mittal and Justice Jora Singh also fixed November 29 as the next date of hearing in the matter, after perusing Gurgaon District and Sessions Judge’s report on the October 14 incident.

The sessions judge, in a communication to the Punjab and Haryana High Court Registrar-General, had called attention to a reference by the civil judge (junior division)-cum-judicial magistrate (first class) for initiating proceedings under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act.

The sessions judge, RS Virk, asserted that the situation flared up when the presiding officer declined the request of counsel for an accused to furnish a copy of an affidavit in a case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Elaborating, the sessions judge said Vikas Yadav, representing accused Mool Chand, started repeatedly thumping the dais with his hands and used un-parliamentary language. He did not desist from the conduct, despite the issuance of a warning. Rather, he became more abusive, when asked to bring a local counsel.A short while later, he returned in the company of secretary Ajay Chaudhary, president Meer Singh and many other advocates. Chaudhary allegedly challenged the judicial officer that he dare not take any action against Vikas Yadav, the sessions judge said.

Virk added that the judicial officer felt the remarks were made with an intention of humiliating and insulting him in public as he belonged to the Scheduled Caste category. The judicial officer was also of the view that Chaudhary’s dictatorial attitude daring him in the presence of staff, advocates, litigants and other persons was with a view to insult as well as intimidate him.

Sirsa, October 29
From dreams of studying at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bangalore and getting training with the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), USA, to the hospital bed in Sirsa, Neelam’s world has, indeed, crashed in less than a fortnight.

Neelam, a student of BSc-I (Electronics), was tricked by an unscrupulous organisation, which “selected” her for Haryana Talented Student Award. It not only played with her career but her sentiments too.

The organisation, after declaring her topper in the test, offered her admission to ISRO’s BTech course in Bangalore with training at NASA.

She was given a printed invite, purportedly from Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, for lunch. Neelam was elated at her newfound status and was on cloud nine, with her parents getting congratulatory messages from all around.

Neelam began preparing for the award ceremony at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, a gala lunch with the CM and then her departure for Bangalore. She got her name struck off from the rolls of her Hisar college. The college authorities, too, refunded her fee as a special case.

But Neelam’s world came crashing down, when she learnt on October 16 that she had been cheated.

The news came as a blow to her father, a bank officer, and her mother.

Their world changed in the next few days, with the police beginning investigations and those who had earlier been vying for a photograph with Neelam now blaming her for the entire fiasco.

The turn of events weighed heavily on the mind of the young girl.

Her dreams interrupted, she is now admitted to the psychiatry ward of a local hospital, a pale shadow of her self.

“She refuses to eat. I cajoled her into taking a bite with much difficulty today,” said her mother Raj Bala, tending on her daughter.

“It is a case of acute psychosis, which is caused by grave mental stress.

This is a non-organic psychosis reaction and is manifested in a breakdown,” explained psychiatrist Dr Bhagirath Guleria, who is treating Neelam.

He said the condition was curable.

Chandigarh, October 29
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia today administered the oath of office to Meenaxi Anand Chaudhry as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of the state at a simple ceremony held at Raj Bhawan here.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati, who is the younger sister of Meenaxi Chaudhry, were also present. Meenaxi Chaudhry, who was the first woman Chief Secretary of the state, is also the first woman CIC of the state.

After her retirement from the post of Chief Secretary on April 30, 2006, Meenaxi Chaudhry was appointed as State Information Commissioner on May 9, 2006, and since then she had been serving on this post.

Later, interacting with mediapersons, Meenaxi Chaudhry said her priorities were to implement the Right to Information Act effectively, with transparency and in a simple manner.

Stressing the need for the departments to upload basic information concerning their work on their repective websites, she said it would help people get information easily.

Hisar, October 29
Efforts are on to restore amity among different communities in Mirchpur village of the district which witnessed violence against Dalits in April.

The newly appointed Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi visited the Narnaund police station yesterday and met representatives of different communities from the village. Both Jats and Dalits emphasised the need for restoring amity. Chander Prakash, who heads the Sarv Jatiya Committee, demanded that the police free from jail those found innocent.He said it would help restore bon homie in the village if the innocent were released before Diwali. — TNS

Jind, October 29
A blast ripped apart a building housing the office of the truck union at Safidon town, about 35 km from here, last night, triggering panic among local residents. Luckily, there was no one inside the building at the time of the incident. However, there was extensive damage to the office and property. The police has registered a case and is investigating the matter.

A similar explosion had taken place at a madrasa here last year, which is still under investigation.

Last night’s explosion took place at the office of the Bhaichara Truck Union on the Railway road in Safidon town around midnight. The intensity of the blast could be gauged from the fact that its sound was heard up to a distance of about 2 km, said police sources. The building and the furniture kept inside it were severly damaged. A portion of the ceiling caved in due to the impact of the blast.The police has reportedly found some explosive material from the spot. The material is used for breaking stones and boulders.

Experts from the forensic science laboratory lifted samples from the spot, which have been sent for examination.

The police was awaiting the report of the laboratory, said DSP Virender Sangwan. No one has been rounded up for investigation so far. A similar blast had taken place at a madrasa in Jind on October 18, 2009, which had also damaged the building.

Karnal, October 29
In yet another incident of violence at Government Polytechnic, Nilokheri, a student was stabbed and seriously wounded late last night.The incident, initially reported as a case of ragging, was later described as a clash between student groups from Narwana and Faridabad.

Both parties reached a compromise and the matter was sorted out amicably, sources said even as the police expressed ignorance about any such agreement.

Sources said Aman, a third year student in Civil Trade, was harassing and intimidating some students in the hostel. Rahul, a student of mechanical engineering, decided to report the matter to the principal along with his friend and confidant Deepak. While the two were on their way to the principal’s house, Aman allegedly attacked them with a sharp-edged weapon. Deepak tried to shield Rahul and received injuries on the chest and arms and was admitted to the General Hospital.

The SHO of Nilikheri said the parents of both students had reached the town and if the parties concerned did not reach a compromise, a case under Section 324 of the IPC would be registered.

Nilokheri is becoming notorious for hooliganism and lawlessness and last November a 20-year-old engineering student was brutally murdered by a group of people in broad day light.

The deceased identified as Amit, a resident of Safidon was attacked by a group armed with sharp edged weapons and belts as he alighted from a train. Neetu, a final year student of computer trade allegedly committed suicide by consuming Sulphas in February this year.

There were 25 per cent girls and 75 per cent boys in the polytechnic and only 300 girls were accommodated in the hostels.

Jind, October 29
Paddy arrivals are yet to pick up in the district. This despite the fact that the procurement process is nearing its peak and is likely to end in November. There is growing concern now that this year the production may be less due to excessive rains, which not only damaged the crop in some parts but also led to premature ripening, thus affecting its quality. Around 71,000 tonnes of paddy has arrived in the grain markets of the district this year so far. This is about 20 per cent lower than the the arrivals during the corresponding period last year.

“The bountiful rainfall this year has adversely affected paddy production this year,” claims Suresh Kumar, a trader here.

He said excess water in fields led to early maturing of the crop. Moreover, the stagnant water and less sunlight resulted in the growth of pests like black and brown hopper in some parts, which again proved detrimental to the crop, he explained.

“Government agencies, including Hafed, have been buying only the parmal variety of paddy, which accounts for just 10 to 15 per cent of the total production of the crop,” claimed Sandeep Malik, a commission agent here.

He said the procurement of paddy was likely to continue till the end of Novemeber, adding that the arrivals of the top quality varieties had just started.

Meanwhile, bajra growers are sore over the alleged non-procurement of their produce by government agencies. Farmers had been getting a rate ranging from Rs 750 to 780 per quintal for the crop against the MSP of Rs 880.

Sirsa, October 29
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), a central government-sponsored health insurance scheme for below poverty line (BPL) families in the unorganised sector, is gasping for breath in several districts of the state, including Sirsa and Fatehabad.

Doctors empanelled under the scheme are losing interest in the scheme due to inordinate delay in their payments, leading to denial of services to poor in several cases.

A lackadaisical attitude of the officials of National Insurance Company (NIC), who have been assigned the insurance contract in 12 districts of Haryana, including Sirsa and Fatehabad, this year is allegedly responsible for the near failure of the scheme.

Equally responsible are the delays to release payments on the part of MD India Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd, the third party administrator (TPA) appointed by the NIC for these two districts.

“I have not received a penny from the company in the past four months, while my total bills exceed Rs 4 lakh. Out of these bills, I have already paid for the medicines, the anesthetist and purchase of implants. Now, left with no choice, I have asked my staff to remove the signboard displaying the services from my hospital,” said Manmohan Pahwa, an orthopedic surgeon in Fatehabad.

However, he added, that he was not yet refusing services to any poor patient due to the humanitarian angle involved.

Neeraj Chaudhary, orthopedic surgeon at Sirsa, said he had so far received only Rs 10,000 towards claims and more than Rs 4 lakh was still pending towards the insurance company.

“Things were very systematic last year when the contract was with ICICI Lombard Insurance. We used to get payments within 21 days of the surgery. However, the system has collapsed ever since the NIC took over from this fiscal,” said Suresh Wadhwa, a surgeon.

He alleged that in some cases, the computers did not accept the cards issued by the company, leading to much inconvenience to the doctors as well as poor patients.

Gulab Singh, a physician from Sirsa, added that the system had almost collapsed and unless the government paid immediate heed to the problem, a very innovative scheme would die a premature death.

He said unlike the treatment packages formulated by the ICICI Lombard, the NIC demanded prior approval in a large number of cases, leading to a virtual denial of services, as patients could not wait for long for their treatment.

Ashish Panwar, who deals with the claims in the MD India Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd office in Pune, said the inflow of funds from the NIC was very poor.

Panipat, October 29
Even as it has been over 15 years that residents of Kavi village in the Matlauda segment of the district took over 864 acres of the panchayat land distributing it amongst themselves equally to undertake farming, the authorities concerned have failed to get it vacated.

Repeated attempts to regain the possession of the land from villagers ended without any results as the village population of over 8,000 persons got united and scuttled any such move.

Even a few days back, the security forces, which had been deployed to get the possession of the land, had to return without any success as a strong resistance put up by villagers, who were even ready to use violent means to send the forces back, prompted the authorities to delay the act till further notice.

According to information, about 15 years ago the village panchayat decided to divide the 864 acres (out of 900 acres) of the panchayat land amongst the villagers equally. Every family got three acres each. The remaining 36 acres were given out on lease to generate income for the village, which till date remains quite meagre.

Though, as per the rules, the land could only be allotted on annual lease basis and the income generated by leasing out the land was to be used for development, yet without depositing any amount with the department concerned villagers took over the possession of the land and started cultivating it.

As the administration got to know of the practice, it immediately dismissed the panchayat and re-elections were held. But the succour panchayat also refused to abide by the rules and continued the practice.

In May this year, the district administration held two auctions to grant the land on lease basis. However, villagers boycotted the auctions and only six villagers turned up who were allotted 70 acres and were asked to deposit Rs 15 lakh with the department.

Even as the individuals deposited the said amount with the government, they could not get its possession as it was already under illegal occupancy of villagers.

Officials maintain that the situation in the village could turn violent as villagers were in no mood to give up the illegal possession of the land and were ready to get into any conflict with the security forces. They said as of now the move to take back the possession of the land had been suspended till an effective plan of action was not drawn.

Meanwhile, the development works in the village have taken a back seat as the village has no other source of income and it has started presenting a dismal picture as far as overall improvements are concerned.

Sirsa, October 29
The police today booked a headmaster on a charge of molestation after he allegedly tried to outrage the modesty of a student of his school yesterday.

The girl narrated the incident to her parents, who brought the matter to the notice of the village panchayat.

Villagers locked up the school building this morning and demanded action against the headmaster.

They alleged that the accused, Mam Raj, headmaster of a government school at Lambi village near Dabwali, asked the victim, a class VIII student, to prepare tea for him.

When she was serving the tea to the headmaster, he allegedly held the girl’s hand and tried to molest her.

The girl ran away immediately and the accused also left the school by leaving his leave application on the table.

DSP BL Yadav said the accused had been booked under Section 354 of the IPC.

Sirsa, October 29
The Nagarik Parishad, an association of prominent citizens of Sirsa, has demanded full-fledged status of affiliation for Chaudhary Devi Lal University here.

Members of the parishad on Wednesday submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Chief Minister and the Governor, to Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan and demanded that colleges coming under Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar district be affiliated to the CDLU.

Jagdish Chopra, a senior advocate, led the delegation that included prominent persons like Dr RS Sangwan, Anand Biyani, LD Mehta and CR Kaswan.

The memorandum said the government had sanctioned 16 posts of professor, 32 of reader and 64 posts of lecturer for the university.

However, the university required additional 32 posts of professor, reader (64) and lecturer (128) for its smooth functioning. The memorandum further said at the time of constitution of the university, the government had allotted 348 acres to the institution.

Kaithal, October 29
Two human traffickers, who had promised to send two youths of this district to Canada and allegedly took Rs 20 lakh from them, were arrested by the kaithal police following a raid in Malerkotla, Punjab. Both the accused were produced in a local court which sent them on a three-day police remand.

A police spokesperson said here today that Raj Singh of Keorak, and Ranjit Singh of Teek village near here went to the Canadian embassy in Delhi to get information about visa in April 2008 . Their distant relatives, Gurpartap and Karamjeet Kaur, who were accompanied by their acquaintances, Dilshad Ali, Babar Ali and Muhammad Munir told them that they had been sending youth to Canada, Italy and America for the last many years and promised to send them to Canada. — OC