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A First: HC frees POs without criminal trial
UPA govt should seek fresh mandate, says Badal
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Left: Politicians plundering state
30,048 fatalities in road accidents in past decade
Leaders using Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s legacy for political gain: Kin
Violation of guidelines
Two suspended in liquor vend auction scam
Cabinet meeting cancelled
Anti-secular forces ‘targeting’ minorities
TODAY IS WORLD TB DAY
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A First: HC frees POs without criminal trial
Chandigarh, March 23 Setting a precedent for times to come, a Division Bench ruled: “The settled position is that this court has the jurisdiction to quash the entire criminal proceedings to prevent the abuse of the process of the court to secure the ends of justice.” “In our view, the same inherent powers can be exercised when the court finds that innocent accused, who had absconded, would simply face empty formality of the trial with the very same unbelievable and untrustworthy evidence, which (resulted in the acquittal of co-accused, and) would ultimately lead to their acquittal.” The path-breaking judgment came after the Bench held that the co-accused, sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court, had been implicated; and the “rickety evidence” in the case would eventually result in the acquittal of the POs as well, even if they were made to face trial. The judgment is significant as “trial in absentia” is practically unknown in India and the POs have to stand in the dock to come clean, even if the co-accused stand acquitted. The exceptional judgment by Justice Satish Kumar Mittal and M. Jeyapaul came on the appeal filed by Bihar residents, Sudo Mandal and Dharminder Mandal, against the State of Punjab. They were convicted for murdering Mohammad Haleem following a fight over drawing water from a tap. The Bench asserted: “We find the prosecution has miserably failed to establish its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore, the judgment of conviction and sentence imposed are set aside…. The facts and circumstances have persuaded us to come to a definite conclusion that the accused in this case were not the perpetrators of the crime of murder as alleged by the prosecution. The same set of material would be produced before the sessions court on the production of the remaining three accused….” “We are very much concerned about absconding village rustic accused Radha Mandal, Rajiya Mandal and Sambodh Mandal, who successfully evaded the dragnet of the police…” Quashing the proceedings, the Bench added: “We seriously pondered over rendering judicial succour to those faceless and voiceless accused, who had taken to heels and hidden themselves apprehending the wrath of criminal proceedings from the heinous crime of murder. We are convinced that our judicial arm is not so crippled as to betray the vague hope of the hopeless.” “We are conscious of the fact that those three accused had absconded and were declared POs. They had not faced the trial. But when we find that no case could be made out against them also with the same very rickety material, those accused also will have to be relieved of the impending pain of facing the prosecution for murder”. The Bench concluded: “Brining the absconding accused to face trial in the case in the facts and circumstance would amount to abused of the process of court.”
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UPA govt should seek fresh mandate, says Badal
Hussainiwala, March 23 Badal, along with Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon and MP Sher Singh, visited the national martyrs’ memorial here to pay tributes to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, BK Dutt and Punjab Mata Vidya Vati. He said it was shameful that the UPA leadership had still been ruling the country after a series of scams, including the 2G Spectrum, surfaced in the country. He alleged that the Congress governments at the Centre were also responsible for keeping the country poorest in the world. Badal further said the successive Congress governments also discriminated against Punjab despite the fact that 80 per cent of the freedom fighters were Punjabi. The CM said due to “corruption-ridden politics introduced by the Congress and its governments”, the dream of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and their associates for creating a society having social equality among its members was still unfulfilled. “It is unfortunate that countrymen are still to enjoy those facilities that they are supposed to have as citizens of an independent country. This was the main reason for which Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his associates fought against the British rule and sacrificed their lives,” he added. He said Shaheed Bhagat Singh was a real hero and would live in hearts of people forever. The youth must be motivated to follow in his footsteps. He said the Punjab Government was committed to taking care of all those who were associated with the freedom movement.
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SAD, BJP leaders engage in Cong bashing
Khatkar Kalan, March 23 At the impressive rally held here, the leaders, who included the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Shanta Kumar, vowed to continue their struggle against the UPA government. Justifying the expenses on holding the rally, the Chief Minister said it helped nurture the spirit of nationalism among the youth. Rajnath Singh accused successive Congress governments at the Centre for exploiting the poor peasantry. He urged the Centre to declare agriculture as a national occupation and dedicate a special TV channel for the farmers, the poor and villages. Shanta Kumar blamed the Congress for not acknowledging the role played by martyrs, revolutionaries and violence in general in the freedom struggle. The Deputy Chief Minister outlined the new initiatives? taken by the SAD-BJP government aimed at the empowerment of women. He said that many new schemes were introduced in the budget for 2011-12. Taking a dig at his younger cousin and former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh, Sukhbir said that the former was crying hoarse about those very schemes that he had propagated all these years as a minister. Earlier, the CM honoured Bibi Manjula Toor, a grand daughter of Babbar Singh, a cousin of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Vinod Thapar, a nephew of Sukhdev besides other freedom fighters from S.B.S. Nagar.
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Amarinder attacks Badals
Khatkar Kalan, March 23 Capt Amarinder Singh claimed that when Parkash Singh Badal joined politics, he owned just 80 acres of land. Now, he added with a flourish, the CM owned thousands of acres of land in different parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Port Blair and even in Mauritius, adding that the Badals had also built two huge hotels, one worth Rs 1000 crores and another worth Rs 1500 crores. Every second bus running in Punjab was owned by Badal, he asserted. Capt Amarinder further alleged it was because the CM Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal?s obsession for amassing personal fortune that Punjab has been pushed to bankruptcy. While the agriculture growth went down to less than four per cent, there are 44 lakh unemployed youth in the state, he claimed. Shaheed Bhagat Singh?s nephew Kiranjeet Singh and niece Gurjit Kaur said the families of the martyrs? feared that their ideals had been forgotten as corruption, nepotism, unemployment and drug addcition were prevalent in the society nowadays. Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Ms Perneet Kaur, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, PYC president and MP Raveneet Bittu and MPs Vijay Inder Singla and Santosh Chaudhary were present among others.
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Left: Politicians plundering state
Khatkar Kalan, March 23 The CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and CPI general secretary AB Bardhan accused both NDA and the UPA for appeasing the affluent and following faulty policies to please a few while ignoring the interests of the majority of the people.The ‘notional loss’ in the 2G scam alone, he said, was eight times the health budget of the Centre and three times the amount budgeted for education. Karat predictably warned people of the imperialistic designs of the US and explained at length his party’s opposition to the Civil
Nuclear Deal. AB Bardhan, general secretary of the CPI, said though Punjab has a long tradition of sacrifice, the current crop of politicians belonging to the SAD, BJP and the Congress have been ignoring people and the ideals of the martyrs for their own vested interests.
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Traffic chaos on roads leading to Khatkar Kalan
Khatkar Kalan, March 23 While there was a semblance of order at the venue, complete chaos was witnessed on the approach roads leading to this native village of Bhagat Singh’s parents. Although traffic had been diverted through parallel and alternative roads, the absence of traffic policemen led to frequent snarls. Thousands of vehicles were at a standstill for several hours. Some of the vehicles took an hour and more to get out of the parking lot. They moved at a snail’s pace, frequently driving bumper to bumper. As soon as the leaders left the venue, policemen disappeared, leaving people to fend for themselves. The SSP of
Nawashahr, Narinder Bhargava, however claimed that the chaotic situation was due to the fact that all the three rallies concluded around the same time a little past 3 pm. He also acknowledged that the traffic had to be stopped for some time because BJP in-charge , Shanta Kumar, who fell unconscious, had to be rushed to the helipad for shifting him to the hospital. The former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, who delivered a long winded speech, fell unconscious when the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhvir Badal was addressing the gathering. He was quickly attended to and rushed to the civil hospital first before being flown to the PGI at
Chandigarh. The chaos on the road led to the cancellation of a scheduled cabinet meeting at Chandigarh later in the evening. Many of the ministers, it was learnt, were also stranded and it took twice the normal time to get back to
Chandigarh. People had a harrowing time as mobile phones stopped functioning at the venue. Pickpockets had a field day and the police managed to nab one or two of them. The more worldly-wise among the people started returning from the venue by Noon, long before the rally actually started. They correctly assessed the chaos that would follow and a steady stream of them could be seen returning from the venue. The community kitchens worked overtime and people were not complaining as arrangements for drinking water, snacks and toilets were adequate.
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Traffic diversions lead to jams
Tribune News Service
Kurali, March 23 Drivers were unaware of the diversions which resulted in traffic jams. Traffic in Kharar city too suffered, but bottlenecks soon eased out. Traffic policemen said the problem increased due to the narrow Kurali Bridge. From the morning itself, cops were stationed at the toll tax barrier to navigate traffic. While government vehicles bound for Khatkar Kalan were diverted through a dedicated lane, other commuters had to wait in long queues. At Ropar too, a sudden influx of traffic was witnessed in the morning. Due to the ongoing widening of the Kurali-Kiratpur Sahib stretch, many vehicles got stuck in jam. En route from Kharar to Kurali, people had put up langars and chhabeel.
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30,048 fatalities in road accidents in past decade
Ropar, March 23 A brief analysis of the road fatalities trend 2001-2010 shows that till 2004 there were less than 2,700 deaths every year. “However, in 2004, the land prices increased sharply wielding Punjab’s farmers with more power and money. Further in 2005, the liberal excise policy (spurt in number of liquor vends on roadsides) and privatisation of road network under build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis increased fatality growth by 7.64 per cent,” observes Navdeep Asija, a research scholar on road safety with the IIT, Delhi. By 2006, partial commissioning of BOT roads led to 6.8 per cent increase in accidents that further climbed by 9.9 per cent in 2007 with completion of many of the BOT roads. As per the Punjab Infrastructure (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002, the state government was supposed to set up PIRA within three months of notification of the Act. While a retired IAS officer, Tejinder Kaur, was appointed chairperson of PIRA in July 2009, the body’s other members are yet to be appointed. Rupinder Singh from NGO Safe Roads For Us says according to norms, the government should set up an authority to monitor BOT projects from the day construction work starts. In the name of road safety during the ongoing projects, small and vague boards announcing work in progress are installed. After dark and at times during the day, these boards are almost redundant leading to accidents. “Here the regulatory authority plays pivotal role in keeping an eye on such road safety measures that constitute just five per cent of the total cost of project involved. If we err on road, we are challaned. Now the government has committed a tale of errors, but who will punish it?” he said., adding that even increase in fuel prices push down road accidents. The same was proved in 2008 when fuel prices increased sharply and fatalities came down by 0.9 per cent. Later in 2009, fatalities increased by 9.7 per cent as fuel prices stabilised and more than 2,000 km of state and national highways were upgraded. In 2010, number of accidents reduced by 5.5 per cent owing to improved public transport system. “Last year, the government had eased rules to pave way for more AC and luxury buses in the state. Accordingly, people preferred travelling in such improvised public system transport and 15 per cent rise in fuel prices, too, deterred people from using own vehicles. Road safety is a multidisciplinary approach. One department like transport or the police alone cannot handle it, even if they try to do their best,” says Navdeep.
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Leaders using Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s legacy for political gain: Kin
Hussainiwala, March 23 Jagmohan, along with other kin of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, including Joginder Kaur, daughter of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s sister Amar Kaur, another nephew, Manjeet Singh, his wife Paula Dhaliwal and grandson Teginder Singh and Anjumen Didi, a family friend, visited the samadhi of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and others. He said: “Leaders who are using Bhagat Singh’s name for political gains are actually compromising with his ideology. The people of India for whom Shaheed Bhagat Singh is a hero will give a befitting reply to them,” he said, adding that while Bhagat Singh stood for ‘Swaraj’, leaders were using his name for vested interests to gain political power. Jagmohan is the second descendant of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who has shown his displeasure over the use of the names of the national martyrs by a section of state leaders for their “narrow political gains”. Earlier, Amarjeet Singh, another nephew of Bhagat Singh, had expressed his displeasure over this. Talking to TNS here today, Jagmohan said countrymen would allow only that politician to use Bhagat Singh’s name, who would be truthful to his ideology. However, he was silent on the issue of Abhay Sandhu, another nephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, joining hands with former state Finance Minister Manpreet Badal . Earlier, the family paid floral tributes at the samadh of each freedom fighter and Punjab Mata Vidya Vati. Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s kin were also honoured by the Deputy Commissioner, KK Yadav, who presented them a shawl and a bouquet at a function organised on the premises of the memorial.
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Martyr’s associate facing penury
Ferozepur, March 23 Gripped by extreme poverty, the sacrifices made by Harbans Singh to attain the freedom of the country are yet to be recognised by both the Centre and the Punjab Government. No monetary help has come to him so far despite the fact that he has reached the last leg of his life. The plight of Harbans Singh and members of his family could be judged from the fact that his son and four grandsons are working as iron smiths to eke out a living for the past many decades. What adds insult to injury is the fact that a Cabinet rank minister of Punjab once promised him that he would be given Rs 1 lakh in recognition of his contribution to freedom struggle but the money never reached him. Belonging to Bagrian village of Lahore district, Harbans, who has crossed 100 years of age, took the British police head on whenever they raided his premises, situated on his farms, to arrest Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who would stay there for days together to keep their freedom struggle going. “In one of the raids, conducted by British police from Lahore in my house in 1927, my right arm was broken by them and hence fingers of that hand got twisted and ceased to work properly,” he recalled, adding that this gave him a stronger resolve to helping Bhagat Singh and his comrades. Another raid was conducted at my house on July 12, 1928 when Bhagat Singh and his associates were three. “I was arrested by Din Mohammad, SHO, police station, Khana Kasha, Lahore on July 15, 1928.” “After I came out of jail, I again came in contact with Bhagat Singh and others. I attended all the court hearings of the case, for which Bhagat Singh and his associates were facing trials in a Lahore court,” he said.
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MP: Pak Govt concerned over migration of Hindus to India
Attari, March 23 “During the recent annual speech, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had expressed deep concern over the killing of Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti and subsequent threats to the minority communities,” he claimed, adding that the Pakistan Government was serious about providing security to the minorities. Talking to TNS, he said: “Not only the minorities, but all the communities, including the Muslims, has suffered due to a spurt in terrorist attacks in various parts of the neighbouring country. But the government is trying to provide security and helping out its every national.” He claimed that during Army operations in the Khybar areas of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, the government had provided shelter, food and other essential commodities to the minorities and after the completion of the operation, it also helped them to return to their homes. When asked about the migration of Hindus to India, he said only those persons were leaving the country who felt themselves weak . He claimed the Pakistan Government had expressed concerned over this trend and gave an assurance to the minorities for all the possible steps for their peaceful livelihood. “We are also taking up their issues with the government,’ he pointed out. Meanwhile, a 365-member jatha, led by Gobind Ram Makhija, today crossed over to India to visit various religious shrines.
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Violation of guidelines
Chhat (Banur), March 23 At present, the zoo has two male and four female elephants besides Rajmangal, his son Rajbir, mother, 25-year-old Hema, and 45-year-old Parvati brought from Assam, 70-year-old Rajkali, rescued from a gurdwara in Ludhiana, and 25-year-old Maya. There are three part-time employees and two mahouts looking after animals in Chhatbir zoo and all of them have received minor and major injuries while dealing with the six elephants every day. Zoo authorities claim that there is no way out as Rajmangal is in his ‘mast’ period - abrasion in behavior - wherein his anger increases manifold and he tramples everything in front of him, including other
elephants. Suparna Ganguly, vice-president of CUPA (Compassion Unlimited Plus Action) and member of the Elephant Task Force of Government of India, however, said that it was cruelty to keep the animals in chain for such a long
period. “Zoo authorities must find alternative solutions as it is against the guidelines of CZA (Central Zoo Authority) to keep tuskers chained. Instructions were released earlier not to keep elephants in zoos due to lack of space,” she
said, while talking to TNS over phone. While Chief Wildlife Warden of Punjab, Gurbaz Singh, said that authorities of the CZA were satisfied over care of elephants in Chhatbir Zoo but shifting of elephants to a forest area or a sanctuary is still under consideration. Kisore Chaudhuri, wildlife consultant and fellow of Royal Geographical Society of London, said that as per law and instructions of the CZA no elephant could be kept captive under any circumstances. “Restraining an elephant with chains increases its level of irritation. It will hurt his legs which is a delicate part of his body and this may lead to wounds, the worst thing to happen to an elephant. “Elephants need to walk or else their soft feet pads tend to get infected from parasites, which are removed naturally
when they walk,” Chaudhuri said. The zoo has failed to provide ample space for the tusker and restraining
him is no option, reasoned Kisore. Animals are not used to a routine pattern of food, bathing, medication and other activities. Their lives become monotonous, as they do not follow a timetable in the wild. There are many way outs to get rid of the irritating behaviour of an elephant but it all depends upon behaviour of the animal.
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Two suspended in liquor vend auction scam
Patiala, March 23 However, there
were no orders regarding the re-auctioning of vends that were under the
scanner, said senior officials. Confirming this, Assistant Excise and
Taxation Commissioner, Patiala, HPS Ghotra said inspector Parveen Joshi
and clerk Satpal had been suspended for negligence in duty. “However,
we are still verifying the matter,” he added. Interestingly, while
the two officials had been suspended, the department was yet to take
action and cancel the allotment of liquor vends inside the Municipal
Corporation limits and also cross-check if other vends were also
favoured. “They say our lotteries were marked, but if the tickets
were already with them, then who marked them and whether other tickets
were also marked is yet unknown,” said Lalit Singla, whose second draw
of lot was cancelled by excise officials after his lottery tickets were
found to have been marked. The affected parties have demanded that all
the vends should be re-auctioned under the supervision of senior
officers for a complete transparency.
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Khalsa College row
Amritsar, March 23 The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) and the Khalsa College Bachao Students Committee also took part in the march. Together they resolved at the Jallianwala Bagh memorial to protest against the commercialisation of education in the state. General Secretary, PCCTU, HS Walia announced that a state-level executive committee meeting of his union would be held for discussing the matter next week. He said the executive committee would decide the next course of action against the adamant decision of the management committee of Khalsa College. The agitators raised slogans against the management of the college and flayed their decision as a “unilateral move”. Meanwhile, the Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Memorial Society, Punjab, also offered their support to the agitating employees of the college.
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Cabinet meeting cancelled
Chandigarh, March 23 The decision to cancel the meeting was taken after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and other leaders went busy in ferrying BJP National Vice-President Shanta Kumar to the PGI after his blood sugar dropped. Shanta Kumar was attending the state-level function at Khatkar Kalan when he felt unwell. The meeting was to held after the Khatkar Kalan rally, but many Cabinet ministers got stuck at the rally site and the meeting got delayed. It was then decided to cancel the same for today.
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Anti-secular forces ‘targeting’ minorities
Bathinda, March 23 Masih was here to listen to the grievances of the people belonging to the Christian community. After hearing the people’s complaints, he directed the SP (City), HS Ghai, to sort out the issues to prevent the problem from spiralling. Quoting instances when people belonging to the minority community were at the receiving end, he categorically asked the SP to save them from the forces working against their survival. Speaking to the media, Masih said, “Since the formation of the commission in Punjab in 2010, I have been visiting all districts. I observed that Bathinda and Jalandhar were the districts where the administration was not at all sensitive towards the atrocities committed upon the members of the minority communities.”
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TODAY IS WORLD TB DAY
Patiala, March 23 He further said that the physician treating tuberculosis should also ask for the history of tobacco use by the patient and in case the patient is using tobacco, then he should be advised to stop the use of tobacco immediately. Dr Kishan appealed that all health care workers, politicians, administrative authorities, social organisations and the media should work collectively in order to have a world free from TB. The DRME stated
that key challenges before India for TB Control Programme were to achieve universal access to TB care for all, treatment of Multi Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB), HIV/TB collaboration, TB and diabetes, TB and tobacco. “Other issues are to develop rapid diagnostic tests, shorten the duration of treatment
and to develop a vaccine”, he added.
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