Chandigarh, September 13
Less than two months after the CBI special court ordered the framing of charges against Justice Nirmal Yadav in the cash-for-judge scam, the proceedings before the trial court virtually came to a halt today .

Taking up the petition filed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s former Judge against the special court orders, Justice Naresh Kumar Sanghi this morning summoned the entire trial court record. In the absence of the record, proceedings before the trial court can only make tardy progress.

Justice Sanghi also admitted the petition and directed its listing for hearing within three months. Appearing for Justice Yadav, senior advocate SK Garg Narwana contended it was a case of no evidence.

Referring to examination of former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar’s opinion in the ‘coalgate’ scam by the Supreme Court, Narwana argued that he also wanted to examine the then Law Minister?s opinion given to the then Attorney-General of India on the issue of granting prosecution sanction in his case.

The former Judge has challenged the order by claiming the CBI special public prosecutor had conceded in his arguments that there was “no direct evidence in the present case with regard to the motive, reward and delivery of the alleged amount”.

She argued the trial court took note of all contentions raised by the prosecution but failed to record that fact conceded by the special public prosecutor. “Thus, the entire approach of the trial court is illegal, erroneous and untenable in the eyes of law.”

She further contended that the impugned order dated July 31 had been passed without appreciating her contentions.

“Neither the legal issues raised by the petitioner have been considered nor has the Judge considered the evidence on record, which contradicts the stand of the prosecution,” Justice Yadav said.

She added: “Still further, some of the contentions of the petitioner have not been recorded or have been incorrectly recorded. Seeking the quashing of the order, she said it was ‘unsustainable and untenable’ in the eyes of law and deserves to be set aside.”

Karnal, September 13
Enraged over the alleged molestation of a Class XI student of Government Senior Secondary School, Kunjpura, villagers today descended on the school and thrashed the accused teacher. Besides, they also thrashed a woman teacher for shielding the culprit.

The mob outnumbered the policemen and started beating the two.

Accusing the teachers of molesting the girl, victim’s uncle Dharm Singh said the teachers used to touch the girl “improperly”.

The woman teacher vehemently denied the allegations and said she was being targeted. The accused teacher pleaded innocence, claiming that he was being made a victim of politics.

Principal Uma said it was not possible for female teachers to come to school under such threatening circumstances.

Chandigarh, September 13
The tug-of-war between the Hooda government and whistle-blower IAS officer Ashok Khemka has intensified with the state government initiating a vigilance probe against the officer for his decision to purchase moong dal seeds during his tenure as the Managing Director of the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation (HSDC). Sources said Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery recommended the vigilance probe against the officer. Earlier, a complaint was sent to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) alleging irregularities in the purchase of seeds.

The CMO referred the matter to the Chief Secretary, who after seeking comments from Principal Secretary (Agriculture) Roshan Lal and Agriculture Minister Parmvir Singh recommened a vigilance inquiry into the matter.

In fact, the Chief Secretary also reportedly sought comments from Khemka. In his comments, Khemka is reported to have denied the allegations and had claimed that he ordered the purchase of the seeds at a lower rate than the already fixed rates by the corporation.

Parminder Rai, Director-General, State Vigilance Bureau, confirmed that a vigilance probe had been initiated against Khemka.

Khemka hit the headlines in October last year for cancelling the mutation of 3.53 acres of land belonging to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra with realty giant DLF in Manesar as the Director-General, Consolidation of Land Holdings. For this decision, he was shifted as the MD of the HSDC on October 15 last year.

During his tenure as the MD of the corporation, Khemka had alleged irregularities in the purchase of a fungicide from an MNC to treat wheat seed against Karnal bunt. Interestingly, the fungicide is not even registered to cure the disease, it was alleged. He was later shifted as the Secretary, Archives Department.

Chandigarh, September 13
Class III to VIII students may still have to wait till October for free textbooks. The State of Haryana High Court has told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the tender for supplying books had to be re-allocated due to constant default on the previous supplier’s part and the new supplier has to hand over the books by October 4.

The assertion came during the hearing of a petition filed in public interest by Kartar Singh against the State of Haryana and other respondents. In an affidavit placed before the Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih, the Haryana principal secretary, School Education, furnished the reasons for non-supply of textbooks during the 2013-14 academic session.

He stated that the successful “tenderer” repeatedly defaulted, despite extension of time and ultimately the state was left with no option but to cancel the tender and award it to another party, which has to supply the books by October 4.

He also told the court, “The supply of new books to Class-I and II is nearly complete.” The principal secretary also denied shortage of books prescribed by the NCERT for Classes IX to XII. The books in their case are not supplied free of cost.

The counsel for the state and other respondents also gave an undertaking to the court that the schedule for inviting tenders and supply of books for the 2014-15 academic session would be strictly adhered to and would not be altered without the leave of the court.

As per the schedule, the process will begin this year. The tenders will be issued by September 16, the last date of receiving bids will be October 17, the technical bids will be opened on October 21 and the processing will be done on October 24. The result of technical bids will be declared on October 28 followed by the opening of financial bids of the eligible firms on November 5.

The work order will be placed on the approved firms on November 19 and the receipt of books from the firms and distribution to the schools in the entire state will be done by February 27, 2014.

Disposing of the petition, the Bench directed, “The books in stock at present, in the meantime, be supplied.”

Karnal, September 13
Karnal Deputy Commissioner Vikas Yadav distributed cheques of Rs 5 lakh to family members of each victim of the Uttarakhand floods at Mini Secretariat here today.

Eleven persons from Ramnagar who use to organise a ‘bhandara’ at Kedarnath every year, five from Hansi Road, three each from Picholia and Indri village and wife of former minister Tejinderpal Mann from the Randhir lane, Karnal, had gone missing after the tragedy and there was no information about them.

Family members of 23 missing persons included Mohan Chabra, Ramesh Chabra, Yashpal Tuli, Praveen Halwai, Gaurav Chabra, Yashpal Sukheja, Gulshan Kumar, Sohan Lal, Deepak Sidhwani, Rajesh Chopra and Puran Chand.

Divender, Ramswaroop, Vasu, Mamta and Mukesh were missing from street No 11, Hansi Road, three members of a family, namely Khushi Ram, his wife Suman and son Nishul of Picholia village and Pushpa Mann, wife of former minister, were handed over the cheque today. Cheques were sent to family members of Suman Devi, who went missing along with two children.

During interaction with the Karnal DC, Usha Tuli, whose brother Yashpal Tuli was among the missing persons, said there were some families who fall under the BPL category but had not filled the forms for food security yet as they have not got the death certificate of their missing family members. The DC assured them that needful would be done so that the affected families get the due benefits. 

Hisar, September 13
In an apparent attempt to polarise Jats ahead of the next elections, the All-India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) led by Yashpal Malik has decided to launch Jat sandesh yatras in of Delhi, Rajasthan and MP.

They would urge people to boycott the Congress and its allies in the state elections if the demand for bracketing Jats in the backward class category in states and at the Centre is not fulfilled before the poll, resolved the samiti in its meeting held in Mayyar village of the district today.

The samiti adopted six resolutions in its day long rally held to mark the death anniversary of Jat youth Sunil Sheoran who had died here three years ago when the police opened fire on the protesters blocking the national highway.

Yashpal Malik, samiti’s national president rejected the 10 per cent quota provided by Haryana, stating that it was not valid constitutionally and could be struck down by the court as had been the fate of the quota for Gujjars in Rajasthan. “If the Haryana government manages to get it included in Schedule 9 of the Constitution, only then it would be legally tenable”, he stated. Malik informed that the state units would chalk out their respective Jat sandesh yatra programmes in September and October.

The samiti would hold a national executive meeting in Agra in December to prepare its strategy for the next general election.

Karnal, September 13
In another landmark achievement which may bring the country closer to the second White Revolution, scientists of the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) at Karnal have produced a cloned calf from the highest milk- yielding buffalo, "Karan-Kirti".

The cloned calf christened as "Purnima", weighing 44 kg at the time of birth on September 6, was born through normal delivery and produced through the advanced "Hand-guided Cloning Technique", Director, NDRI, Dr AK Srivastav said.

"This technique is different from the earlier cloned calves as the used donor cell was from the ear of an adult outstanding buffalo, "Karan-Kirti" that yielded 4,425 kg of milk in its first lactation of 427 days and had a yield of 3,812 kg in 305 days, Dr Srivastav said.

The team of the jubilant scientists who were involved in the production of this cloned calf included Dr SK Singla, Dr MS Chauhan, Dr RS Manik, Dr P Palta, Dr Shiv Parsad, Dr Monika Saini and Dr Naresh Selokar.

Chandigarh, September 13
Free treatment would be provided to hepatitis C positive patients belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the BPL category.

Health Minister Rao Narender said all routine and specific tests related to hepatitis C would also be free for the patients of these categories at district hospitals and the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak. Rao Narender said the Gastroenterology Department of the PGIMS, Rohtak, had been made the nodal centre for the management of hepatitis C patients.

While a budget of Rs 1.78 crore has been approved for the establishment of a laboratory at the Gastroenterology Department of the PGIMS, Rohtak, a budget of Rs 4.64 crore has been approved for treating the BPL and SC patients free of cost in three districts of Jind, Kaithal and Fatehabad.

Fatehabad, September 13
The police has arrested a villager for allegedly assaulting officials of the Dakshin Haryana Bijlee Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), who had gone to Mohemmedpur Rohi village to collect due of pending power bills.

In a complaint to the police, Sushil Kumar, an assistant lineman in the DHBVN, alleged that he and a lineman, Narsi Ram, had gone to the village on September 11 to recover pending bills when the accused, Mangal Singh, allegedly assaulted them and snatched government documents from them.

A case under Sections 332, 353 and 186 of the IPC for obstructing public servants from the performance of official duty has been registered against Mangal Singh and he has been arrested.

Bhiwani, September 13
A milkman was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Dadri town of the district today. The deceased, Rajiv, was attacked when he was going to deliver milk on the outskirts of the town on the Dadri Dhikara road.

The police said the assailant shot at the victim twice. His body was found lying on the road at about 7 am by passers.

A case has been registered in this connection. Sources said the deceased had a dispute with some members of his family members over some issue. The motive behind the murder is yet to be ascertained.

Hisar, September 13
Four persons were killed and eight others injured when a canter rammed into a truck parked along the road near Jindal chowk in the town this morning. Local residents blocked the road at the chowk near Satrod Khas village in protest against the incident, demanding construction of speed breakers.

The deceased were identified as Nabi Khan, 24, of Muradabad, Om Bir, 35, from Agra, Rakesh Kumar, 27, from Dholpur in Rajasthan, and Devender Kumar from Uttarakhand. They were employed as caterers at Ram Chat Bhandar in the town and were going to Bhatinda to provide their services early in the morning.

According to information, they started from Sector 26, getting on to a canter, and had just reached near Satrod village when the canter driver, who was reportedly speeding, rammed into a truck parked along the road.

While four of the occupants of the truck died on the spot, others were rushed to the Civil Hospital. Three of them are stated to be in a critical condition.

The police has started a probe into the case.

Gurgaon, September 13
The Gurgaon police today arrested three persons, including a security supervisor and a guard, for allegedly gang-raping a 30-year-old woman of Kherki Daula.

A native of Odisha, the victim has accused the three of raping her after taking her to an under-construction building and serving a drink laced with sedatives.

The victim, who had joined as a security guard only yesterday, was lured with a promise of an advance payment of Rs 5,000.

Police said victim’s husband had asked one of his friends to arrange for a job for her and she was reportedly taken to the Benetton factory in Naurang Pur where she worked as a security guard till 6 pm in the evening.

"My husband friend’s friend Surender helped me get a job and promised me an advance of Rs 5,000. He said I had to meet a senior to get permission. He drove me on his scooty to an under-construction building to meet field officer Vinod, who was there along with another man.

They bought me a cold drink. I started feeling dizzy after taking it. They then raped me. After exploiting me, Surender left me at a petrol pump from where I went home and informed my husband about the incident,” said the victim in her complaint.

The Kherki Daula police registered an FIR and got the victim medically examined.

The police then arrested Vinod (30) of Rajasthan, Surender (30) of Narnaul and Deepak (30) of Bhiwani district.

The trio had confessed to the crime and would be produced in a city court tomorrow, said Alok Mittal, Commissioner of Police, Gurgaon. 

Rohtak, September 13
The police has booked Sandeep Kumar, a plumber, for raping and murdering a three-and-a-half-year-old girl on Wednesday. The accused is at large.

The police said Sandeep, who was a neighbour of the victim, took her away on some pretext and murdered her after rape. The body was found dumped in the open near Sector 14 yesterday.

The police has sent the viscera of the victim to the Forensic Science Laboratory at Karnal.

The incidents of rape have shown a sharp spurt in the recent past and this is seventh such case in the past 15 days.

In yet another incident, the police has booked a youth for attempt to rape on a seven-year-old girl at Dattaur village of the district. The accused has been arrested.