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Over 25 complaints filed against police daily: RTI
Police crackdown ahead of farmers’ ‘Rail
Roko’ today
Govt loath to stem stubble trouble
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Punjab Shamlat
Plunder-8
Cong to HC: Take suo motu notice
GMADA owes panchayats Rs 65 cr against acquired land
House Session begins today
Unwise spending eats into Punjab Infotech’s FDRs
Bid to vacate Valmiki temple site thwarted
Staff of aided colleges stare at ‘black’ Diwali
41 dengue cases from Sangrur dist in 45 days
Health corporation gets ready to curtail maternal mortality rate
Finally, Sajjad’s house located in Jalandhar
Patil for innovative teaching methods
History conference ends
Doctor makes it to Limca Book of Records
Wheat scam: Three policemen suspended
High Court okays pension for
90-year-old freedom fighter
Employee to get gratuity on last month’s wages, says HC
Haveli shootout
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Over 25 complaints filed against police daily: RTI
Chandigarh, October 27 In reply to the RTI filed by Chandigarh resident Dr Jasdeepak Singh, the commission office has provided details of police cases filed since 2005, when the RTI came into being. Of the total 1,45,029 cases filed since January 2005, 80,534 pertain to public complaints against the police. As many as 9,835 complaints were lodged in 2005; 8,852 in 2006; 9,410 in 2007; 9,026 in 2008; 8,905 in 2009; 10,338 in 2010; 8,562 in 2011; 8,925 in 2012; and 5,781, this year. The RTI revealed that cases related to crimes against women too were high. As many as 523 were lodged in 2005; 472 in 2006; 510 in 2007; 518 in 2008; 718 in 2009; 638 in 2010; 653 in 2011; 598 in 2012 and 365 this year. Dr Jasdeepak Singh said, “The intention of seeking the RTI on cases of human rights violations was to point out how dissatisfied people were with the police functioning in the state.”
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Police crackdown ahead of farmers’ ‘Rail
Roko’ today
Chandigarh, October 27 Over 300 farmers were taken into custody ahead of their “Rail Roko” tomorrow in support of their demands, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU-Ekta), which is spearheading the stir, said. Activists of 17 different farmers’ organisations in Punjab would block rail traffic across the state from 12 pm to 4 pm tomorrow, BKU (Ekta) general secretray Sukhdev said. The farmers alleged exploitation on the pretext of presence of moisture in paddy which, they said, had forced them to sell their produce at lower prices. They asked the Centre to increase the permissible moisture content from 17 to 22 per cent. All precautionary measures had been taken ahead of tomorrow's protest, officials said. Tarn Taran: The police here today conducted raids in an attempt to detain farmer leaders. The raids started early in the morning, but these reportedly ended without any success. Kisan Sangharsh Committee state president Satnam Singh Pannu said the police searched over 100 houses. He said the search, however, proved futile as their leaders had already gone into hiding. Seventeen farmer and labour organisations have given a call for ‘Rail Roko’ in support of their demands, the main being “respectable” remuneration for paddy, and to protest the alleged anti-poor policies of the state government. Doraha (Ludhiana): BKU (Ekta) district president Darshan Singh Kohli said they would be stopping trains between noon and 4 pm. (With PTI inputs) On protest path
What farmers want
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Govt loath to stem stubble trouble
Jalandhar/Patiala,
October 27 Owing to sheer lack of awareness, farmers continue with this unhealthy and dangerous practice all over the state. Perturbed, the Punjab Government has now decided to ask the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to issue a notification in this regard. However, with elections round the corner, it is reluctant to initiate any harsh measures, lest it annoys the farming community. The state government and the PPCB have been repeatedly asking the farmers not to burn stubble as it not only decreases soil fertility, but also causes several health problems. “Many a time when Deputy Commissioners in districts ordered such a ban under Section 144 of the CrPC, local politicians came to the rescue of farmers,” claimed PPCB officials, adding that a notification would help check political interference. “Now stubble can be used for producing power. Therefore, farmers should desist from burning it,” said PPCB Chairman Ravinder Singh. Unhealthy practice
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Punjab Shamlat
Plunder-8
Chandigarh, October 27 The figure does not include hundreds of similar cases being dealt with at the initial level of the District Development and Panchayat Office or in various courts of law. Confirming that villagers were changing their approach, Director S. Karuna Raju said, “Now, sarpanches or other village representatives themselves argue shamlat cases. They come prepared with facts on land record… they are eager for a community share in the common land.” Karuna Raju said around 23,000 acres of the total 1.7 lakh acres of shamlat land was under illegal occupation. On implementing various Supreme Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court orders seeking clearance of shamlat land, he said the biggest hurdle was that a major portion of the land was involved in litigation. “Such cases take years for settlement — first at the DDPO level, then with the Director and finally in courts,” he said. The eviction of shamlat land is covered under Section 7 (getting encroachments cleared) and Section 11 (contesting for the title of the land) of the Village Common Land Act. The state government is also engaged in a follow-up action on its affidavit submitted in the Punjab and Haryana Court stating “it was going to come down heavily on encroachers and that the guilty officials of the revenue and other departments will face action”. While underlining the importance of ‘shamlat’ land in a traditional village, the Supreme Court had, in a judgement dated January 28, 2011, issued directions to states to prepare schemes for eviction of such land and make it available for the common use of villagers. In Amritsar, 44 cases of encroachment involving 156 acres have been put up before the DDPO till March 31. DDPO SP Angra said barring one case, all others had been disposed of and the possession of the shamlat land had been restored with the panchayats. (Inputs by Neeraj Bagga in Amritsar)
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Cong to HC: Take suo motu notice
Chandigarh, October 27 Quoting a series on illegal encroachments that appeared in The Tribune, PPCC spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira alleged that no justice could be expected from the SAD-BJP government as several high-ups, including former Akali Dal chief Bibi Jagir Kaur and DGP Sumedh Singh Saini were among those involved in the illegal activity. Khaira said the Justice Kuldip Singh panel appointed by the High Court had submitted two reports on encroachments in Chandigarh’s periphery. “But, the reports are gathering dust in government offices due to political pressure,” he said. — TNS
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GMADA owes panchayats Rs 65 cr against
Chandigarh, October 27 Fed up with the wait, the panchayats have decided to approach the Vigilance Bureau to get the matter investigated as to why they were not being compensated. One such resolution was passed by the panchayat of Bharaunjia village near New Chandigarh on September 18. The GMADA owes it Rs 4.37 crore. While the Authority has stopped responding to written communications from the Panchayat Department, a letter from the minister concerned, Surjit Singh Rakhra, too proved to be of little help. This despite GMADA has having kept Rs 40 crore in the Treasury and Rs 25 crore in its own account for the purpose. The GMADA had acquired land of about three dozen villages in the periphery of Mohali. Some of it was even privately owned. But instead of compensating the panchayats, the GMADA either took the matter to the courts or have gone quiet on the issue. Among the villages that are awaiting compensation are Chatt, Bakarpur, Chahu Majra, Raipur Khurd, Jheur Heri, Mauli Baidwan, Manauli, Naraingarh, Ferozepore Bangar, Saneta, Sukhgarh, Papri, Devi Nagar, Mullanpur, Sambhalaki, Patti Sohana and Saini Majra. Officials of the Panchayat Department claimed that non-payment to panchayats was part of a “conspiracy”. They said the land acquired by GAMDA was ‘shamlat deh’ and its right could not be disputed. Dr S Karuna Raju, Director, Rural Development and Panchayat Department, said, “We have raised the issue of non-payment against the land acquired several times but there has been no progress in the case to date.” GMADA Chief Administrator Ajay Kumar Sinha said, “The payment has been stopped only in the cases of pending legal disputes. The money due to the panchayats is secure and will be given as soon as the legal disputes are settled.’’
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Boycott property tax, says Capt
Barnala, October 27 He promised that whenever the Congress returned to power, it would rectify these decisions. He asked the people not to be afraid of the Badal Government as it could not possibly register cases against 2.5 crore people of the state. The former Chief Minister said the Congress would raise the two issues on the floor of the House. He claimed that during the earlier Congress regime when he was Chief Minister, about 180 colonies were regularised without money being taken from the people. He was talking to mediapersons at the residence of Barnala MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon here today. Dhuri legislator Arvind Khanna and Bhadaur MLA Mohammad Sadique met Amarinder Singh at Dhillon’s residence. Amarinder Singh, accompanied by the Barnala MLA, visited the local grain market and met the farmers who complained about procurement hurdles on account of moisture content and discolouration. Amarinder Singh said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should meet the Prime Minister and seek relaxation in specifications for smooth procurement. On his absence from the Punjab Congress meeting in New Delhi recently, he said he could not attend the meeting because of some personal work. He vehemently denied any rift in the party. Amarinder Singh alleged that the state government had not allowed the central team, that had toured Punjab’s mandis to assess paddy damage, to meet him. Asked if he would contest the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, as suggested by some senior party leaders, he said he had not contested parliamentary elections after 1980. He said he favoured a poll alliance with the CPI and the CPM as these parties had a vote bank of 3 per cent-5 per cent in Punjab.
Visits Bathinda dera
Bathinda: Former CM Capt Amarinder Singh paid
obeisance at Dera Rumi Wala near Bhucha Mandi here. He had visited the dera before the assembly elections too. The Badals are also frequent visitors to the dera. Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal visits the dera regularly. Capt Amarinder Singh, whose ancestral village Mehraj is in Bathinda, said: “I’m told I was born with the blessings of the dera saints.” Amarinder Singh emphasised on collective leadership, saying: "I do not have a problemn with any leader. My focus right now is to motivate the party cardre."
On several Congress men joining the Akalis, he remarked: “Not Congress men but mediapersons are joining the SAD.”
— Jupinderjit Singh
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House Session begins today
Chandigarh, October 27 Congress leaders will also be raising the issue of multiple raids on traders and businessmen in the state by the Sales Tax Department. Issues concerning advance tax and property tax will also be taken up in the five-day session. The failure of the government to release the industrial subsidy to some units by the
PSIDC, and other concerns of the trade and industry will also be highlighted. The issues of illegal mining in some parts of the state and collection of goonda tax will also be raised by the Congress
MLAs. On the other hand, the government will try to take credit for its initiatives to bring in more investment. It will go ahead with a plethora of welfare schemes like the new Atta-Dal Scheme wherein wheat will be given to poor families at Re 1 per kg. The
SAD-BJP Government will also be highlighting its role in simplifying tax structure. A large number of Bills will be presented in the assembly, prominent among these are the Bill on regularising illegal colonies, on allowing horse- racing and betting and imposing a cultural cess of 1 per cent on works carried out by the Irrigation Department. A Bill on levying 2 per cent stamp duty on power of attorney given to a person other than a family member, authorising him/her to sell immoveable property and to help farmers mortgage land for raising loans without hassle will also be taken up. Meanwhile, BJP state chief, Kamal Sharma denied his party had sought a longer session. “But we have no problem with the Speaker extending the session. There is no difference of opinion with the SAD on the issue,” he said. Other issues
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Unwise spending eats into Punjab Infotech’s FDRs
Chandigarh, October 27 The imprudent spending by the corporation officials between 2006 and 2012 came to light during the performance audit of the corporation. A whopping Rs 40 crore was spent out of the deposits between 2010 and 2012 and Rs 6.34 crore on hiring consultants for different projects that were either cancelled or dropped. The startling facts came to light following a performance audit of the corporation on the orders of state Finance Minister Parminder Dhindsa after former Industries Minister Anil Joshi in January last sought a probe into the reasons behind the depleting fixed deposits, discrepancies in allotment of industrial plots and money spent on engaging consultancy firms for the Rajpura and Rail Majra IT Parks. Madan Mohan Mittal, Industries and Commerce Minister, said he would initiate action only after going through the contents of the report. The inquiry was ordered after former Punjab Infotech Chairman Harjit Singh Grewal complained to the Chief Minister, the Deputy CM and the Governor that the corporation, which had fixed deposits worth nearly Rs 50 crore, was virtually left with no reserves. Interestingly, officials of the corporation spent Rs 63 lakh on foreign tours (between 2002 and 2012) to attract NRI investment. But nothing has been achieved so far. Though, as directed by the former Industries Minister, the audit was to be done for 2006-2007 to 2011-2012, the money spent between 2010 and 2012 out of the FDRs has been put on record. There is no mention of the expenditure incurred between 2007-2007 and 2009-2010. RK Verma was the Managing Director of Punjab Infotech from April 2007 to March 2012. Kuldip Singh Walia, a former executive of Consumer electronics Punjab Ltd, said the very purpose of the audit had been defeated as it has failed to pinpoint accountability for the losses and wrongful expenditure.
Points to ponder
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Bid to vacate Valmiki temple site thwarted
Amritsar, October 27 They tried to take possession of the land from a group, led by Mahant Malkeet Nath, and hand it over to a group, headed by Mahant Baldev Giri, as per the High Court orders. However, the police was unsuccessful in vacating the site as Nath’s group that is supported by SAD leader Om Parkash Gabbar put up a fierce resistance. Raising slogans, hundreds of Nath’s supporters along with Gabbar gathered on the temple premises and refused to vacate the disputed property. Gabbar claimed that the case was still pending in court and claimed to have stay orders on the High Court’s order but couldn’t reproduce it. Manmohan Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Amritsar rural, said that Gabbar group had sought two days for producing the stay orders and the police would take legal opinion on the matter. Giri, on the other hand, claimed that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had passed a decision in his favour and directed the local court to hand over the possession of the temple to them. “We would wait for the High Court orders at the hearing tomorrow before chalking out further plans,” said Giri. The two groups have been fighting a legal battle over the issue for the past several years.
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Staff of aided colleges stare at ‘black’ Diwali
Amritsar, October 27 Aided schools get 95 per cent of the grant-in-aid from the state government but it has not been released as the government’s coffers are empty. These colleges impart education to 80 per cent of the undergraduate and postgraduate students in Punjab. The government annually releases a grant of about Rs 172 crore to pay wages to 1,450 teachers and 1,500 non-teaching staff in these colleges that are affiliated to one of the three following universities: Panjab University, Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University. HS Walia, Punjab and Chandigarh Colleges Teachers Union (PCCTU) state executive member, said even though the state government had neither released the development grant nor the infrastructure grant to these colleges, it was finding it difficult to release the salaries of the staff. He alleged that the indifferent attitude of the government had driven majority of these colleges to the brink of closure. It is learnt that many colleges have taken advances from banks to pay the salaries of its employees. He claimed that the 1,450 teachers were working against the originally sanctioned strength of 3,600 and 1,500 other staff members were employed against the sanctioned non-teaching strength of 3,000. There has not been any review of the sanctioned posts since November 1, 1981 while it was planned in 1978 that the strength of teachers and other staff would be reviewed after every three years.
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41 dengue cases from Sangrur dist in 45 days
Sangrur, October 27 However, a pathologist at the Civil Hospital, Sangrur, Dr Inderjit
Singla, said despite the Mac Elisa test of blood samples of 28 suspected dengue cases at the hospital in the past one month, no one had tested positive for dengue. Likewise, Dr Jyoti
Kapoor, a pathologist at the Civil Hospital, Malerkotla, said they had tested only two cases for dengue at the hospital, but both had tested negative for the disease. Surprisingly, out of the 41 cases reported in Sangrur district, as many as 13 dengue cases were from various localities of Malerkotla town and three from the nearby Jamalpura village. Dr Kapoor said this meant that in the fear of contracting the disease, patients directly visited Ludhiana or Patiala hospitals instead of visiting the local Civil Hospital. Besides these patients from
Malerkotla, seven cases from Sangrur, six from Ahmedgarh and three cases from Dhuri have been reported to the district health authorities so far by hospitals in Ludhiana, Patiala and
Banur. The remaining cases reported to the authorities were from Kup
Kalan, Issapur, Khadyal, Gharachon, Ballran and Rurka villages. Sources said the maximum number of dengue cases (21) had been reported by the DMC hospital, Ludhiana. They said 11 cases had been reported by Government Medical College,
Patiala. District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Surinder Singla said they had taken several steps to check the spread of dengue in the district. He said they had issued instructions to the municipal council authorities of the district to carry out fogging in their respective areas regularly. The DHO said whenever a person tested positive for dengue, a survey was conducted in his residential area, tablets were distributed, medicine was sprayed in the area besides creating awareness about prevention of the disease among people.
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Health corporation gets ready to curtail maternal mortality rate
Nawanshahr, October 27 Punjab is doing much better than the national average of 212 per lakh. Despite reports of alleged callousness towards pregnant women at government hospitals every now and then, Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) Managing Director (MD) Hussan Lal is hopeful of reducing the MMR in the state to nil. Talking to The Tribune, he said: "No system is perfect but we have formulated a comprehensive programme to keep a track of pregnant women, especially those in the high-risk category," he said. According to available data, 850 pregnant women died in the state last year whereas the total number of deliveries registered was 4,60,000. "We have 210-odd Senior Medical Officers (SMOs) and each will have to monitor only eight to 10 high-risk cases to bring down the MMR to zero," Hussan Lal said. "The name of every pregnant woman who visits a government healthcare centre is registered. Subsequently, ANMs are directed to visit these women at their homes regularly to identify high-risk cases. "We have directed every SMO to keep a record of high-risk cases on their table. If risk-free delivery is possible at the district hospital, well and good else SMOs have been told to take the patient to the tertiary care centre at medical hospitals for safe delivery," Hussan Lal explained. Also Director of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), he said he was holding meetings with SMOs of various districts, directing them to do whatever necessary for achieving the target of zero per cent
MMR.
Bare facts
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Finally, Sajjad’s house located in Jalandhar
Jalandhar, October 27 Sajjad, who was born at his maternal grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Sharif’s house here, would be visiting Jalandhar tomorrow. Confirming the development, local lawyer Navtej Singh Toor, who had been urged by Sajjad to locate the house, said, “I got a call from Major General Tirath Singh (Retd), around 8.30 pm. He said Sharif's house was located opposite to his house and that he had even seen Sajjad before the Partition." Toor said the retired Army officer had got to know about Sajjad's proposed visit from a report published in The Tribune today. Sajjad, born on March 30, 1941, was six years of age when his family migrated to Pakistan pos-Partition. Apart from visiting his ancestral house, he would address members of the District Bar Association.
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Patil for innovative teaching methods
Nabha, October 27 He said the teaching fraternity should utilise the available resources and explore avenues to stretch students' potential through innovative
programmes. He also emphasised the need to use electronic equipment for education.
Patil, who is also the Chancellor of Punjab Public School, Nabha, gave away prizes to students who excelled in different fields. During the event, CEO and Managing Director of Hero Motocorp Limited Pawan Munjal was presented a roll of honour for bringing laurels to his alma mater. OP
Bhatnagar, a former teacher, was honoured with the lifetime achievement award for playing an instrumental role during his service at the institution. The Senior Beas House won the coveted "Cock House Trophy" for being the best boarding house in the school. MS
Chadha, BR Gordon and Tanuja Singh were honoured for excellence in teaching. School headmaster Jagpreet Singh highlighted the achievements of the school. On the occasion, the school orchestra and band gave an impressive performance and PPS Riders showcased their skills in a horse riding event.
Nabha MLA Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, PPS executive committee president KN Singh, Lt Gen
(retd) TK Sapru and Divisional Commissioner Ajit Singh Pannu were among those present on the occasion.
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History conference ends
Patiala, October 27 State Higher Education Minister Sikander Singh
Maluka, who was the chief guest on the occasion, discussed the present situation of education and reforms needed for the development of the South-Asian countries. Prof Dalbir Singh
Dhillon, former Head of the history department, Punjabi University, and former PSEB chairman delivered the valedictory address. He spoke on cultural relations in the sub-continent from ancient to modern times. University Vice-Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh emphasised the need to look at the South-Asian region in the context of
liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. The three-day conference had 10 technical sessions, which were presided by Dr Harish Sharma, Guru Nanak Dev University,
Amritsar; Dr Sunita Pathania, Kurukshetra University; Dr Yaqoob Khan
Bangesh, FC College, Lahore, Pakistan; Dr Mubarak Pasha, Director, School of Distance Education University of
Calicat, Kerala; Dr Sumah Jamwal University of Jammu; Dr BD Yadav, MD University,
Rohtak; Dr Rizwan Qaiser, Jamia Millia University, New Delhi; and Dr SS
Tiwana, former Dean Academic Affairs, Punjabi University. Overall, 136 papers was presented during the conference on varied themes related to social and economic aspects of South Asia. Delegates from various colleges and universities of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries participated in the conference. During the conference, a resolution for establishing the centre for South Asian studies was proposed, which was endorsed by delegates.
Maluka announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for the conference.
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Doctor makes it to Limca Book of Records
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 27 They said Dr Suri had performed surgeries of 391 piles patients continuously for eight hours and 45 minutes, which was a world record. The earlier world record was of 280 operations by a team of four doctors in 12 hours. —
OC
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Wheat scam: Three policemen suspended
Abohar, October 27 They had allegedly helped the accused in the scam. Notably, the city police had seized 400 bags of wheat that were allegedly stolen from a government storage centre. — OC
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High Court okays pension for
90-year-old freedom fighter
Chandigarh, October 27 Taking up an appeal filed by the Union of India against Gurdev Singh and another respondent, Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih made it clear that the Centre would pay the pension from April 26, 2012, the date of Single Judge’s order. In order to ameliorate the sufferings of the freedom fighters, schemes were floated from time to time. The final modified scheme, Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, came into force in 1980. Since records are often old, both primary and secondary evidence was held permissible. The secondary evidence could be in the form of affidavits by two co-prisoners already receiving the freedom fighters pension. Gurdev Singh had told the Court that he took part in Quit India Movement in 1942 and was recognised as a freedom fighter, evident from invitations and honours he had received. For establishing that he suffered imprisonment in Lahore jail from October 20, 1942, to August 15, 1943, Gurdev Singh filed the affidavits of two co-prisoners. His claim was accepted and the State Government granted pension from May 1988. But benefit under the scheme was not granted as the documents submitted by him were not found to be satisfactory. The Single Judge, however, allowed the writ petition by adopting the reasoning that Gurdev Singh could not be deprived of the benefit, once it was supported by secondary evidence. Admitting the appeal, the Bench directed the Punjab Government to hold a fresh fact-finding inquiry. The state, in response, filed an affidavit stating that Patiala Deputy Commissioner could not certify that Gurdev Singh was a freedom fighter. Moreover, the record on the basis of which the Punjab Government sanctioned pension was not available. The Bench asserted: “We may note that when the State of Punjab itself is unable to trace out the record affirming the basis of the grant of State's Freedom Fighters Pension, how Union of India could be expected to collect the records relating to such an old detention? “In order to put the controversy at rest, counsel for Union of India stated that given the age of respondent, he is satisfied even if future pension is granted to him from the date of order of learned Single Judge…. We feel that the aforesaid is a fair resolution… The freedom fighter/respondent would be paid by Union of India from the date of order of the Single Judge”.
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Employee to get gratuity on last month’s wages, says HC
Chandigarh, October 27 The ruling, first of its kind, is significant as more often than not the powers that be reduce an employee’s rank for a day just before his superannuation, and then calculate the benefits on the basis of the salary payable on the last day. The ruling by Justice Mahesh Grover came on a petition filed by Tarlok Singh against Guru Nanak Dev University and another respondent. Appearing on the petitioner’s behalf, Bajaj told the court that Tarlok Singh initially worked with the varsity as a clerk, before his promotion as an assistant. He faced disciplinary proceedings and punishment of reduction in rank was inflicted on him in January 1997. As a consequence, he was treated as a clerk. On the very next day, he superannuated. The respondents released the pension. But gratuity and leave encashment were not paid to the petitioner’s satisfaction. The respondents, in their reply, asserted the Punjab State Civil Service Rules, applicable in the case, governed the principles on release of gratuity. An attempt was made to make the court infer that the emoluments would have to be construed on the basis of the basic pay he was drawing on the date of retirement. Taking up the matter, Justice Grover asserted: “I am of the view that the reasoning adopted by the respondents to calculate the gratuity of the petitioner is not justified…. Evidently, emoluments mean basic pay which further means the amount drawn monthly by a government employee. “The petitioner, who was reduced in rank only for one day, cannot be construed to be drawing this pay for the entire month. If such an interpretation is accepted, it would amount to a complete fraud to deprive a person to his legitimate dues. After having suffered the punishment for one day, it cannot be held that the petitioner had drawn the pay for one month as a clerk. Therefore, the petitioner was entitled to the gratuity to be calculated on the basic pay which would mean the pay of an assistant and not that of a clerk. “Similarly, for the purposes of calculating the leave encashment, which is also dependent on the pay admissible on the day of retirement, I am of the view that similar logic should prevail… The respondents are directed to release
the benefits to the petitioner as expeditiously as possible….”
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Haveli shootout
Patiala, October 27 Palwinder Singh Pinda, who is an accused in the case of Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Gurdev Singh’s murder at Jalandhar Haveli, was arrested with Satnam Satti by the Patiala police. The police also recovered a 9 mm pistol, 58 gm heroin and 1 kg drug powder from them. Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hardyal Singh Mann said the duo had been arrested from Dhamo Majra. Mann said the arrest of Palwinder was important as he was still active in supplying contraband and the recovery of drugs from him had proved the same. “He was hiding in Patiala and moved about with his friends. Pinda has been booked in four cases - two registered in Jalandhar, one in Kapurthala and another in Patiala district. He was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment in a case under the Arms Act and was out on bail when he allegedly got involved in the killing of the ASI,” he stated. The police said Satnam hailed from a village in Fatehgarh Sahib and took to drugs and crime many years ago. She had left her studies midway after getting associated with Palwinder. Earlier, the Jalandhar (rural) police had arrested Pushpinder Singh alias Noni and the Kapurthala police had arrested Tavinder Singh alias Tally after a few days of the murder. Sources said Noni, who was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in another murder case, was released on parole on March 15 and was involved in the ASI's murder. On the same day, the Kapurthala police arrested Tally, a resident of Tut Kalan village in Nakodar, for his involvement in the case. Tally, a UK citizen, had returned to India, sources said. The police said another accused Rajinder Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib was still at large and efforts were on to arrest him. The 54-year-old ASI was shot dead near a restaurant on the Jalandhar-Phagwara national highway in March last year. A case had been registered against the
four accused. The police said the accused and his gang, including girls, lived a lifestyle similar to that of vagabonds. “They move from one place to another in a bid to escape from the police radar and manage their expenses through drug deals,” said Patiala SSP Hardyal Singh Mann. “The consumption of heroin makes sure they are addicted to drugs and do not leave this way of life to earn a livelihood,” he said. The accused had been behind the bars many times, but once they got out, they got in touch with their gang leaders again and indulged in crimes, the police said. About the case
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Two held with 5 kg opium
Fatehgarh Sahib,
October 27 The police has also impounded their truck in which the consignment was being carried. Senior Superintendent of Police Gurmmeet Singh Chauhan said the police had set up a naka on the Sirhind-Patiala road for checking vehicles. He said they had signalled a truck coming
from the Patiala side to stop but the driver tried to speed away. The police, however, managed to stop the truck by overpowering the
driver. During the checking, the police recovered 5 kg opium from a box in
the truck. The driver, Mahinder Singh of Patti in Tarn Taran district, and
his accomplice, Dinesh Chand of Uttarakhand, were arrested. The Senior Superintendent of Police said
during preliminary interrogation, the accused had revealed that they had brought the consignment from Rajasthan
via Patran, Samana and Patiala and they were going to deliver it in Fatehgarh Sahib. He said the duo had
been booked under the NDPS Act.
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Chandigarh, October 27
Days after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal laid the foundation stone of a temple at ancient Ram
Tirath, tension prevailed on the temple premises after a contingent of police tried to vacate the site here today.
Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Shivraj V Patil, while presiding over the 54th founder's day function of Punjab Public School (PPS),
Nabha, asked students to face challenges of the outside world with a positive attitude. He said in the competitive age, students should strive for excellence through commitment, vision, determination and hard work.
More than 25 complaints are filed everyday against the police functioning in the state. A Right to Information Act (RTI) query revealed that these constituted at least 55 per cent of the complaints lodged with the Punjab State Human Rights Commission from 2005 onwards.
