XEN, middleman denied bail
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 4 — The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr S.S. Lamba, today declined bail applications moved by N.K. Gupta, an Executive Engineer of the Haryana Cadre, and Sunil Kalia, one of the alleged three middlemen, in the kickback case, registered by vigilance department of the Chandigarh Administration.
In his five-page detailed order, Mr Lamba recorded the contention of defence counsel that the offence Gupta was charged with was not covered under Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Nor was the offence encompassed by the provisions of sections 406, 409 and 420, IPC especially because Gupta was not competent to place any order with firms that supplied material to the Administration. As he was not empowered to place any order with the firms, why should they pay any kickback to Gupta? he argued.
Mr Lamba further recorded the arguments of defence counsel that the diaries were not admissible evidence in the light of the L.K. Advani versus C.B.I. case. He also pleaded that the investigation of the case was over and the general rule was to grant, and not to deny, bail. A volley of rulings of the Supreme Court and various high courts were cited by defence counsel in support of his argument.
Mr Lamba, who is also Special Judge being the senior Additional Sessions Judge, observed: "I have perused all these authorities while disposing of the application for bail filed by the accused on June 5, 1998. The prayer for bail was rejected by observing that there cannot be a set formula in the matter of granting bail and in the facts like the present case where the economic offences of much high orders are committed in a well-planned manner, the entire community is aggrieved and the release of the accused under these circumstances is not held in larger interest of public and the state."
The judge held that defence counsel, after hearing the statement of one of the witnesses, submitted that it was not mentioned that the amount was paid to Gupta. "This argument of defence counsel is of no consequence. When the amount is paid through the middlemen, they are not supposed to know as to which of the functionaries will get the kickbacks and in what share."
Mr Lamba noted that only 32 representatives of the firms had been examined so far and the remaining firms were yet to be examined. It had been held by the Full Bench of the Supreme Court in the Chandraswami case that the paramount consideration for grant of bail was to ensure that enlargement of the accused would not prejudice the prosecution case and there was no likelihood of the accused of tampering with the evidence.
"In the present case the firms which have given money to the middlemen for being paid to the officers of the engineering department are yet to be examined," the judge observed and added: "The representatives of the firms examined so far have stated that they had paid the money to the middlemen. If the accused are released on bail then they are likely to influence the representatives of the firms during investigation."
In view of the law laid down in the above authority of the Supreme Court, the accused are not entitled to the benefit of bail" the judge ruled.

Power cuts: traders block road
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 4 — Irked over erratic power supply in the Industrial Area, members of the Federation of Chandigarh Traders and other industrialists blocked the Chandigarh-Ambala road, near the Tribune chowk today for two hours.
They were demanding that the power supply to the Industrial Area should be streamlined as industrialists were suffering heavy losses on account of frequent power break downs and unscheduled cuts.
The blockade was lifted at around 2 p.m. after the U.T. Chief Engineer, Mr R.K. Jain, assured then that power supply would be improved.
Meanwhile, suspecting irregularities and use of sub-standard equipment during the laying of underground high tension cable between Chandigarh and SAS Nagar, the Federation of small scale industries has demanded a CBI inquiry to probe the quality of the material used by the electricity department.
Mr Rajiv Gupta, general secretary of the federation, demanded that the underground cable should be replaced with overhead conductors, the maintenance of which was simple and easy.
Residents of Sector 20-A are also bearing the brunt of power cuts. The department authorities do not entertain their complaints, they say.
Meanwhile, Mr Rajinder Kumar, councillor from Ward No 15, has urged the Administration to give a relaxation of atleast 15 days before removing of "Kundi" connections in colony No 4.
During a drive launched by the Administration, more than 2000 kundi connections were removed from the colony on yesterday. The Administration had also advised the residents to submit forms for geeting regular connections after proper verification by the Estate Office officials.
He said keeping in view the difficulties faced by the residents, especially by the children in its absence of power supply, the Administration should allow them to use the connections for 15 days as regular supply to the colony would take atleast 10 days. He said the ongoing process of supplying forms was slow and it should be steamlined.
The Industries Association of Chandigarh has described the move of the Administration as a total fiasco. In a press note issued here today, the association president, Mr Ranvir Uppal, alleged that the kundi connections were back in the areas from where these were removed by the authorities.