Sleuths of the Income Tax department carry out a survey of vegetable and fruit wholesalers at the vegetable market in Chandigarh on Friday — A Tribune photograph Tonnes of unaccounted potatoes unearthed CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — Accounting discrepancies to the tune of Rs 1 crore and several tonnes of unaccounted potatoes have been unearthed by a team of the Income Tax department that conducted a "survey" of vegetable wholesalers and cold store operators in the union territory of Chandigarh today.

AIIMS board told to examine ADGP
CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Head of the Cardiology Department of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences to constitute a board of three doctors for examining Mr D.S. Bhullar, Additional Director-General of Punjab Police, for his heart ailment.

13 trainees shown the door
CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — Trainees of the Inde — Dutch System, Sector 26, engaged in medical transcriptions went on strike today after 13 of them were allegedly shown the door.

Two get police remand
CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr B.C. Gupta, today remanded Mandeep Singh and Khushpal Singh Jattana, who allegedly attacked Sunil Malik and Akshay Kumar with swords yesterday, in police custody until tomorrow.

Tonnes of unaccounted potatoes unearthed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — Accounting discrepancies to the tune of Rs 1 crore and several tonnes of unaccounted potatoes have been unearthed by a team of the Income Tax department that conducted a "survey" of vegetable wholesalers and cold store operators in the union territory of Chandigarh today.

The day-long search, which has been classified by the department authorities as a `survey', began simultaneously at the premises of four commission agents and three cold store operators. The `survey' began at 8 am and continued till late at night, according to sources.

A team of the income tax officials, accompanied by the police for security, reached the premises of four commission agents dealing in vegetable and fruit in the Sector 26 market and scanned through their account books and receipt of goods since April 1.

From there another team was despatched to check three cold stores located in the Industrial Area. The Commissioner of Income Tax, Chandigarh region, Mr A.K. Luthra, confirmed the `survey' , the recovery of tonnes of potatoes besides the unearthing of accounting discrepancies to the tune of Rs 1 crore.

"We had specific information about the activities of these people," the commissioner said. The income of Rs 1 crore of these people since April this year would have gone unnoticed but for the 'survey'. Asked if any onions had been found, Mr Luthra replied in the negative.

The department had checked the stock position of the wholesalers to verify if they had paid taxes. Besides this an inventory was taken and the accounts cross checked, officials said. The exact details of the operation will be known only when the 'survey' is complete.

According to IT officials, further investigations will follow as per the Income Tax Act under which no arrests are made.

Sources said that the survey was also to check hoarding, if any, of essential commodities.

Blind murder solved
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Nov 6 — A six month old blind murder in which the naked body of a 46 year-old man was found lying in Sector 17 here has been solved by the CIA staff of the district police.

The victim, who has been identified as Om Parkash alias Omi, a resident of Indira Colony in Manimajra was murdered before being thrown in an open space behind the Sector 17 market here.

The cause of murder has been traced to enmity between two groups involved in the illegal business of single digit lottery in Chandigarh, SAS Nagar, Baltana (Punjab) and Abheypur village here.

On the basis of investigations conducted by the police one Jai Chand, a resident of Havaspur in Patna district of Bihar, was arrested on last Wednesday. The second assailant, Vikram, a resident of Karondhi in Uttar Pradesh is yet to be arrested by the police.

The Superintendent of Police, Mr Alok Mittal, said earlier efforts to ascertain the identity of the victim had yielded no results. The case was then transferred to the CIA staff.

The deceased who was involved in the lottery business used to work with Jai Chand, Vikram, Charna, Amar and Bharat but later defected to another group whose members were Hans Raj, Raj Kumar, Sunder and Prem. The two suspects — Jai Chand and Vikram — held a grudge against Omi for changing sides.

A day prior to the incident Jai Chand, Vikram, Hans Raj, Prem, Sunder and Omi drank liquor at a liquor vend at Baltana. After a minor altercation between the deceased and Jai Chand, Hans Raj, an accomplice of the former was hit with a broken bottle.

At around 11 p.m on May 5, Jai Chand and Vikram took the deceased, who was in an inebriated state to an isolated area adjacent to Rajiv Colony and stripped him before killing him with an iron rod and a stone. They then escaped to Uttar Pradesh to evade arrest.

Meanwhile, Jai Chand, who was produced before the duty magistrate, has been remanded to judicial custody till November 11.

13 trainees shown the door
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — Trainees of the Inde — Dutch System, Sector 26, engaged in medical transcriptions went on strike today after 13 of them were allegedly shown the door.

While trainees said the management had reacted to their legitimate right to take leave, the management on its part defended the move as a "disciplinary action".

Students said they were being made to sign a bond for Rs 75,000 which they would have to pay in case they left the course mid way. A student while talking to TNS said "the bond did not specify the salary structure."

The bond says that "in the event of failure of successful completion of the training period of medical transcription or in the event of not joining the services of the company after the completion of the course or leaving the services of the company within the said period of two years or not conforming to rules and regulations, getting adverse report about training and conduct, obliger shall have to pay Rs 75,000 from the date of execution of the indemnity bond with 18 per cent compound interest".

Students said the language of the bond was pretty harsh and the stipend of Rs 1500 paid to them was unsatisfactory. They also complained of improper work conditions, and problems being faced by female trainees while commuting after the night shift.

A meeting of the human resources personnel with the students was on in the evening to solve the issue.

The General Manager on his part said the amount of stipend was already agreed to at the time of induction. He said all major firms these days got a bond signed from its employees.

Students said the management was already keeping a portion of their stipend which they say was payable at the completion of two years. There was absolutely no mention of the bond before they were supplied to students some time ago, a student said.

"Certain students had purposely taken leave in a motivated manner which was against the ethics of work culture. We are having discussions with them and things are likely to smoothen out by tomorrow", the manager said.

AIIMS board told to examine ADGP
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Head of the Cardiology Department of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences to constitute a board of three doctors for examining Mr D.S. Bhullar, Additional Director-General of Punjab Police, for his heart ailment.

Mr Justice B. Rai, who handed down this order on an application for interim bail moved by Mr Bhullar, also directed the institute to submit its report to the court in a sealed registered cover by December 4 when the case would again come up for arguments.

Mr Bhullar has been facing trial in a triple murder case. He has been charged by the CBI with the murder of Paramjit Singh Sahota, a UK-based scientist, the driver of his car and Mr Satnam Singh, a cousin of Mr Sahota. Their bodies were set afire in an Ambassador car (No DL-3C-D-9056) at Gaggar Majra village near Khanna.

He was granted interim bail by the Special CBI Judge at Patiala on medical grounds. However, after a lapse of some months the trial court had rescinded its order for interim bail. Later, he had moved the High Court against the order. The High Court had accepted his request and granted him interim bail.

Mr Bhullar has been on interim bail since December, 1997. The CBI argument was that he had not been getting any treatment for heart disease.

Sword attack: two get police remand
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr B.C. Gupta, today remanded Mandeep Singh and Khushpal Singh Jattana, who allegedly attacked Sunil Malik and Akshay Kumar with swords yesterday, in police custody until tomorrow.

The police remand was granted on a request made by the investigating officer. He told the court that the police was yet to recover from their possession the weapon they had used in the assault.

Mr Gupta remanded Parkash Singh Rubbal and Devinder Singh Laddi, two accomplices in the case, in judicial lock-up until November 20.

They were booked under sections 307, 324 and 34, IPC.

Administration to construct chambers for lawyers
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — The internal wranglings between chamberless lawyers and lawyers with chambers at the local district courts came to the fore today during the visit of the Adviser to the Chandigarh Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar, at the courts complex.

Some of the lawyers took the Adviser to the basement of the chambers complex and showed him how certain advocates had raised chambers in the corridor. They suggested that these chambers should be demolished.

The Advisor tactfully handled the situation. He told the lawyers that if the Administration decided to demolish the chambers there would be a lot of hue and cry from advocates.

He, however, suggested that the Administration would work out a solution to the shortage of chambers. He revealed that the Administration planned to demolish the single-storeyed Treasury Office building. It would construct chambers at that place.

This proposal would however, take two to four years.

Creche workers stage dharna
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — On a call given by the Indian Council for Child Welfare Employees Union, Chandigarh, the employees of different creches of the Bal Bhavan staged a day-long dharna before the office of the secretary, Bal Bhavan.

The main demands of the union is payment of the Fourth Pay Commission scales to its employees, regularisation of part-time teachers and issue of uniforms to the helpers and Class IV staff, and payment of the minimum pay scales of Rs 2520/- to the helpers.

The rallyists decided to participate in a rally of the Federation of UT Employees and Workers to be held on November near the Chandigarh Housing Board Chowk.

Government for privatising tourism, power
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — The Punjab Government is looking towards the private sector for investments in the development of infrastructure which is vital for development of any economy, said Mr Rajan Kashyap, Principal Secretary, Finance, of Punjab while addressing a national seminar on "Indo-Canadian Trade and Economic Relations" at the ICSSR Complex, Panjab University, here today.

The two-day seminar is being organised by the Centre for Indian Development Studies and the University Business School .

In his inaugural address Mr Kashyap said the government was also looking for privatisation of the secretariat. The staff size would go down as the government sought advice from consultants to find international investors. A global tender would soon be floated

Mr Kashyap expressed the desire of the Punjab Government to privatise sections like transportation, roads, tourism, health and power .

Mr G.S. Sobti, Trade Advisor of the Canadian High Commission, gave information on the volume of trade between India and Canada. He said Indian exports had changed from largely textile products to sophisticated machinery over the years.

Mr Chandra Mohan, president of the Indian Association of Canadian Studies, said the biggest competitor for trade between India and Canada was China. In 1996, India attracted just 40 million dollars worth of trade while China got $ 1.2 billion in the same year. Prof V.S. Mahajan, director of the Centre for Indian Development Studies said this was the fourth seminar in the current series on the same topic. Prof R.P.Gupta, chairman of the UBS, said the per capita income of Canada was 60 times greater than that of India. Among the G-7 countries it had the second largest purchasing power after USA .

Prof Satish Kapoor proposed a vote of thanks. Other speakers on the inaugural day included Mr P.K. Vasudeva, Mr Tapan Datta, Dr Sunil Sodhi, Dr Mahendra Pal, Dr P.K. Mishra, Dr S.K. Chadha, Dr (Mrs ) Parminder Khanna and Dr Pramod Banerji .

DHARNA: Teachers associations of all universities of Punjab sat on 'dharnas' at the offices of their respective Vice Chancellors today. Teachers are protesting against the non- implementation of the new pay scales by the government at a time when all other salaried groups have already been given the new pay scales, a press release of the Panjab University Teachers Association said. "Little wonder that the wastage of time and energy in obtaining a decent livelihood has played havoc with professional performance of teachers all over the country." Dr M. Rajivlochan, secretary of PUTA said .

He said the protesting teachers were also joined by representatives of the students council. The president of the Panjab University Campus Students Council, Mr Dayal Pratap Singh Randhawa, in a separate press release supported the cause of the teachers.

SEATS VACANT: A total of 50 seats are vacant in the B.Sc I (Honours school) of Panjab University. The last counselling will be held at the Department of Biochemistry on November 10. The departments in which seats have fallen vacant are Microbiology -3; Biochemistry-1; Biophysics-4; Physics-9; Zoology-4; Botany-1; Anthropology-14; Chemistry-1; and Geology-13.

Two women held for soliciting
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — Two prostitutes, — one of them a post graduate student of Panjab University and the other the wife of a Ludhiana Municipal Corporation official — were nabbed by the CIA wing of the Chandigarh Police here this morning.

The two women, Tareeka Jain, 25, and Gurvinder Kaur, 22, were arrested when the police sent a decoy customer. The women demanded Rs 5000 and the decoy complied by giving 'marked' currency notes. As the women reached a pre-designated spot, a team of the CIA-wing led by Inspector K I P Singh nabbed them, according to police sources.

Tareeka is studying in MA II year in the Music Department. She hails from Hansi in Haryana and belongs to a business family. She could not get a room in the hostel and rented a room in Maloya village though she claims to have sometimes stayed with her sister in Sector 7.

Her 'earnings' from the trade were so great that she deposited more than Rs 1 lakh in separate fixed deposits in her name and also carried a pager, police sources said.

The other woman, Gurvinder Kaur, police sources said was resident of Ludhiana and used to often visit her aunt in Sector 19. The duo would conduct their deals together. They had come into contact with each other some months ago when they had gone to a motel in the city with two separate groups.

The modus operandi of the two was to stop their two wheeler on the roadside pretending that it was out of order and solicit customers.

Dealers booked: A treasurer of the local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Jagtar Singh Bajwa, is among the property dealers booked by the police for allegedly selling property in surrounding villages through false claims. The case against Bajwa was registered on the basis of complaints made by residents of Kajheri. The residents, who were sold unauthorised plots, have alleged that Bajwa had kept them in the dark about the legal status of the plots. The proprietors of Zamindara, Kalgidhar and Dashmesh-property agencies have also been booked.

Burglary: An electronics appliances shop owned by Mr Durgesh Kumar in Sector 47 was burgled last night. Thieves took away 7 televisions, 2 refrigerators, a juicer-mixer and a tape deck among other things, according to the police. A case has been registered.

Bomb suspect: A team of the Sector 26 police station has been despatched to nab Daulat Singh, the last untraced person among the gang who allegedly exploded bomb in the Sector 26 police station around eight years ago. Sources confirmed that the police had information about the hideout of Daulat Singh, who has been declared a proclaimed offender since 1991.

Attackers held: Three youth allegedly involved in an armed attack on two Panchkula-based brothers yesterday afternoon were arrested by the police on Friday. One of the youth, Mandeep Singh, had been arrested yesterday, while Khuspal Singh Jattana, Laddi and Rouble escaped.

Body found: The body of a CTU bus conductor was found near the liquor vend of Sector 28 this morning. In a separate incident Joginder Singh, a scooterist, was injured and admitted to the PGI.

Held with liquor: The police has nabbed three persons, including two women, for allegedly smuggling liquor. All the three — Tulsi, Joginder Kaur alias Bindu and Om Prakash — were nabbed with 38, 40 and 37 pouches, respectively. Separate cases under the Excise Act have been registered by the Sector 39 police.

Theft: A resident of Sector 27, B S Sodhi, has reported that an ear ring, a gold chain a tape recorder, two ladies watches and a sum of Rs 5700 was stolen from him house, the police said on Friday.

Poll for Bar Council chief's post stayed
By Our Legal Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Nov 6 — Can the Advocate-General of Punjab and Haryana, who are ex-officio members of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana contest the election of the Chairman of Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana.

The above question was raised in an application before the Punjab and Haryana High Court by Mr Roshan Lal Batta, who was appointed by a Bench of the High Court to act as returning officer for holding the election to the posts of Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

A Division Bench issued notice to the opposite counsel for November 16 and stayed the election.

It was submitted by Mr Batta that in compliance with the High Court orders, he had fixed two dates for filing nominations. On October 31, two candidates, namely Mr Hari Narain Mehsempuri and Mr H.S. Mattewal, Punjab Advocate-General, had filed nomination papers for the post of Chairman. The nomination papers of the first candidate were accepted as there was no objection but written objections were raised against the acceptance of Mr Mattewal's nomination papers.

It was contended by the first candidate that ex-officio members had no right to vote or contest the election. Under the amended rules of the Bar Council, only elected members had the right to vote. But as per directions of the High Court ex-officio members were given only limited right to vote. Therefore, the Advocate-General was ineligible to contest the post of Chairman.

It was further submitted before the returning officer that in the writ petition pending before the High Court, the operation of the amended rules had not been stayed.

It was, however, contended on behalf of Mr Mattewal before Mr Batta that according to unamended rule 38 the ex-officio members could contest the election and the High Court had permitted them to cast their vote and that the election could be contested, it was asserted.

Distillery indicted on contamination

The Central Command Army Wives Welfare Association, Lucknow, in a writ petition filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, sought directions to the Haryana Government and the Central Pollution Control Board to check effluents being discharged by Associated Distilleries Limited, Hisar, which is owned by the family of Mr Bhajan Lal, former Chief Minister of Haryana.

The petitioner alleged that the distillery was discharging untreated effluents, thereby polluting the environment and causing harm to the residents' health. It has also alleged that the pollution being caused by the said distillery was damaging the soil and ground water and crops.

A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice R.S. Mongia and Mr Justice S.S. Sudhalkar in late September had directed the Central Pollution Control Board and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board to take samples of effluents being discharged by the said distillery.

In compliance with the High Court's directions the Central Pollution Control Board and the Haryana Pollution Control Board collected samples and filed their report in the court today.

In the affidavit filed by the Director (Environment surveillance squad), Central Pollution Control Board, it has been stated that the samples taken on all the three days revealed that the quality of the treated effluents was unbelievably lower than the prescribed limit, which was not expected to be achieved out of the effluent treatment plant system provided by the industry.

The team also observed dark brown colored waste water stagnating in unlined pools along the side of the canal up to the main road. The quality of water in these pools also confirmed contamination with distillery effluents.

It was concluded in the affidavit that it was apprehended that the industry was playing foul by allowing bypassing of effluents and dilution with fresh water in the treated effluents.

The case has been adjourned to November 16.

No-trust move plea rejected

A Division Bench dismissed the writ petition filed by Mr Bhagel Singh, president of Nagar Panchayat Ghagga, (Patiala), for quashing the resolution dated March 3, 1997 passing a no-confidence motion against him.

The Bench comprising Mr Justice HS Brar and Mr Justice THB Chalapathi, observed that admittedly two-thirds of the committee members would come to eight. If Mr Sinder Singh's vote was also taken into account, then the condition of two thirds majority in favour of the no-confidence motion had been fulfilled. Therefore, the petitioner cannot complain against the impugned order which restored the resolution.

The Bench held that participation of Mr Sinder Singh at the meeting for consideration of the no-confidence motion could not be said to be illegal because on the date it must be deemed that election of Mr Sinder Singh had not been set aside.