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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Saturday, August 21, 1999 |
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Each vote counts: Vajpayee ROHTAK, Aug 20 — Reminding people that the nation was facing fresh elections because his government had lost the confidence motion in Lok Sabha by a solitary vote, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today devoted a major part of his speeches at Karnal and Rohtak to drive home the importance of a single vote in a democracy. Council meeting illegal: Registrar ROHTAK, Aug 20 — The feud between the Vice Chancellor of the Maharshi Dayanand University and its Registrar, Mr Ashok Khemka, took a new turn when the latter today challenged the legality of the meeting of the executive council held at Chandigarh on July 9. |
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11
pilgrims killed in mishap |
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9 get life term for murder FARIDABAD, Aug 20 — Mr P.L. Goyal, Additional District and Sessions Judge, yesterday sentenced nine persons to life imprisonment on a charge of murdering Pappu Singh of Dayalpur village in March last year. Notice on
DIG's plea for review Devi
Lal's son Jagdish dead |
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Each vote counts: Vajpayee ROHTAK, Aug 20 — Reminding people that the nation was facing fresh elections because his government had lost the confidence motion in Lok Sabha by a solitary vote, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today devoted a major part of his speeches at Karnal and Rohtak to drive home the importance of a single vote in a democracy and urged people "hamein ek vote ki zaroorat hai, ek-ek vote ki zaroorat hai (I need each vote from you to make up for that one vote) and said "the Congress asthirta ka doosra naam hai" (the Congress is synonymous with instability). Mr Vajpayee devoted his election speech on the achievements of his government and outlined his unfulfilled agenda. The task of launching attack on the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, was left to the Indian National Lok Dal leader and Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and BJP leaders. Mr Narendra Modi, national General Secretary, and Mr Ram Bilas Sharma leader of BJP Legislature Party in the Haryana Assembly. Mr Vajpayee's election tour engulfed three areas of Haryana — he began his day at Karnal,went to Fatehabad and rounded off at politically sensitive Rohtak. The election meetings were a show of the National Democratic Alliance. Leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal also spoke at the meetings. The NDA's theme was driven home by Mr Chautala who told the rally at Karnal "Ainak laga ke phool ke nishan pe mohar lagana" (The message engulfed the Inld and BJP election symbols — "pair of spectacles" and "lotus" respectively). The election scene in the state is yet to hot up. The Congress, perhaps due to the delay in announcing its candidates is visible only in the places where party's election offices have been set up. The BJP and the INLD have taken a lead in putting up their flags and festoons in the villages. Driving through the Sonepat, Karnal, Panipat and Rohtak Lok Sabha constituencies today and talking to people, this correspondent got the impression that pro-active campaigning by politicians not having taken place, the impact of the Prime Minister's visit today is likely to give a direction to the campaign. The BJP leadership is leaving no stone unturned to attack Mrs Sonia Gandhi. The parody of a popular song of Raj Kapoor's film "Bobby" is being relied upon by Mr Ram Bilas Paswan: "Jhoot Bole Quattrochhi kaate, Bofors ke dalalon se dario, Diwali paachhe Atal ke dar se Italy chali jayoongee, tu dekhte rahiyo" he says amidst cheers. To keep up the tempo, he rubs in: "Ek taraf videshi nari, aur ek taraf Atal Behari". Another slogan: "Sattadhari, Atal Behari". Mr Chautala also drives home the Italian connection and asks what would happen if a war-like situation, India's nuclear button is under the control of a "foreigner" who has "no experience in politics or administration" (Agar Anari videshi mahila ke haath button ho to kya hoga"). Mr Chautala also takes a dig at Mrs Sonia Gandhi feigning to go to Cuddapah and filing from Bellary. "Likewise, here too Bhajan Lal wanted to shift to Faridabad, Bhupinder Hooda wanted to go to Sonepat; Chiranji Lal Sharma wanted Karnal: and Selja after deciding to shift to Ambala, decided to leave the contest altogether". Mr Chautala says amidst derisive laughter. The past acrimony between INLD and the BJP is apparently a forgotten chapter. While Mr Chautala asks the voters to ensure that Mr Vajpayee is not found wanting by "one vote" in the next Lok Sabha, Mr Vajpayee acknowledges the support he received from INLD's four MPs in the twelfth Lok Sabha, letting bygones be bygones. The thrust of the day's
campaigning by Mr Vajpayee in Haryana was to project
himself as a responsible elder statesman. He did not
refer to Mrs Sonia Gandhi in person. The Sonia bashing
was left to his party and alliance colleagues. The
turnout at the meetings was sizeable, though old hands
felt that at the Rohtak meeting of both Mrs Sonia Gandhi
and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee in the 1998 elections, the
turnout had been larger. |
Council meeting illegal:
Registrar ROHTAK, Aug 20 — The feud between the Vice Chancellor of the Maharshi Dayanand University and its Registrar, Mr Ashok Khemka, took a new turn when the latter today challenged the legality of the meeting of the executive council held at Chandigarh on July 9. Staying the operation of the decisions taken at the council meeting, Mr Khemka said the implementation of the decisions of an 'illegally' constituted council would lead to serious repercussions and various other legal complications for the university. The executive council meeting, the venue of which was suddenly shifted to Chandigarh, was attended by seven members, a mandatory quorum of a valid council meeting as per clause 11(3) of the statutes, including the Vice Chancellor, Dr D.S. Dubey, then Director PGIMS, Prof L.C. Dhingra, Prof R.S. Chaudhary, Mrs Urmila Singla, Dr Markanday Ahuja and Mr S.C. Arora, Principal Baba Mastnath Mahavidyalya, Asthal Bohar. Mr Khemka has in a personal letter to all members of the council said the appointment of Mr S.C. Arora, just one day before the council meeting, as Dean, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences was illegal and therefore, he was removed later. Mr Arora, he said, became member of the executive council by virtue of his appointment as Dean. Does not the mere participation of an ineligible person destroy the sanctity of the council meeting, he asked. Can on ineligible person be counted for constituting the mandatory quorum, he said. The Vice Chancellor, the letter said, had appointed Mr S.C. Arora as Dean, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, stating that he was the next Professor in rotation in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In terms of rules, only a university teaching department-level Professor could be appointed as Dean as envisaged in statute 19(I). Mr Arora, it may be recalled is working as Principal, Baba Mastnath institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, an institute affiliated to the university. He had never staked his claim to the post of Dean as he possessed neither the minimum teaching experience of five years as Assistant Professor nor a Ph.D degree. The Registrar told the council members that "with a view to correcting the gross illegality of appointing Mr Arora to the post of Dean, a notification was issued on August 8 vide which the the earlier notification of appointment was cancelled". But, the Deputy Registrar (Academic) issued another notification on August 11 vide which the notification issued by the Registrar was superseded "in order to legitimise the participation of Mr Arora in the council meeting, the letter said. Mr Khemka said he had no option but to rectify the illegality by declaring the notification issued by the Deputy Registrar as null and void ab-initio vide another notification on August 13 so as to restore the sanctity of the university Act, statutes and its various authorities. "Since I am unable
to reconcile with the illegal orders of the Vice
Chancellor to implement the decisions taken at the
executive council meeting on July 9. I have addressed
this letter to you", Mr Khemka said. |
MDU VC wants Registrar
transferred CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — The Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Lieut-Gen O.P. Kaushik, today demanded immediate transfer of the Registrar, Mr Ashok Khemka, IAS. The Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar are involved in a running feud, causing embarrassment to the government. General Kaushik today met the Chancellor and Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, as well as the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, and reportedly told them that if Mr Khemka was not shifted from the university, he would be compelled to take action against the Registrar on his own. General Kaushik also
submitted to the Chancellor detailed calculations
regarding the amount of pension received by him from the
Army and the salary to be paid to him by the university.
He said the university owned him over Rs 1.84 lakh.
Therefore, it was wrong to say that he had withdrawn
salary in excess of his entitlement. |
Dispute over plot allotment to
Dalits KAITHAL, Aug 20 — Tension prevails at Pharal village, 20 km from here, because of a dispute between Dalits and members of other communities over the possession of residential plots allotted to the Dalits by the village panchayat in 1997. According to reports the police has been deployed in the village to avoid any untoward incident. The police has registered cases against as many as 60 persons under Sections 379, 435 and 427 of the IPC after getting complaints from Dalits. The Dalits got the allotted plots registered in their names in February 1998. Persons of other communities, however, objected to this and the present panchayat reportedly cancelled the allotments. After this the matter was taken to court. The Dalits won this case in the lower court, but others appealed to the Sessions Court where the matter was still pending. The situation became tense when houses of some Dalits were allegedly attacked by persons of other communities on August 16. The attack was meant to force the Dalits to accept some other site in lieu of the already allotted plots. As many as 12 persons from both sides sustained injuries in the clashes and some houses and shops were also damaged. The Dalits had lodged a complaint with Pundri Police against the members of other communities but they alleged that the police did not take any action. The Dalits were forced to stage a dharna, outside the residence of the Deputy Commissioner at Kaithal which continued till last evening. Meanwhile, a Dalit girl died at Pharal on Thursday and the Dalits alleged that the girl had died due to the fear of attack from members of other communities. The police, however, ruled out any such possibility. According to reports another Dalit, Phula (60), also expired at Pharal. Dalits allege that he had also died of fear. Senior officers from here visited Pharal. The SDM, Mr O.P. Indora, said situation was under control. The Dalits, however,
alleged that the police was playing a partisan role. |
11 pilgrims killed in
mishap HISAR, Aug 20 — Eleven pilgrims, including two women, were killed and at least 50 others injured, 10 of them seriously, when a private bus rolled into a khud after dashing against a tree near Bhadra, about 50 km from here, this afternoon, the police said. The bus was coming from Gugamari to Delhi. When the bus reached near the Nohar crossing the driver lost control and dashed against a tree and it then rolled into a khud killing 11 bus persons on the spot. Six persons were identified while others could not be identified so far. Those identified were Brij Bhushan (38), Ganesh (29) Harcharan (70) Murari (50), Prakash (22) and Ram Charan (45). They all were residents of Ambedkar Basti, South Delhi. The injured has been admitted to Bhadra, Hisar and nearby hospital where the condition of 10 persons is stated to be the critical. The pilgrims were
returning after paying obeisance in Gugamari in
Rajasthan. |
9 get life term for murder FARIDABAD, Aug 20 — Mr P.L. Goyal, Additional District and Sessions Judge, yesterday sentenced nine persons to life imprisonment on a charge of murdering Pappu Singh of Dayalpur village in March last year. Those sentenced are: Ved Charan, his sons Satbir, Leelu, Gurmit Singh and Virinder Singh and four others, including Santar Singh, Mekar Singh, Odesh and Mangtu. According to the prosecution the accused Virender Singh, a Constable, had gone to the house of Rohtash Singh along with his brothers Satbir Singh, Leelu and Gurmeet Singh where he misbehaved with, Simla, sister of Rohtash and this resulted in a verbal altercation with Rohtash. The next day Virender, his brothers and their father Ved Charan, and four others armed with sharp edged weapons went to Rohtash's house. They attacked Pappu Singh, a brother of Rohtash and also injured his brother Dharmender and sister. Ran Kaur, wife of accused Ved Charan, his daughter, Babli, Sharmili and Omwati also attacked the victim and injured him. Sharmili, Omwati and Babli, however, could not be apprehended during the trial and were declared proclaimed offenders. Rest of the 10 assailants faced trial before the court. Mr Goyal held all accused, except Ran Kaur, guilty of the offences under Sections 148, 452, 302, 324 and 323 read with Section 149, IPC, and sentenced them to life imprisonment for the offence under Section 302, besides imposing sentences extending up to two years of imprisonment for the various other offences. The Judge, however, held
Ran Kaur guilty of the offences under Sections 323 and
324, IPC, by observing that she had joined the attack
towards the fag end. She was, therefore, held guilty only
of the offences under Sections 323 and 324, IPC, for
causing one simple injury on the person of Pappu Singh
and one on the person of Dharmender. As she had undergone
imprisonment for a period of 18 months during the trial,
the judge held that the period of imprisonment already
undergone by her was sufficient to meet the ends of
justice. |
Notice on DIG's plea for review CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — On a petition filed by Mr Anil Dawra, Haryana's Deputy Inspector-General (Modernisation and Welfare), for modifying and recalling the order passed against him in a rape and torture case of Jakhal, (Hisar), Mr Justice T.H.B. Chalapathi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to Public Prosecutor, Haryana, for August 23. The Judge had on August 18 ordered action against Mr Dawra who was SSP, Hisar, and placing him under suspension for dereliction of duty in not getting the case registered against the SHO and other police officials allegedly involved in the rape and torture case. The applicant prayed for making him a party in the case and exhornerating him as according to him he had discharged his duties deligently. He contended that a true and correct sequence of events was not brought to the notice of the court. It was submitted by Mr Dawra that after receiving the medical inspection report he moved the District Magistrate, Hisar, on March 9, 1995, for seeking his concurrence under Punjab Police rules for proceeding departmentally against the erring officials. He had specifically mentioned in the letter that the report of Additional S.P. discloses the commission of a criminal offence by S.I. Azad Singh and A.S.I. Jai Singh. He also submitted that
after assuming charge as SSP Hisar, he issued
instructions that no woman should be called to the police
station and be questioned at her place in front of
relatives. The District Magistrate had given concurrence
to proceed against the erring officials on March 21,
1995, the DIG said. |
Devi Lal's
son Jagdish dead CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — Mr Jagdish Singh, youngest son of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal, died in Apollo Hospital in Delhi last night after a prolonged illness. Mr Jagdish Singh (50) is
survived by his wife and two sons. |
Scribe acquitted CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — Mr Jagmohan Phutela, Special Correspondent of Ajit Samachar, who was booked by the Bansi Lal Government for allegedly inciting the people after the police firing on farmers at Mandhali in October, 1997, was acquitted by a Kaithal court today, information received, here said. Mr Phutela was arrested here on October 20, 1997, and was released on bail the next day. Mr C.L. Mohal,
Magistrate, First Class, acquitted Mr Phutalla after all
the five prosecution witnesses turned hostile. |
Harpal Singh takes over CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — Mr Harpal Singh today formally assumed charge as the Working President of the Haryana Congress even as Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala is believed to have declined the chairmanship of the state-level campaign committee. It may be recalled that Mr Surjewala, who was appointed Working President two days ago, had declined the offer after the Haryana Congress issued a press note, stating that the appointment was only till the Lok Sabha elections. Subsequently the AICC asked Mr Surjewala and Mr Harpal Singh, who was earlier appointed chairman of the campaign committee, to swap places. Meanwhile, Mr Harpal Singh, who was welcomed in the PCC office here by the General Secretary, Dr Ram Prakash, has appealed to all Congressmen to withdraw their nomination papers in favour of the official candidates by August 21. Mr Harpal Singh said he would tour all the Lok Sabha constituencies and coordinate the electioneering. He will continue to work
as the Working President till September 5. |
284 villages in Gurgaon
sensitive GURGAON, Aug 20 — The administration has identified 284 of the 757 villages in Gurgaon district as "hyper sensitive" and "sensitive" for the impending elections to the Lok Sabha, according to official sources. The district encompasses Ferozepur Jhirka, Nuh and Taoru assembly segments of the Faridabad parliamentary constituency and Sohna, Gurgaon and Pataudi segments in the Mahendergarh Lok Sabha seat. Majority of the villages identified to be hyper sensitive and sensitive fall in the Faridabad Parliamentary constituency. Incidentally, Ferozepur Jhirka, Nuh and Taoru constitute the Mewat area of the district. The Mewat area is dominated by Meo Muslims. The area is polarised between Mr Tayab Hussain and Mr Khurshid Ahmed- both Congress leader. However, Mr Zakir Hussain, a son of Mr Tayab Hussain, is the Congress nominee from the Faridabad Lok Sabha seat. He is pitted against a sitting MP of the BJP, Mr Ram Chander Bainda. For the first time, the
administration will press into service forest guards,
ex-servicemen (whose retirement period has not exceeded
five years) and NCC cadets to ensure peace on the day of
election. |
Naggal MLA Nirmal Singh joins
Cong CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — The HVP of Mr Bansi Lal suffered a serious setback in Ambala district today following the decision of Independent MLA from Naggal, Mr Nirmal Singh, to join the Congress. The president of the Ambala district unit of the HVP, Mrs Naib Kaur, who is the wife of Mr Nirmal Singh, today resigned from the party and joined the Congress. Many supporters of Mr
Nirmal Singh, who occupied senior positions in the HVP,
like Mr Dharam Pal Kalia, president of the HVP district
unit (Urban); Mr Surinder Sethi, general secretary of the
Urban HVP unit; Mr Munshi Ram Dhiman, and Mr Brahm Pal
Rana, of the youth wing of the HVP, also resigned from
the HVP and joined the Congress. |
Deposit arms, says DM SONEPAT, Aug 20 — The District Magistrate, Mr Anil Kumar, here has issued an order making it obligatory for all persons having firearms to deposit them either at the nearest police stations or with the authorised dealers. According to official sources, this order has become effective from today and will remain in force till the declaration of the results of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, this order will not apply to police and other public servants on duty. Meanwhile, the district administration and police the have taken a series of measures to ensure the holding of free and fair elections for the local Lok Sabha seat scheduled for September 5. As many as 57 polling booths have been identified as most sensitive in the six Assembly segments of the district where additional police forces will be deployed on the day of polling. Similarly 53 more polling booths have been identified as sensitive. Lists of criminals and antisocial elements are being prepared. All SHOs have been directed to keep a strict vigil on such elements and take stern action against them. Some preventive arrests
have also been made. |
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