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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Tuesday, December 28, 1999 |
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Resentment over
DGP’s retention in Haryana Samiti flays govt over paddy
policy |
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Two killed in road accidents Ambala explosion: one more dies Demonstration held |
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Resentment over DGP’s
retention in Haryana CHANDIGARH, Dec 28 — The Haryana Government’s reluctance to take any step against Mr S.P.S. Rathore, DGP, has not gone down well with police officials in the state. Mr Rathore, it may be recalled, was accused of molesting a teenage girl in 1990, who had reportedly committed suicide by consuming poison three years later. On December 14, the Supreme Court had upheld a Punjab and Haryana High Court order for a probe by the CBI into the allegations against the police chief. Several police officials of Haryana, who requested anonymity, complained that by retaining Mr Rathore as the DGP, the state government was conveying the impression that all other Haryana police officers were incompetent and not capable of leading the force. "Our service rules do not permit so otherwise we would have asked the Chief Minister whether Mr Rathore had the moral right to continue as the DGP after such a serious allegation was levelled against him", asked an official, who added that Mr Rathore should have himself stepped down after the Supreme Court verdict, so that a new DGP could take over in Haryana. Significantly, it will not be correct to read the resentment among the police officials as moves made by some ambitious officers to remove Mr Rathore now that he is in a bad spot. The more upright officers are concerned about the image of the police force and want Mr Rathore’s termination before too much damage is done to the reputation of the force. The officials also point out that the DGP does not inspire them any more and the morale of the force in general will be affected if Mr Rathore continues to be at the helm of affairs. The details of the case against Mr Rathore have also unnerved the more humane officers. According to the petition filed by Ms Madhu Prakash, who moved the High Court in 1997, the victim, Ruchika, was a classmate of Mr Rathore’s daughter. In 1990, when Mr Rathore was an IGP, he had set up the Panchkula Lawn Tennis Association for providing coaching to the children below 15 years of age. Ruchika, a motherless child, who looked more mature than her age, also enrolled herself in the academy along with the petitioner’s daughter. Ms Madhu Prakash’s daughter was also allegedly an eyewitness to the attempt made by Mr Rathore to molest Ruchika. When the incident was brought to the notice of the government, Mr R.R. Singh, who was the DGP at that time, conducted an inquiry and prima facie found Mr Rathore guilty. Mr R.R. Singh’s report, was, however, hushed up and Mr Rathore managed to circumvent the administrative inquiry which was ordered against him. In 1997, Ms Prakash managed to get hold of the report of Mr R.R. Singh from the Home Secretary and she moved the court on the basis of it. Ms Madhu Prakash and her husband, Mr Anand Prakash, told TNS that they were fighting the case because Ruchika was their daughter’s friend and they wanted the culprit to be brought to book so that Ruchika’s soul could rest in peace. Ruchika’s father, who was a bank official, and her only brother had not been seen for the past five years, they alleged. Meanwhile, the Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Verma, when contacted by TNS, said that Home was the department concerned to deal with the case. The Home Secretary, Mr B.D. Dhalia, who had a meeting with the DGP today, refused to talk despite repeated attempts. Political observers here
said the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, was not
removing the DGP because the DGP is pliant. "But the
incident can leave a permanent blot on Mr Chautala’s
political career like the Meham violence," the
observers said. |
Samiti flays govt over paddy
policy SONEPAT, Dec 27 — The Haryana Kisan Sangharsh Samiti today condemned the state government for its failure to give a remunerative price for the paddy marketed by the growers and purchase it at the support price by the procurement agencies, particularly the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the Food and Supplies Department. In a press note issued here, it alleged that the paddy growers had been compelled to sell their commodity at low prices in the absence of state procurement agencies. It also alleged that the owners of rice shellers and traders had taken undue advantage of the helplessness of the paddy growers and purchased their produce at low prices. The samiti urged the state government, particularly the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to take stern action against the procurement agencies, who had failed to purchase the paddy at the support price. Expressing concern over the inefficient working of the Food and Supplies Department in Sonepat and Rohtak districts, the samiti alleged that the authorities concerned were encouraging corrupt practices. It also alleged that the bulk quantity of levy sugar and kerosene was being diverted to the black market, and some officials of the department were allegedly involved in the racket. The samiti sought a high-level probe into the racket. It condemned the state government for cancelling the transfers of some officials who were earlier shifted from the district and later re-posted because of political pressure. The samiti threatened to launch a stir if the state government failed to order a probe into the racket. Meanwhile, dealers and owners of rice shellers had purchased 98,795 tonnes of paddy of the 99,118 tonnes that had arrived at various markets of the district. Most of the paddy
growers had diverted their produce to the nearby Narela
and other markets of Delhi where the prices were more
than quoted at the mandis of the district. |
MDU meeting annulment ROHTAK, Dec 27 — The recent annulment of the proceedings of the meeting of Maharshi Dayanand University’s executive council by the Governor and the Chancellor of the university, Mr Mahabir Prasad, has once again put the university officials in a peculiar situation as to whom they should obey — the Vice-Chancellor, Lt. Gen. (retd) O.P. Kaushik, or the Registrar, Mr Ashok Khemka. The Chancellor annulled the proceedings of the meeting held in Chandigarh on July 9 on the ground that these were not in conformity with the provisions of the MDU Act and statues on December 20. Dr Ram Narayan, Principal of the local University College was given one year extension after superannuation by the Vice-Chancellor and the latter got it approved by the executive council. According to sources, the Registrar, in execution of the Chancellor’s orders of annulment of the meeting, issued orders to relieve Dr Narayan w.e.f. December 20 on the ground that the extension given to him by the Vice-Chancellor stood null and void after the said annulment. However, Dr Narayan refused to accept the orders and was continuing as the Principal. When contacted, he said the Vice-Chancellor was the appointing authority and only he could remove him from the office. The Vice-Chancellor said the Registrar was not the competent authority to relieve a Principal. He said under Section 9(A)5 the Vice-Chancellor enjoyed the emergency powers of the council till its meeting. Commenting on Dr Narayan’s case he said it would be placed in the next meeting for approval. However, the matter has become complicated as the officials of the salary section of the university said they had not prepared the salary bill of Dr Narayan for the current month because of the dispute. They said the salary for the last month was also not released. Similar is the case of Dr Sarla Malik, who was appointed Director, Directorate of Distance Education, on contract basis (Rs 10,000 per month) just after her retirement by the Vice-Chancellor. The executive council also approved it. According to university sources, Dr Malik is likely to be issued relieving orders on the same ground within a few days by the Registrar. Some of the university officials stated that the Vice-Chancellor enjoyed the emergency powers, excluding those of appointment and removal under Section 9(A)5. They said the extension given to Dr Narayan was a kind of re-employment which could not be granted under the above section. They further said the council could not delegate the power of appointment to the Vice-Chancellor. Some officials claimed
that the Vice-Chancellor was the chairman of the
proceedings of the meeting of the council and he only had
the authority to execute the orders of the Chancellor
regarding annulment. |
HVP: govt befooling people ROHTAK, Dec 27 — The General Secretary of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) and a former MP, Mr Surender Singh, has described the Chautala government as only an "announcement government". Addressing a public meeting at Kiloi yesterday, he alleged that while the Chautala regime had failed to take up any development work so far, the Chief Minister had only been busy in making announcements and sweet promises. Alleging that the present government was befooling the people by making all kinds of announcements, he claimed that the people had seen through his strategy. He claimed that the state government had been exposed on various fronts like power and water supply, unemployment and the law and order situation. Claiming that the realisation of old (pending) power bills had slowed down, he said it was the same Mr Chautala who had asked the people not to submit their power bills during the Bansi Lal regime. But now, the Chief Minister had been asking the officials to disconnect the connections of the defaulting consumers. He alleged that
announcements regarding recruitment of teachers, grants
to various institutions and upgradation of subtehsils and
tehsils were being made with an eye on elections. |
Two killed in road accidents ROHTAK, Dec 27 — Two persons, including a woman, were killed on the spot in different road accidents in the district in the past 24 hours. Jai Bhagwan of Sanghi village alleged in the FIR that a speeding jeep collided with an autorickshaw. Sunita was killed on the spot and the driver of the autorickshaw was injured in the incident. In another incident, a bus hit a scooter near the flyover on the Hisar road. The scooterist Om Pal of Sunarian village was killed on the spot. The police has
registered a case. |
Ambala explosion: one more dies AMBALA, Dec 27 — One more victim of the Ambala explosion incident succumbed to her injuries late last night at the Army hospital. The deceased was identified as Naina, daughter of the house owner who had come there to see the TV programme. Earlier, the Army personnel Bhawani Ram and her daughter Maju was killed on the spot yesterday. The condition of Nirmala Devi and her daughter, Anju, who were seriously injured was stable, Army hospital sources added. Meanwhile, the Superintendent of Police, Mr Navdeep Singh Virak, said initially it seemed that the explosion had occurred because of some explosive device which might have been kept by the deceased Army personnel at his residence. But Army sources did not rule out the possibility of the bursting of any explosive device. Earlier, an investigating agency was of the view that the incident occurred because of the bursting of a cooking gas cylinder. Later, family sources of the deceased confirmed the two cylinders at the house were found intact after the incident. The sources said the
experts had also recovered some small pieces of aluminium
from the incident site. In fact the blast was so powerful
that the leg of Bhawani Ram was blown up. Moreover, the
roof of the house was also blown off and the window panes
of some nearby houses were also shattered by the impact. |
Demonstration held JIND, Dec 27 — Residents of nearby villages led by Mr Jai Prakash, former Union Deputy Minister held a demonstration at the local mini secretariat yesterday in protest against the arrest of Mr Satbir Singh Duhan, a local businessman. The demonstrators alleged that due to political reasons a false case had been registered against Mr Duhan. They demanded the withdrawal of the case and his immediate release. Mr Duhan was arrested for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy relating to the murder of Karam Singh of Bishanpura village in the district. In view of the
allegation of the victim's wife, the police
re-investigated the case and arrested Mr Duhan. He was
produced in the court yesterday and remanded in judicial
custody till January 8. |
Jawan cremated SONEPAT, Dec 27 — One BSF jawan, Ashok Kumar (30) was killed in an engagement with Pakistani forces in the Kupwara sector in Jammu and Kashmir. He belongs to Farmana village in the district. Ashok Kumar was killed
on December 20. He was cremated at Farmana on December
23. The ceremony was not attended by any State official. |
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