Proclaimed offender arrested
Tribune News Service

The police has arrested Jasbir Sigh, a resident of Dhaliwal village in Kapurthala district who was wanted in a case registered under Sections 342, 506 and 323, IPC. He had been declared a proclaimed offender by a local court in a case in 1978.

Seven held : In separate incidents, the police has arrested seven persons for roaming under suspicious circumstances and creating nuisance under the influence of liquor at a public place. Cases under Sections 41 (2) and 109, CrPC, and Sections 34, 5 and 61, Police Act, have been registered.

Liquor seized : Ram Yash, a resident of Kumhar Colony, Sector 25, was arrested for possessing 50 pouches of liquor. A case under Sections 61, 1 and 14, Excise Act, has been registered against him.

In another case the police arrested Avinash, a resident of the Daddu Majra colony, for snatching Rs 500 from Mr Rajiv Bhatia, a resident of Sector 19, at the Sector 17 ISBT.

A case under Sections 379 and 411, IPC, has been registered against him.

One booked : The police has booked Ram Kumar, a resident of the Dadu Majra colony, on the compliant of his wife, Angoori Devi, that her husband assaulted her and fractured her arm. A case under Sections 323 and 325, IPC, has been registered.

PANCHKULA

Cement stolen : The police has arrested three persons of Kundi village for allegedly stealing 45 bags of cement from a construction site in Sector 20 here. The thieves, Niab Singh, Raj Kumar and Avtar Singh, have been booked under Sections 380 and 120-B of the IPC.

Cheating : A secretary and a clerk of a cooperative bank at Kazampur village have been booked by the Raipur Rani police for cheating a resident of Bhaurli village of Rs 48,864.

According to the information available, the complainant, Dala Ram, alleged that he was deprived of the money by the employees of the bank. A case under Sections 409, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against them.

Car damaged : Mr Sanjiv Gupta, a resident of Sector 12, here has alleged that on July 25 when he was returning home in his car after playing tennis at Gymkhana Club in Sector 6 his vehicle was hit by a white Ambassador car with a red light atop it. The driver of the Ambassador car, instead of apologising, further damaged the complainant's vehicle. The driver then fled from the scene.

Dowry case : Ms Anju, a resident of Haripur village, complained to the police that eversince her marriage to Sham Sunder in April, 1999, she was being harassed by her in-laws to bring dowry.

The police has registered a case against her father-in-law, mother-in-law, husband and brother-in-law, Raj Kumar, Bimla Rani, Sham Sunder and Hari Om, respectively.

Company told to pay compensation
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 28 — The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum -II has imposed costs and compensation of Rs 10,000 on Tata Tea Ltd and Tata Share Registry Ltd for their failure to return a share certificate to the holder for a period of over seven years.

In his complaint filed before the Forum, Lt-Col. Ranbir Singh Bawa had stated that he holds 50 shares of Tata Tea and Tata Share Registry. He had lost the share certificate in the year 1990 on his visit to the office of the Unit Trust of India (UTI) at Bombay. He got to know of this when he received a letter from Tata Share Registry Ltd in 1991 informing him that the said share certificate had been lodged with the company for transfer in favour of UTI without there being any transfer deed. He further contended that he through a registered letter dated November 18, 1991, told the opposite party that he had never sold these shares to UTI and since the certificate had been lost by him, they should be returned to him. But despite reminders and repeated visits, no action was taken.

Meanwhile, he received a letter dated March 27, 1996, written by Tata Share Registry Ltd to the UTI asking it to produce the copy of the contract note or any other document as evidence of purchase of shares by UTI within 21 days. The UTI was also informed that the complainant had been pressing for the return of his shares as these were in his name. However, neither did UTI respond to this letter nor did the opposite party take any further action.

In its reply, Tata Share Registry Ltd said that the complainant had neither lodged an FIR nor informed the parties concerned about the loss of the share certificate. They further maintained that they were not in a position to return the original share certificate to the complainant as the UTI had sent indemnity bonds along with an affidavit. They in turn raised objections that the complaint is not maintainable, that the complaint is barred by time and that the Forum had no local jurisdiction in the matter.

The Forum bench comprising its president, Mr R.P Bajaj, and members, Mr H.S Wali and Mrs Kamlesh Gupta, observed that both parties admitted that the complainant held 50 shares of Tata Tea Ltd. These shares still stood in his name as UTI which lodged the share with the opposite party for transfer in its favour has not so far produced any evidence, much less the requisite transfer deed for the transfer of the shares in its name in spite of the fact that the matter was hanging fire for more than seven years. Therefore, the case of the complainant supported by his affidavit that he had lost these shares had to be accepted.

They held that the complainant being the holder of these shares is the person entitled to the custody of these shares. The original shares, however, had come to the charge of UTI with the request for transfer. The party asking for the transfer had failed to produce any proof of transfer in its favour, the opposite party therefore has no option but to return those shares to the original holder.

They further held the parties guilty of deficiency in services as a long time had elapsed and they had not been able to return those shares to the complainant. The objection of limitation was rejected by observing that the cause of action accrued to the complainant on March 27, 1996, when the opposite party wrote to the UTI asking it to furnish proof of transfer of shares in its favour within 21 days. The parties had failed to take action in the matter even after the lapse of 21days stipulated in the letter dated March 27. Computing the period of limitation from this date the complaint filed in October, 1996, is well within the limitation period.

The second objection regarding lack of jurisdiction was overruled by observing that the Consumer Protection Act had been enacted for the benefit of the consumers and its provisions, therefore, needed to be constructed liberally so as to protect the interest of the consumer. Further, the law permits the institution of the complaint at a place where the opposite party is carrying on business.

While allowing the complaint, the forum directed the parties to pay Rs 10,000 as consolidated costs, including compensation, for having caused harassment to the complainant for a long period. They further directed them to return the share certificate to the complainant and allow him all other consequential benefits that have accrued to him and have remained unpaid.

Bond scheme : The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum -I has directed Hindustan Financial Management to pay the due maturity amount of Rs 20,000 to a complainant along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum.

In her complaint, Mrs Promila Anand had stated that the company had issued a bond scheme offering 23.42 per cent interest for a period of 17 months and 29 days. She had in response to the scheme purchased eight bonds for a sum of Rs 14,800 on September 4, 1996, which were to mature on March 3, 1998. She had further alleged that in discharge of its liability, the company issued a post dated cheque of the amount of Rs 20,000 but the same was dishonoured due to non-availability of funds in the company's account.

The complainant was forced to lodge this complaint when despite several attempts she failed to get the due maturity amount released.

The bench comprising its President, Mr H.C Modi, and members, Mr R.K Behl and Ms Shashi Kanta, directed the company to pay a compensation of Rs 1,000, besides releasing the due amount of Rs 20,000 to the complainant. The company were further directed to make these payments within 30 days.

No change in pulse prices
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 28 — Although like every monsoon, the prices of most of the vegetables have gone up, there was no fluctuation in the prices of pulses in the local market during the past two weeks.

During a survey, it was found that for the first time the prices of pulses did not witness a hike during monsoon as usually during this season the supply of vegetables comes down and the prices go up.

A kg of white ''chana'' could still be purchased at Rs 32 in the retail and Rs 2,800 a quintal in the wholesale market. Similarly, a kg of ''kala chana'' was priced at Rs 18 in the retail and Rs 1,600 a quintal in the wholesale market. A kg of ''dal chana'' could also be purchased at the same price.

The same was the case with ''moong sabat'', ''chilka'' and ''moong dhuli'' as these were available at Rs 28, Rs 29 and Rs 26 a kg, respectively, in the retail and Rs 2,450, Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,200 a quintal in the wholesale market. One could purchase a kg of ''mah sabat'' and ''mah chilka'' at their old prices of Rs 28 and Rs 29 in the retail and Rs 2,450 and Rs 2,500 a quintal, respectively, in the wholesale market.

The lovers of ''arhar'' could still relish it for Rs 32 a kg in the retail and Rs 2,750 a quintal in the wholesale market. Similarly, a kg of ''rajmah'' could be purchased at Rs 36 in the retail and Rs 3,200 a quintal in the wholesale market. Likewise, a kg of ''masri dal'' was available at Rs 26 in the retail and Rs 2,250 a quintal in the wholesale market. The case of ''roungi'' was not different as a kg of it was still available at Rs 32 in the retail and Rs 2,800 a quintal in the wholesale market.

If a kg of ''malaka masri'' could be fetched at Rs 28 a kg in the retail a quintal of it could be had at Rs 2,550 in the wholesale market. The price of a kg of soyabean remained unchanged at Rs 26 in the retail and Rs 2,200 a quintal in the wholesale market.

City boy in national squad
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, July 28 — Inderjit Singh Chadha of Shri Guru Gobind Singh senior secondary school, sector 35, has been included in the Indian hockey team (under-21) for the European tour. the team was selected on Tuesday at Bangalore by the Indian Hockey federation (IHF).

Inderjit has been trained by Jasbir singh Bajwa, a UT Sports department hockey coach. He started playing the game at the age of 10 and studies in Class XI.

Inderjit got the best player of the tournament award at his first national-level tournament, Nehru Hockey tournament for schools at Delhi. He plays both at right in and centre forward positions. He also won the gold medal in the National School games (under-19) held at Patiala in 1996-97.

Next year he was a member of the UT team which won the gold medal at the National School games at Chandigarh. Next year, he participated in junior nationals at Delhi and the year after, he played in senior nationals.

His inclusion in the Indian team has given a boost to promising hockey players in the city. He will play in the test matches in Holland and Poland, before taking part in the six-nation hockey tournament in Poland from August 23. The team will also participate in the test matches in Hollands and England.

The Indian senior hockey team will also be chosen among the players who perform well in these tournaments.

Popularly known as Chadha among friends, he is also the receipient of the school honour and a prize from the Governor of Punjab.

YPS win titles

The squash team of Yadavindra Public School (YPS), SAS Nagar, emerged victorious in the Indian Public School Conference (IPSC) tournament, which concluded on July 26 at Lawrence School, sanawar. It bagged the under-14 and under-16 team titles and the under-14 individual title.

The teams comprised Sandeep singh, Raman Grover and Manpreet Kohli in the under-16 and Harmeet Singh, Manpreet Malhi and Jai Sekhon in the under-14 groups, respectively. Harmeet Singh won the individual under-14 singles title. Sandeep singh was the runner-up in the under-16 event.

Manpreet Malhi and Jai Sekhon are the reigning national under-12 champions in the team event. The school team was coached by Amitoj Inder Singh, a former student of YPS, SAS Nagar. He is among the first eight professionals players in India.

Charanjit Mann of Welham's Boys School, Dehradun, won the under-16 title and Karan Malik of Lawrence School, Sanawar, annexed the under-16 title. The team title in under-19 section went to Welham's Boys School, Dehradun.

Results: Individual under-19 — Charanjit (Welham's) 1, Karan Malik (Lawrence) 2; under-16 — Karan Malik (LSS) 1, Sandeep Singh (YPS) 2; under-14 — Harmeet Singh (YPS) 1, Tarun Malik (LSS) 2.

Team events: under-19 — Welham's 1, Lawrence 2; under-16 — YPS 1, Lawrence 2; under-14 — YPS 1, Lawrence 2.