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| Wednesday, March 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Back to jail for faking bail order Voters' names missing from MC
lists Traders decry hike in sales tax
rates Amendments sought to Wakf Act 13 panchayat samiti members
elected
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Jhuggi dwellers block
roads, lathi-charged Haryana BJP MLAs to choose leader
today 2 more girls abducted Two killed in mishap 220-KV line commissioned Exam centre to be shifted
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Back to jail for faking bail
order ROHTAK, March 7 — Dhani Ram, known as "Natwarlal of Rohtak", has been sentenced by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr R.K. Sharma, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years on charge of fabricating bail orders purported to have been issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The case against Dhani Ram and his associates was registered on the orders of Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar, a Judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in the city police station. According to the prosecution story, Dhani Ram was undergoing imprisonment in the district jail here under Sections 879/411/420/468 and 471 of the IPC. His bail applications were rejected by the Chief Judicial Magistrate and the Additional Sessions Judge, Rohtak. The accused moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1995. While the case was still pending in the High Court, the accused on August 14,1996, fabricated a bail order purported to have been issued by the High Court and despatched the same to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr J.S. Dahiya. It is alleged that Dhani Ram got the fake orders fabricated in connivance with one Pankaj, the owner of a computer shop in the town. Pankaj, too, has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years. The Chief Judicial Magistrate, who received the ‘bail’ orders on August 20, 1996, got suspicious about the veracity of these orders and referred the matter to the District and Sessions Judge to seek clarification from the High Court. The High Court confirmed that no such order had been passed by it. Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar, on receipt of a report from the District and Sessions Judge, Rohtak, summoned the accused Dhani Ram, the computer owner Pankaj, Mr S.C. Babbar, an advocate who appeared for the accused, son of Dhani Ram and the policemen deployed to guard Dhani Ram in the hospital. Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar then directed the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rohtak (City), Mr Sant Lal Phogat, to conduct a thorough probe into the matter, after he enquired from the advocate for Dhani Ram about the circumstances in which the order had been fabricated and forged. The Chief Judicial Magistrate said the accused had forged the order for the purpose of getting Dhani Ram released from judicial custody. It has also been proved, the order said, that Dhani Ram and Pankaj had conspired with each other in order to commit the offence. The Chief Judicial Magistrate has sentenced Dhani Ram and Pankaj to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and also imposed a fine of Rs 5000 for the commission of offence under Section 420 of the IPC. In the case of non-payment of fine, the accused would further undergo imprisonment for three months. They have been further sentenced for a period of five years for offence committed under Section 468 and 120-B of the IPC and fined each Rs 5000 each. The accused would undergo imprisonment for three months in the event of non-payment of the fine. The Chief Judicial
Magistrate observed that the sentences in respect of
Dhani Ram would start after passing the sentence awarded
to him by the court of Mr R.S. Bagri, Additional Chief
Judicial Magistrate, Bhiwani, in which the accused had
been confined in the district jail here. |
Voters' names missing from MC
lists PANIPAT, March 7 — Haryana can take pride for being the first state to have successfully made use of voters identity cards in the recently concluded Vidhan Sabha polls, but many voters are in for a rude shock in the coming local bodies and gram panchayats elections as they will not be able to exercise their franchise despite having the voters identity cards. The reason: their names have not been included in the voters lists for these elections. In these circumstances, the very concept of voters identity cards seems to be getting defeated. The electoral rolls for the local bodies elections were prepared by the respective municipal councils and the office of the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO) was responsible for the voters list were prepared by the district election office. Many voters who had exercised their franchise in the recent Vidhan Sabha polls will not be able cast their votes for the municipal council and gram panchayat polls. In Panipat alone, there are thousands who will not be able to cast their votes for these elections, notably residents of Ravidas Nagar and Khatik Basti. The SDM, Mr Kulwant Kalson, who is the Returning Officer for the municipal council polls said the electoral lists for the MC polls were revised ward wise last year but some names were left out as those people could not be found at the time of revision lists. However, adequate time was given for anyone having any objection or anyone whose name was missing from the list to seek redressal, he added. Mr V.P. Sharma, DDPO said names of certain people were deleted from the voters' list revised in July, 1999, as they were found to be residing somewhere else. "We had prepared the voters' list after dividing the village into different wards on the basis of numerical strength and enough time was given through public notices for raising any objections." He admitted that some of the names could have been left out by mistake also. The officials says the
updated electoral rolls prepared for the Vidhan Sabha
polls cannot be used for the gram panchayat elections as
the voters' lists are prepared according to the wards.
Similarly, the electoral rolls in the city areas for the
Vidhan Sabha polls were prepared booth wise, while for
the MC polls the voters' list were made ward wise. |
Traders decry hike in sales tax
rates ROHTAK, March 7 — The trading community in Haryana has decried the revised sales tax rates that have become operative from March 4. The Haryana Beopar Mandal and the Haryana Foodgrain Dealers Association have, in separate statements, claimed that the revised rates would not spare the farmers and also hit the common consumers. The government had not even spared the foodgrains produced by farmers, said the Beopar Mandal. Thus, the farmers would get less for their produce, it warned. The Foodgrain Dealers Association said even the cattle have not been spared. The government had imposed sales tax on cattle-feed and fodder, though these were exempt in neighbouring Delhi. Both associations said the Chief Minister had been assuring that sales tax in Haryana would be brought at par with Delhi but had gone back on his assurances immediately after the elections. The revised rates, the Beopar Mandal said, were much higher than those proposed by the Finance Ministers committee. The Foodgrain Dealers Association said the revised sales tax imposed on cars, two-wheelers and spare parts would adversely affect their sales. This, in turn, would affect the revenue earnings of the government, it said. The sales tax cars and two-wheelers has been enhanced from 7 per cent to 12 per cent. Imposition of sales tax at the first stage on spare parts has also been proposed. Urging the government to immediately withdraw the revised sales tax rates, the beopar mandal has advised the government to invite traders for solving the problem. The Foodgrain Dealers Association has urged the government to bring the sales tax at par with Delhi. Because of the revised
sales tax rates petrol has become costlier by Rs 2.16
paise per litre from March 4. |
Amendments sought to Wakf Act AMBALA, March 7 — The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Punjab Wakf Board, Mr Akhlaq Ahmed Khan, today demanded mandatory provisions for extra-ordinary powers by amending the Punjab Wakf Act, 1995. In an interview to The Tribune, Mr Khan, said "we need more powers to take action. There is also an urgent need to shorten the process so as to enable us to get quick results." One of the first directives of the new CEO of the board, which is a composite board for Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, to the employees is "if you think a particular work is good, we are to do better and if you think it is bad, then forget it." "The board has been set up to manage the Wakf property. Our stress naturally is on the upliftment of the society with special emphasis on unemployment and education," Mr Khan, a senior lawyer said. In the field of education, Mr Khan observed that there was a mindset in which people felt that there was no point in spending about two decades in education, when there were few employment avenues. "I want to emphasise that education is not just to earn money, it also to create mental awareness which is crucial for the overall development of a person," he said. He said there were four computer centres and 10 vocational training centres under the jurisdiction of the board. We are going to help the poor get medical help. We will be inaugurating Khatoon-e-Jannat Hospital in Malerkotla next month", he added. The new CEO while speaking of new schemes by the board said the development schemes were meant for improving the condition of the people. "The new schemes include a senior secondary school in Ludhiana, Baitus Siddique Haj House-cum-Vocational Centre, Gurgaon, residential complex-cum-vocational centre, Mandikhera, Gurgaon, an ITI at Sewah (Panipat), dispensary at Panipat and youth hostel at Lahora (Chandigarh)," Mr Khan said. On the functions of the board, Mr Khan said it was engaged in providing specialised training to young men and women. Mr Khan, who hails from Malerkotla in Punjab, opined that these days private medical practitioners had lost the missionary zeal. He said the board was responsible for management of Wakf properties, including efforts to safeguard them from encroachments and this included filing suits in the courts of law wherever required. "The maintenance of religious institutions like mosques/maktabs/madrasas and schools is also undertaken. The field staff utilises the grants issued by the head office for the repair and renovation of these properties and for providing support required in these places," he said. The board is paying salary to 422 imams, mauzzans and caretakers working in the mosque under its direct management. Fortysix schools, four vocational centres are also provided monthly aid by the board. It also provides monthly pension to Muslim widows and destitutes of the region. This scheme also covers aged persons and orphans. The board also provides scholarships to the needy and meritorious students during 1998-99, 386 students were given such scholarships. Mr Khan said the board had shown the highest collections which would be more than Rs 10 crore. Last year, it was Rs 9.68 crore. The board has earned a
record revenue collection of Rs 7.17 crore. This is Rs
1.13 crore more than the previous year. During 1996-97,
the board spent Rs 2.67 crore on various social welfare
programmes taken up by it for the benefit of minority
communities and Backward Classes. |
13 panchayat samiti members
elected ROHTAK, March 7 — Thirteen members of panchayat samitis and 968 members of panchayats have been elected unopposed in the elections to the panchayats and panchayat samitis in the district scheduled for March 12 and 16. The district comprise 151 panchayats, five panchayat samitis and the zila parishad. For the 13 zila parishad wards, in all 62 candidates are in the fray. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rajesh Khullar, told this correspondent that the maximum number of 349 panches had been elected unopposed from the Rohtak block, 132 in Kalanaur, 210 in Meham, 207 in Sampla and 70 from the Lakhanmajra block. He said for 15 in Meham block, no person has filed nomination papers. He said for 20 wards of panchayat samiti, Sampla, 64 candidates were in the fray, whereas two members had been elected unopposed. Similarly for the post of sarpanches in the 25 panchayats of this block, 125 candidates were in the fray. For the 117 wards for panches, there were 262 candidates whereas 207 panches have been elected unopposed. No nomination had been filed for two wards of panches in Sampla block. In all 48 candidates were in the fray for 11 wards of the panchayat samiti. Lakhanmajra, whereas 95 were contesting for the post of sarpanch in 13 panchayats. For 99 wards of panches, 244 candidates were in the fray and no one has filed papers for one ward in this block. While candidates from seven wards of the 30-member Rohtak Panchayat Samiti had been elected unopposed, there are 99 candidates for the remaining 23 wards. Similarly for the post of sarpanch in 55 villages of Rohtak block, there are 327 candidates. No nomination has been filed for 18 wards of panches in Rohtak block, whereas 594 candidates were vying with one another in 166 wards of panches out of a total of 633 wards. Two members of Panchayat Samiti, Kalanaur had been elected unopposed, whereas 42 candidates were opposing one another in the remaining 12 wards. Similarly 142 candidates were contesting for 25 posts of sarpanches and 310 for 134 wards of panches in the Kalanaur block. The remaining 132 were elected unopposed. Similarly many members had been elected unopposed to the 24-member panchayat samiti, Meham. The nomination papers of all the candidates from ward No. 3 were rejected during scrutiny. For the remaining 21 wards, 80 candidates were trying their luck. In Meham block for 34 panchayats there were 251 candidates in the fray for the post of sarpanches. While 210 panches had been elected unopposed. There were still 188 candidates in the fray for the remaining posts of panches in the Meham block, Mr Khullar said. Mr Khullar claimed that
elaborate arrangements have been made to conduct
elections smoothly and in a free and fair manner. He
warned that nobody would be allowed to disturb the
election schedule and create a law and order problem. |
Jhuggi dwellers block roads,
lathi-charged GURGAON, March 7 — The police today resorted to a lathi charge to disperse a mob consisting mainly of labourers who had blocked the Delhi-Jaipur highway in protest against the alleged "atrocities" on them. Over 1000, jhuggi dwellers of DLF-Phase-1 and Phase-1V first blocked the Mehrauli road near Shushant Lok and then the Delhi-Jaipur highway near IFFCO crossing in the morning. They were agitated following reports that two children had died due to beating up by police personnel when they combed the area last night. The authorities requisitioned additional police force to deal with the mob. When the protestors did not heed to the request of the authorities to remove the road blocks, they were cane-charged. As many as six police personnel went to DLF jhuggis for combing operation last night. A few days ago some persons barged into the house of an old couple and murdered the woman. The jhuggis dwellers alleged that the police personnel were drunk and manhandled them The SP, Mr Shatroojit Singh Kapoor said he had ordered an inquiry into the alleged atrocities by the police personnel. The inquiry has been given to the Additional Superintendent of Police, Mr Inder Dutt. He further said that the police had gone to the area as part of routine visit.He rebutted reports about the death of two children. A visit to the jhuggis
by this correspondent revealed that the residents were
worked up over the reported deaths. However, they could
not confirm the deaths. |
Haryana BJP MLAs to choose
leader today CHANDIGARH, March 7 — The Haryana BJP legislature group will meet here tomorrow to elect its leader, according to party sources. Among those who will attend the meeting are Haryana BJP President, Om Prakash Grover, and former leader of the BJP legislature group Ram Bilas Sharma. Meanwhile, the Haryana
Congress Legislature Party has also convened its meeting
for March 9 to discuss its strategy for the Budget
session. |
2 more girls abducted ROHTAK, March 7 — With the abduction of two more girls the number of girls abducted in the city has gone up to three, in past 48 hours. According to police sources, an 18-year-old girl, whose marriage was fixed for today (March 7) was ‘abducted’ by a youth identified as Rajesh. The complaint lodged by her mother stated that her daughter had been missing since Sunday. She alleged that her daughter had been ‘taken away’ by Rajesh. The girl belongs to Para Mohalla locality. Another girl of the same locality has been reported to be ‘missing’ for the past two days. According to the complaint she had been abducted by Sudarshan. The police has registered a case under Sections 366, 363 and 120 of the IPC. Meanwhile the police has
not been able to trace a young school teacher reported to
be missing for the past one week. Her father, a resident
of the Gandhi Nagar locality, alleged that Mukesh, had
abducted his daughter. |
Two killed in mishap AMBALA, March 7 — Two persons were killed and two others were seriously injured in a road accident near Garnala village, 7 km from here, last night. According to a police report, Om Prakash, his wife Charanjit and two children were on the way to their house on a motor cycle. The motor cycle collided with a truck near Garnala. Om Prakash was killed on the spot, while his wife Charanjit Kaur succumbed to injuries in the hospital. The two children were shifted to PGI, Chandigarh. Om Prakash was a resident of Bhadog village near Ambala. The police has
registered a case against the driver of the truck. |
220-KV line commissioned CHANDIGARH, March 7 — The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) has achieved a major breakthrough towards assuring quality power to the consumer by commissioning the 220 KV double-circuit Abdullapur-Yamunanagar-Shahbad line on March 1 and the 220 KV substation at Palla (Faridabad) on February 3, an official spokesman said. The spokesman said with the erection of the 220 KV Abdullapur-Yamunanagar-Shahbad line at a cost of Rs 10.39 crore, northern Haryana had now been linked with the national 400 KV grid. With this, the 220 KV substations of Shahbad and Pehowa would now get power directly from the 400 KV regional grid which were earlier connected through the Chamera power plant. This line was also being extended to Panchkula for assuring quality power supply in the Panchkula-Naraingarh belt. The HVPN had also
commissioned a 33 KV substation and augmented the
capacity of six existing substations during the past two
months. |
Exam centre to be shifted BHIWANI, March 7 — Due to mass copying, the Board of School Education , Haryana, has decided to shift a centre of Senior Secondary (Academic) Annual Examination in Sonepat and cancel the Examination of the English paper conducted on March 7. Stating this, the board Secretary, Mr Jagdish K. Sihag, told mediapersons here today that the S.D. Modern Senior Secondary School, centre was being shifted to a new building from March 9. The board has also made
some changes in the date-sheet of the examination.
According to Mr Sihag due to panchayat elections in the
state on March 16, the Fine Arts (all options) and
Engineering Drawing papers, which were scheduled to be
held on March 16, will now be conducted on March 30. |
Case against jail officer HISAR, March 7 — A case has been registered, under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the Deputy Jail Superintendent of Central Jail here on the charge of allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from four criminals, who escaped from the jail on February 27. Later, three of the four
criminals were nabbed from Hanumangarh and Nohar in
Rajasthan. They admitted to giving bribe to the jail
superintendent. |
Two killed FATEHABAD, March 7 — Two persons were killed in Baliala village in the district yesterday. According to information, Nahni (25) a farm labourer, was allegedly murdered by Banwari, the landlord, with a sharp-edged weapon. After murder he threw the body in the canal. As the news of his
murder spread, members of Nahni surrounded the house of
Banwari. They held Banwari and allegedly dragged him
towards the bus stand and killed him with iron rods. |
Press gallery committee CHANDIGARH, March 7 — Mr Ramesh Gautam of Navbharat Times and Mr Rakesh Sanghi of Punjab Kesri were re-elected president and secretary respectively, of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Press Gallery Committee held here today. Mr Naresh Kaushal of
Dainik Tribune was elected vice-president of the
committee. |
diary
Iron
gates in traffic's way SONEPAT: The novel method of fixing iron gates by residents of Model Town, Batra Colony, Kalan Mohalla and certain other areas has resulted in not only blocking the roads, but also causing great inconvenience to passers-by in this fast-growing industrial city which is a district headquarters in Haryana. The iron gates are being constructed under the garb of providing security to the people of the areas concerned. But in this way, some residents have encroached on public as well as municipal land. Passers-by allege that the gates are closed and opened by people of the areas concerned and early risers are badly affected. The district authorities have remained indifferent to the demand of the passers-by and not taken any action to get these unauthorised iron gates removed. It is also alleged that some influential persons residing in the areas have grabbed land and even constructed small huts there. It appears that the district administration, including the Sonepat Municipal Council and HUDA, has given a free hand to such persons to encroach on the land. Representatives of various social and voluntary organisations have urged the state government to direct the district and police authorities to take immediate and effective steps for the removal of the iron gates. They have also threatened to move the court if the district authorities fail to take any action against the persons responsible for blocking public roads and streets and hampering the movement of the traffic on them. * * * The police authorities, on the excuse of implementing the Election Commission's order of not allowing private vehicles to transport voters to the polling stations, misused their powers and caused harassment to people in general and owners of auto-vehicles in particular. Owners of two-wheelers and cars remained stranded as they could not go out of the city to their places of business in Delhi and other stations. Even a vehicle carrying a body was not allowed to pass through the check-post at the Gita Bhavan chowk as its tyres were deflated by a woman police officer and her subordinates on duty. Some mediapersons were also not spared though they showed their identity cards as well as movement cards issued by the Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana. It is alleged that the tyres of a private bus were also deflated by the said woman officer and her subordinates stranding the passengers travelling by it. A Central Government officer's jeep too was not spared. Such cases of harassment were brought to the notice of the authorities, but they declined to take any action against the police officials concerned. The district unit of the Accredited Press Reporters Union has demanded stern action against the officials responsible for causing inconvenience to the mediapersons as well as the general public. A similar demand has been made by representatives of various political parties, social and voluntary organisations as well as trade unions. * * * During the Assembly elections, almost all candidates and damaged the main roads by erecting their cut-outs and fixing publicity materials. Even telephone wires were used for pasting their posters, and on account of this many telephones became dead for days together and potholes on the roads proved to be traffic hazards. Not only the district and police authorities, even Central observers have taken no action against candidates who defaced private buildings and those of the government. Even the walls of the PWD (B&R) rest house were defaced by candidates in violation of the model code of conduct enforced by the Election Commission. The Central observers, camping in this rest house, remained silent spectators. The Sonepat Citizens
Forum and the Residents Welfare Association have urged
the district authorities to take steps for the removal of
publicity materials from the buildings and direct the
candidates to get the damaged roads repaired. |
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