The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

100 students honoured
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Jan 30 — Over 100 students of the senior wing of DC Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 7, were honoured for achievement in the academics and cultural fields at the prize distribution function here.

Those honoured included students of Classes X and XII, best student, athlete and speakers of the session.

The students presented the school report in a novel way — holding a mock parliament in which the management of the school directly answered the questions of the parents.

A welcome song, an English play on growing materialism in society and glimpses of Independence in parody form were well presented. Folk dances of Haryana and Rajasthan also featured in the cultural programme.

COURTS

High Court
Sadhu Singh is Zira MC Vice-President
By Our Legal Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Mr Justice Amarbir Singh Gill and Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal today allowed the writ petition of Mr Sadhu Singh and other municipal councillors of Zira. It declared Mr Sadhu Singh elected as Vice-President of the Municipal Council, Zira, on April 20, 1999, for a one year term. However, since the resolution declaring him as elected was suspended by the government, Judges directed that he shall serve a full term of one year from today onwards.

The election to the Municipal Council was held on January 1998 in which the present eight petitioners were elected as members. The first meeting of the Municipal Council was convened on April 2, 1998, to administer the oath to the members and for electing the President and the Vice-President. Mr Chaman Lal Midha was elected President while Mr Gurcharan Singh Dhillon was elected as Vice-President.

On the expiry of Mr Dhillon’s term, a meeting was convened on March 23, 1999 by the Deputy Commissioner Ferozepur, in which Mr Gurcharan Singh proposed the name of Mr Sadhu Singh and he was unanimously elected. A resolution to that effect was adopted on April 20, 1999.

However, the Executive Officer wrote a letter that the meeting for holding the election of Vice-President has been postponed by the SDM as he could not attend it.

The petitioners claimed that the action of the respondent in suspending the resolution electing Mr Sadhu Singh was the outcome of political pressure as the petitioners belonged to the group opposing Mr Hari Singh Zira, chairman of Punjab State Tubewell Corporation. The petitioners further alleged that Mr Zira tried to win over the members but failing to do so he got a criminal case registered against two members but they were released on bail. Thereafter he pressurised the SDM to postpone the meeting.

The Judges observed that there is no dispute that the Deputy Commissioner himself had issued a letter dated March 23, 1999 for filling the Vice-President’s vacancy and the Executive Officer got it confirmed. It was further observed that the power to suspend the resolution rested with the Deputy Commissioner.

HC allows pleas to consider HCS posting

FOC adds: A Division Bench of the Court comprising Mr Justice Amarbir Singh Gill and Mr Justice V.S.Aggarwal today allowed writ petitions of tehsildars Sujjan Singh, Pushpinder Singh and Pardeep Godara of Palwal, Hodal and Karnal respectively, and directed the Haryana government to consider their cases for appointment as HCS officers.

The petitioners petitioned the High Court claiming that government advertised vacancies of HCS officers to be recruited from class II posts. However, Mr Varinder Singh Huda and two others filed a writ petition in the High Court for restraining the government from making the recruitment.

The writ petition was dismissed by the High Court. But Mr Varinder Singh Huda and others moved the Supreme Court which allowed their special leave petition holding that “ as per the instructions issued on July 22,1957 and March 26,1972 vacancies which arose within six months of the declaration date of the result are to be filled from the candidates already selected .”

Forum penalises Amtex Suitings
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Jan 30 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered Amtex Suitings Private limited, Industrial Area, to pay a lumpsum compensation of Rs 500 to Ms Puneet Arora, a resident of Sector 9, for selling defective cloth.

In her complaint, she stated that she purchased a silk print from the company in July, 2000, for Rs 300 and got it stitched from Sector 7.

After wearing it, for the first time it, she observed that the cloth was defective and that there was a joint in the piece when exposed directly in light. She contacted the office for refund of the price of the suit and the stitching charges but to no avail.

Upon notice, the company put in appearance and filed written statements, contending that there was no joint in the piece at the time of selling of the cloth and that it may have occurred due to the tailor’s fault.

It was further alleged that the stitching claimed by the complainant was highly expensive and the tailor receipt was manipulated to get a claim.

The bench, after verifying the complaint’s claim, found the piece defective, and ordered payment of Rs 500 to her.

Travel agency penalised
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — Finding deficiency in service of Grand Travel Planner, Chandigarh, the UT District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum II today directed it to pay compensation to a city resident for charging more money for cancellation of British Airways tickets.

The complainant, Mr J.S. Nat, stated that he had purchased four tickets of British Airways from New Delhi to New York for June 25, 1994, for Rs 1,05000 from Grand Travel Planner. Due to the death of his son, he had to cancel the journey and the tickets were handing over to the travel agency.

The complainant had alleged that the refund for the tickets was Rs 12,000 less than the total amount as Rs 3,000 per ticket was retained by the travel agency. The complainant had added that according to British Airways, except for administration charges of Rs 200 per ticket, nothing was liable to be retained towards cancellation charges. The complainant had sought refund of Rs 11,200 along with interest and costs.

The Bench, comprising Mr R.P. Bajaj, Mr H.S. Walia and Ms Urvashi Agnihotri, observed that the deduction of Rs 3,000 per ticket was an act of grave deficiency in service on the part of Grand Travel Planner. The forum awarded the complainant costs of Rs 1,100 and Rs 11,200 with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from June 4, 1996, the date of the complaint.

Commission dismisses CHB’s appeal
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — An appeal filed by the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) against the order of the UT District Consumer Forum I, penalising the board for deficiency in service, was dismissed by the UT District Disputes Redressal Commission here today.

City residents — Mr Daljit Singh and Ms Kulwant Kaur — had filed a complaint before the forum that they were not given the possession of a flat though they had submitted an application form along with a bank draft for Rs 8,000 for its registration, besides Rs 32,000, Rs 30,000, Rs 24,000 and Rs 8,042, on different occasions in 1991. The CHB had allotted the complainant dwelling unit 2051 in Sector 47-C. The complainant had then deposited Rs 9,100 as penalty on April 24, 1992 and completed all formalities.

The complainant had sought interest of 24 per cent on the paid amount for the period for which the possession had been delayed and damages at the rate of 25 per cent per annum for harassment and agony. The forum had awarded the complainants Rs 20,000 as compensation and Rs 2,000 as costs.

The Bench of the commission today observed that the forum had assessed correctly that there was deficiency on the part of the CHB. It dismissed the appeal of the CHB, filed through its chairman and secretary, against the order of the forum.

CULTURE

Sculptors get ready for creations
By Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — To call it a show with a difference would be an understatement of sorts. For this one is about creation in totality and about all the winged desires of an artist. The international sculptors’ workshop which started at the Government College of Art in Sector 10 here today could not have been better timed.

The show almost coincides with Basant Panchmi, the festival during which artists invoke blessings of goddess Saraswati for refinement of their skills. No wonder then that 11 sculptors from all over the country have already camped on the premises of the college with a promise to create. On display will thus be some of the finest talent in sculpture making. Apart from this spectacle, the occasion will also be ripe to interact with artists from places as far as Visakapatnam, Tamil Nadu, Varanasi and Jammu.

Among those attending the workshop are sculptors of national repute, and some of them are coming to the city for the first time. While most among the lot are young, the veteran in the assembly of artists is the distinguished Panchkula-based sculptor, painter Shiv Singh.

Among sculptors who will be working in stone and concrete are Venkat from Visakapatnam, B.Surendranath from Tamil Nadu, Binod Singh from Varanasi, Manmadh Rao from Andhra Pradesh, J.L. Ahuja from Chandigarh, Arvind Mishra and Pankaj Gahlot from Jaipur, O.P. Sharma from Jammu, Rajendra Kumar and M.S. Rawat from New Delhi and Shiv Singh from Panchkula.

Sharing their concepts with Chandigarh Tribune here today, most artists said that space of the college was inspiring enough to infuse life into their creations. Said M.S. Rawat, who has been into teaching sculpture for long and has about 25 such workshops to his credit, “I am going to develop a mummy out of concrete. Masking the mummy will be the image of a tortoise. The idea is to establish connection between imperishable nature of the two objects. While mummies can be preserved forever, a tortoise is known for its long age. Hence the connection.” Rawat had already prepared a negative for his image today.

For Venkat from Visakapatnam, medium is not important at all. “The image is sacred and so is the thought. How you effect it does not matter much. I am interested in sacred groves of trees which I witnessed a lot during my excursions to forests in Andhra.”

Manmadh Rao, who is currently working as a lecturer in sculpture at College of Art, Chandigarh, is concentrating on anything concerning Nature. Working in stone, he aims to establish the majesty of Nature. Pankaj Gahlot from Jaipur, also working on stone, is experimenting with the concept of recycling life. “There are various related images which are floating in the mind and one does not really know what form they will take. But I am quite enthused about the project.”

The workshop, which is a side event to the triennial India exhibition going on in New Delhi, will go on for 10 days on the college campus. The event is being convened by Prof Prem Singh, principal, College of Art, at the behest of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.