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| Friday,
March 2, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Four MPs in fray for
Takht board seats North India in
Parliament High court seeks details CPM leader hurt in lathi charge |
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Chakradhari to depose in Lakhubhai case Apex court to decide on Karuppan’s
plea today Kashmir Governor’s kin
rescued SC: women can’t form joint Hindu
family Oppn moves amendments to Motion of Thanks China not to mediate
between India, Pak
Farmers told to remove barriers along Ghaggar CISF for hi-tech security gadgets at airports LS condemns Taliban order Hinduja case:
HC summons trial court record Centre
appeasing Muslims: VHP Dhumal not to be
replaced: BJP
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Four MPs in fray for
Takht board seats New Delhi, March 1 After much intrigue, four Sikh MPs are in the fray with yesterday being the last date for withdrawal. Mr Tarlochan Singh Tur is the nominee of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s Shiromani Akali Dal while Mr S.S. Ahluwalia is from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr G.S. Tohra and Mr Sukhdev Singh Libra are in the race from AISAD. As elections to the board of Takht Hazur Sahib have to be completed by March 20, lobbying has begun to influence friends and foes in the Congress who enjoy the largest block of votes among the Sikh MPs belonging to the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. It is apparent that the Congress as the single largest entity in the present case enjoying an enviable nine votes in its kitty can swing matters in favour of any candidate eyeing the powerful board of Takht Hazur Sahib. However, if the Congress decides to abstain from voting there is apprehension that the atmosphere can get vitiated because of the irreconcilable bad blood among various Akali parties. This is particularly so as the other parties and groups lack the critical numbers on their own to get them past the finishing post. Nanded’s Takht Hazur Sahib is one of the five Takhts of the Sikh religion. An agitated and discriminating Congress leader from Punjab, who refused to be identified, stressed that lack of direction and continuing drift was eating into the vitals of the party. “The serious gaffe of refraining from taking an active part in Sikh religious affairs deliberately or by default is bound to send a wrong signal to the people of Punjab where the assembly elections are due in the first quarter of 2002,” he regretted. Even as Mr Tohra is involved in some hectic behind-the-scenes parleys, Mr Ahluwalia is trying to project himself in the saffron brigade as a leader of the Sikh community. As an erstwhile Congressman, Mr Ahluwalia is endeavouring to seek the assistance of the Congress. The strength of the other parties whose candidates are in the fray is so brittle that without outside help none of them stands a chance of winning on their own steam. This is evidenced from the breakup of the various parties which is as follows: Congress — 9, SAD — 5, AISAD — 2, BJP — 1, Akali Dal (Amritsar) — 1, CPI — 1, Independents — 2. |
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North
India in Parliament New Delhi, March 1 Replying to a question by K Yerran Naidu, the minister said no fencing was impregnable. However, continued augmentation in security arrangements against sneak-in-attacks by terrorists was taking place. Security fencing along with other military measures had been adopted to minimise such attacks. In reply to another question, the minister said the government proposed to procure additional Mine Protected Vehicles for which tenders would be issued to vendors whose MPVs had been trial evaluated. The Army had estimated requirement of 801 MPVs and the indicative cost of one new MPV was about Rs 78 lakhs. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the minister said 90 refurbished MPVs were in use since April 1999 and 75 more refurbished MPVs had also been contracted. The Minister for State for Road Transport and Highways, Mr B. C. Khanduri, said no proposal had been received from the Himachal Pradesh Government for concrete carpeting of Shimla-Dharmsala national highway (NH-88). Replying to a question by Kripal Parmar, the minister said a reference from the state chief minister advocating cement concrete pavement for this national highway was received and a suitable reply had been sent to him. The Minister of State for Railways, Mr Digvijay Singh, informed the Lok Sabha that the two commissions set up to inquire into the causes of two major rail disasters in the Ambala Railway Division, had not submitted their reports. The Minister of State for Agriculture, Dr Debendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha that improved high-yielding basmati rice varieties like pusa basmati 1, kasturi and Haryana basmati 1 had been developed with their average yield ranging from four tonne/ha to 4.5 tonne/ha as against an average yield potential of 3 tonne/ha given by the traditional basmati. Replying to a question by Mr C. M. Ibrahim, the minister said all the new varieties were extensively tested in traditional basmati growing areas of Haryana, Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir where they performed well. The weather conditions that existed during kharif season in these areas were suitable for cultivation of basmati varieties, the minister said. |
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High court seeks details New Delhi, March 1 A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Mr Justice D.K. Jain, expressing dissatisfaction over the details furnished by the Union Urban Development Ministry, said the ministry should file a detailed affidavit by April 3 stating the number of houses under the illegal occupation of political parties and others at present. The court also sought details about eviction proceedings against those parties and leaders who were occupying government houses in violation of the revised guidelines. Giving details about the houses in possession of parties, government counsel Geeta Luthra told the court that the Congress at present was occupying six accommodations, including the one allotted to its President Sonia Gandhi. Similarly, the BJP had five bungalows under its control, followed by the CPI (three), the CPM (two), the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Party one each. Ms Luthra said the 10, Janpath bungalow, allotted to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, 24, Akbar Road house to the Congress Party, 2, Talkatora Road to its Delhi unit, 11, Ashoka Road and 14, Pant Marg to the BJP, were covered under the new guidelines, issued by government on December 7 last year. The CPI, the Janata Dal, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party had also been allowed to retain one house each under the revised guidelines, she said. The court, which has taken suo motu initiative in the matter, following reports of large-scale illegal occupation of government houses by political parties and their leaders, reminded the government counsel that no party could have more than one official accommodation if the revised guidelines were taken into account. It said as per the new guidelines, a party recognised as national party by the Election Commission, was entitled to have only one government accommodation till two years so that it could build its own office in institutional area, where the land was being allotted to them. PTI |
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CPM leader hurt in lathi charge
Ranchi, March 1 Nine others, including legislator Mahendra Singh, a Circle Inspector and a photographer of a local daily, were also injured when the CPM procession led by Mr Bhattacharya turned violent, broke the police barricade and started brickbatting, the police said. The police baton-charged the activists who had come in a procession to the Assembly, demanding the scrapping of the Koel Karo Hydel Project and to protest against the police firing at Tapkara in Gumla district on February 2 in which eight persons were killed. Inside the assembly, the members of the JMM, the CPM and the CPI staged a noisy walkout in protest against the police action. Earlier, the house was twice adjourned for 10 minutes each following noisy opposition protests against the February 2 police firing. The baton-charge had its echo in the Assembly with the Opposition staging a sit-in in the well demanding a report on the incident from the government within 45 minutes. Slogan-shouting Opposition members forced the fourth adjournment of the House in the post-lunch session. When the House assembled, the Speaker announced the constitution of an all-party House committee to look into the incident in which legislator Mahendra Singh had sustained injuries on his head. The House had to be adjourned thrice earlier in the day as the Opposition protested the police firing in the Tapkara and Doranda areas and demanded action against those
responsible for it. Mr Bhattacharya, before being taken into custody by the police at the Birsa roundabout, described the baton-charge as unprovoked and undemocratic. Instead of granting the party the permission to peacefully march towards the Assembly, the police had rained batons on him and his party leaders, he rued. |
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Chakradhari to depose in Lakhubhai case
New Delhi, March 1 The CBI today informed Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke that Swami Chakradhari would be coming to India from the USA on May 4 to stand as defence witness before the court. But Mr Dymall had expressed that he would be available to answer any queries at Toronto on a mutually agreed date, the CBI said in the court. Mr Bharihoke said fresh summons could be served to both. The CBI counsel told the court that Mr Dymall, Swami Chakradhari from the USA and Mr Vinod Bhat of Canada were also served summons last year. Mr Bhat, another defence witness in Canada, could not be served with the summons as he had moved out of the place where he was earlier staying. In a faxed message, Mr Dymall living in California had expressed his inability to come to India, but agreed to testify in the USA on a date convenient to the court, the CBI counsel said. The court had earlier issued summons to them as Chandraswami and his aide Kailash Nath Aggarwal alias Mamaji, also an accused in the case, wanted their examination as defence witnesses. The CBI, in its charge sheet, had alleged Mr Rao, Chandraswami and Kailash Nath Aggarwal had cheated London-based pickle tycoon late Lakhubhai Pathak of $ 100,000 in 1986 on the promise of getting him a paper pulp supply contract in India.
UNI |
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Apex court to decide on Karuppan’s
plea today
New Delhi, March 1 A three-judge Bench of the court comprising
Mr Justice K.T. Thomas, Mr Justice R.P.Sethi and Mr Justice
B.N.Agarwal on February 14 had granted time till February 28 to Mr
Karuppan to file reply to the show-cause notice. In his reply, Mr
Karuppan has maintained that he had not committed any perjury and that
the averments in the petition could at the best de dubbed as
“inaccurate”. Mr Karuppan submitted that the association firmly
believed that the determination of the age of the CJI in 1991 by the
President of India was open to review at any time on the discovery of
a fresh evidence, namely the document issued by the General Council of
Bar in England. He said the association wanted the court to decide the
issue and it was for this reason that the petition was
filed. Meanwhile, nearly 500 members of the Madras High Court
Advocates’ Association have sent a petition to the Registrar General
of the apex court stating that Mr Karuppan was not authorised by the
association to file the petition which he had done unilaterally
without its sanction. UNI |
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Kashmir Governor’s kin
rescued New Delhi, March 1 Akash was rescued from bushes in the Mangolpuri area late last night. His hands and feet were tied with a cord when he was recovered, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Sandeep Goel said. The incident occurred on Tuesday evening when Akash went to the market along with his mother, Amrita Saxena. The accused spotted the victim outside a grocery shop while his mother was purchasing vegetables. They had been identified as Navin Gupta, a businessman and his wife, Meena Gupta. They picked up the boy and on the pretext of offering him sweet they took Akash to their house in Sultanpuri. They were arrested from there residence in Sultanpuri, the DCP said. When the victim’s mother came out of the shop she found Akash missing. She enquired about him from people standing there. When she failed to find Akash she reported the matter to the police and lodged a missing complaint with Ashok Vihar police station. By the time, she reached home the kidnappers called up there saying that they would later contact the parents of the victim. The police flashed out the message throughout the Capital and tried to find out the telephone number from where the accused had contacted victim’s father, Pradeep Saxena.
The
accused were picked up from their residence in Sultanpuri. They
disclosed their involvement in the kidnapping during sustained
interrogation, the DCP said. The
motive of the kidnapping was ransom as the accused, who belonged to
Etah in UP, wanted to make a quick buck. During
interrogation they disclosed they had a plan to kidnap someone of a
rich family. They made Akash their target when they saw him alone in
the market on Tuesday evening, the DCP said. |
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SC: women can’t form joint Hindu family New Delhi, March 1 The basic tenet is that for forming a joint Hindu family the presence of a male member is imperative. “The female heirs of a Hindu, governed by the Dayabhaga School of Hindu Law dying intestate, therefore, could not form a joint Hindu family by means of an agreement. They could not also impress upon their inherited property the character of a joint Hindu property and such inherited properties would be assessable in their hands in the status of individuals,” the court added. The significant ruling was given by a three-Judge Bench comprising Mr Justice S.P. Bharucha, Mr Justice N.Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, while allowing two appeals by the Commissioner of Income Tax, Bihar-II, Ranchi. According to the facts of the case, one Har Govind Dutta, a Hindu, governed by the Dayabhaga School of Hindu Law, died intestate on June 19, 1992, leaving behind his widow, Mrs Sandhya Rani Dutta and two daughters, Priya Dutta and Keya Dutta. The widow and her two daughters inherited the self-acquired properties of the deceased in equal shares. The widow, an income tax assessee, and the two daughters entered into an agreement on July 26, 1973, claiming to form a Hindu undivided family and the widow threw her share of the inherited property into the kitty of this Hindu undivided family. Accordingly, for the assessment years 1974-75 and 1975-76, the widow-assessee did not disclose in her returns any income from her share of the inherited property. The income tax officer (ITO) rejected the assessee’s contention that her share of the inherited property had been thrown into the kitty of a Hindu undivided family. The ITO held she was liable to income tax in respect of the income from the inherited property. Her appeal was rejected by the appellate assistant commissioner. She went up before the income tax appellate tribunal, which reversed the view of the taxing authorities. On a reference having been made to the Patna High Court (Ranchi Bench), it took the view that there was no bar to the constitution of a Hindu undivided family in respect of properties inherited by the heirs, whether female or male, of a Hindu governed by the Dayabhaga School dying intestate by throwing an ascertained share into the hotchpot by an agreement. Hence, the appeals by the revenue before the apex court. Citing an earlier decision of its own on the issue, the Supreme Court in its judgement said at least one male member was necessary for the purposes of forming a Hindu undivided family. “A joint Hindu family, with all its incidents, is a creature of law and can not be created by the act of parties except to the extent to which a stranger may be affiliated to the family by adoption,” the judges observed. Citing another earlier judgement of its own, the court said it was a fundamental notion governing a joint Hindu family that a female member of a joint Hindu family could not blend her separate property, even if she was the absolute owner thereof, with the joint family property. “The ratio applies as much when a female purports to create by an agreement with other females a Hindu undivided family and blends the property of her absolute ownership therewith,” the court added.
UNI |
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Oppn moves amendments to Motion of Thanks New Delhi, March 1 Mr Mukherjee said the government should go beyond the peace initiative it had taken in Jammu and Kashmir. Referring to the government’s assertion that the dialogue with Pakistan would start only after it stopped cross-border terrorism, Mr Mukherjee asked how the government would assess that Pakistan had stopped supporting terrorists. He said the government should express its concerns by talking to the neighbouring country. Disagreeing with the assertion that the economy was on a recovery path, he said that GDP growth had been sliding for three consecutive years. He said there was a shortfall in the Central Plan outlay. Mr Mukherjee said that fiscal deficit was sought to be contained by sacrificing capital expenditure, planned expenditure and budgetary support to Central Ministries. Mr Mukherjee said economic reforms should be accompanied by judicial and administrative reforms but nothing was being done. He said issue of creating more Benches was hanging fire for many years and inadequate training was being given to the officers posted in districts who now had to handle a lot of development-related work. “Mere expression of intent is not enough unless it is backed by
commitment,” he said. |
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China not to mediate between India, Pak New Delhi, March 1 During the recently concluded second round of Sino-Indian security dialogue, the Chinese side had also informed India that its cooperation on nuclear and missile technology with Islamabad conformed to existing international regime on non-proliferation, the Minister of State for External Affairs Ajit Panja told the Rajya Sabha today. Mr Panja, in a written reply, told the House that New Delhi had also proposed to Beijing opening of an Indian Cultural Centre in China and the Chinese side were examining the proposal. Mr Panja told the House that during his recent visit here, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Congress had indicated towards an agreement with India to develop international situation towards multi-polarity. The minister of state also told the House that an MoU had been signed with Saudi Arabia on combating crime. Mr Panja told the House that the government had appointed a high level committee headed by former Indian High Commissioner to Britain L.M. Singhvi to go into problems faced by people of Indian origin abroad and that this committee would submit its report by August 31, 2001. He said the committee’s terms of reference would include reviewing the status of people of Indian origin in the context of constitutional provisions and laws and rules applicable to them in India as well in the countries of their residence.
PTI |
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Farmers
told to remove barriers along Ghaggar Hanumangarh, March 1 To widen the flow of Ghaggar by six
bighas, the government has asked the farmers to remove the barriers. If they did not obey the orders their water supply connections would be cut off and it would be treated as a criminal offence. Sources in the Irrigation Department revealed that a few days ago the Irrigation Secretary told them about the plans of the government and issued necessary instructions. The Irrigation Secretary was of the view that the government did not want to take any risk of flood. The canal would have to be taken into its natural flow and the high court had also issued orders in this regard. From Talwara Lake to Anoopgarh in Sriganganagar, the department had asked the farmers to remove the barriers. According to the sources, if the barriers are not removed, the District Collector concerned will take action and will see to it that the barriers are removed forcibly. The amount spent on the removal of the barriers by the government would be taken from the farmers. The amount spent on the removal of barriers by the government last year had been added to the irrigation tax of about 100 defaulting farmers. The
Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Department said the
department had got strict instructions from the state government over
the issue. The department was serving notices on the farmers who had
set up barriers. |
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CISF for hi-tech security gadgets at airports New Delhi, March 1 In a letter to the BCAS recently, the CISF has asked the bureau to install multi-dimensional high-speed X-ray machines for baggage checking, colour monitors and automatic moving trays. Meanwhile, the CISF Director, General B B Nanda, today conceded that the force initially faced many teething problems while providing security at various airports. Following the Kandahar hijack drama, the Centre had entrusted the security of airports to the
CISF. |
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LS condemns Taliban order New Delhi, March 1 MPs cutting across the party lines condemned the action and the government assured them it would do everything possible to garner international support against it. |
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Hinduja case:
HC summons trial court record New Delhi, March 1 Mr Justice S.K. Aggarwal posted the matter for March 9 for further orders. The three brothers — G.P. Hinduja, Mr S.P. Hinduja and Mr P.P. Hinduja — who had submitted the CBI charge sheet as a document with their petition had not submitted the list of witnesses along with it and the court wanted to peruse the same. The Delhi High Court on February 26 had reserved its order on the plea of the three Hinduja brothers to go out of the country after they offered to waive their right to challenge any future extradition
proceedings against them in the UK or Switzerland, where they live, to ensure their presence during the Rs 64-crore bofors payoff case trial. The CBI, which opposed the Hindujas’ plea seeking permission to leave the country, had told the court that it was the discretion of the trial court as to how it should ensure the presence of the accused during the trial.
PTI Centre
appeasing Muslims: VHP New Delhi, March 1 Pointing out that Jammu and Kashmir had the lowest percentage of 3.5 of its population below poverty line as per a recent official assessment, VHP Senior Vice-President Acharya Giriraj Kishore said: “The government is still giving plenty of aid to the state only to appease a particular community. All subsidies to the state should be stopped
forthwith”. Referring to a recent statement by Saudi Arabian authorities that Muslims should not take help from “others” to perform Haj, he said, “We are a secular country and as such the government should not support a particular religion and unnecessarily burden the national
exchequer”. Bajrang Dal national Convener Surendra Jain said more than Rs 148 crore were spent by the government on Haj subsidy whereas not a single penny was spent on Hindu pilgrimages”.
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Dhumal not to be
replaced: BJP New Delhi, March 1 The BJP yesterday sent former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar to talk to the dissident ministers who had revolted against Mr Dhumal and were subsequently removed from the Cabinet. Most of the dissidents are believed to be loyalists of Mr Shanta Kumar. The action of Mr Dhumal, who removed the four ministers after they expressed lack of faith in him, had the backing of BJP central leaders. It is learnt that before urging the state Governor to remove the ministers — Mr Krishan Kapoor, Mr Romesh Dhawala, Mr Hari Narain Singh and Mr Rajan Sushant — Mr Dhumal not only consulted party President Bangaru Laxman but Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani as well. Couple commits suicide New Delhi, March 1 The couple, identified as Rajesh (30) and Anjana (19), married last year in their village in UP. The incident came to light when no response came after repeated knocking at their door by a neighbour of the couple. The neighbour informed the police. When the police broke open the door the couple were found lying on their bed. A bottle of poison was lying inside the room. Bodies of the victims have been sent for a post-mortem examination and the bottle has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for examination. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered in the case as the couple was married last year. Madhvendra Singh
Naval Vice-Chief New Delhi, March 1 Vice-Admiral Vinod Pasricha FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval Command, has been moved as the new FOC-in-C, Western Naval Command. Vice-Admiral J.C. De Silva, currently Director-General, Coast Guard, has been appointed the new FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval Command.
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Raids on govt offices Hanumangarh, March 1 According to sources, the District Collector has ordered the speeding up of pending work and cases concerning the public. At a meeting, it came to light that often files would get lost. To stop this, a team was constituted to conduct the raids. The Collector has asked the departments to submit a report of the applications received and action taken in the past six months. Every branch officer has been ordered to submit the report to the superintendent. APYC plans road
blockade Guwahati, March 1 |
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