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| Saturday, March 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Army officers yet to report to
HQ Home Ministry to issue notice to Tehelka
scribe Muslim leaders
blamed EVMs cannot be ‘doctored’ |
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CEC meets Home Secy ISRO case: pay relief, Kerala Govt
told MPs get unutilised development
funds Mixed response to bandh over Balco Swamy for a govt sans
Sonia MC budget passed amid pandemonium
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Army officers yet to report to
HQ New Delhi, March 16 Sources in the Army said the four officers, who include two of the level of Major Generals were most likely to reach Delhi by Monday. Further action on them would be taken only after the inquiry officers had recorded their statement, reports said. The four officers summoned to Delhi are Maj Gen H.S. Ahluwalia, Additional Director General (Ordnance and Supply), Brig Iqbal Singh, prospective Procurement Officer and Col Anil Sehgal, former Director in the Directorate General of Ordnance and Supply. Maj Gen Satnam Singh, Director General of Operations (Kargil sector) has also been summoned although sources said his involvement in the expose was still being verified. Meanwhile, there was no confirmation as to which of the Director Generals of the Army would be heading the Court of Inquiry, which would also have two other members. The Army had yesterday said the court would be headed by a DG of the AHQ of the rank of a Lieut General. Incidentally this would be the first time that an inquiry by the Army would be involving such a large number of senior officers. The recording of statements would lead to further investigations by the court and if the charges are established against the officers, it could lead to a court martial also. The sources said in cases involving very senior officers the trend till now was that the AHQ unofficially asks them to leave the service. The Army and the Defence Ministry had already recorded the statements of officers who figured in the “tehelka” tapes. The army has already recorded the statement of Maj Gen S.P.S. Chaudhary, Additional Director General (Weapons and Equipment) who was suspended after he was seen receiving money on the “tehelka” tapes. The government also suspended Mr H.C. Pant, Staff Officer in the Ordnance Board, Assistant Financial Adviser Narinder Singh and a section officer in the Defence Ministry P. Sasi. According to report Maj Gen Ahluwalia has been summoned from Shimla and Col Sehgal from Jabalpur where he is at present posted. Both officers as well as Brig Singh were shown on the tapes as receiving money from “tehelka” reporters posing as arms manufacturers. |
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Home Ministry to issue notice to Tehelka scribe New Delhi, March 16 “We have vetted the legal notice by the top law officers and the same will be sent soon to Mathew Samuel who made the remarks against the Home Ministry at Thiruvananthapuram on March 14,” top government sources told PTI. The legal notice to Samuel comes close on the heels of an apology issued by tehelka.com chief Tarun Tejpal distancing himself from the statement made by Samuel who had claimed that the news website would soon come out with bigger disclosures. The sources said “we have made it clear that the apology should come immediately from Samuel, failing which appropriate legal proceedings would be initiated against him.” “This kind of loose talk resorted to by the website’s reporter without any basis, as was confirmed by the Tehelka CEO, could not be overlooked as the matter pertained to national security,” the sources said. “Silence from the government would encourage further attempts of this nature from other quarters,” they said. The Home Ministry on March 14 dismissed as “mischievous and malicious” claims that a commission of Rs 325 crore had been paid to its officials in a Rs 1,300-crore deal for border fencing and communication systems. The ministry was reacting to remarks attributed to Samuel that another set of video tapes would provide concrete proof of commission paid to its officials in the deal with an Israel-based firm. “The Ministry of Home Affairs categorically denies these allegations. There is no proposal for border fencing and communication systems involving any Israeli firm. To say the least, the allegations are mischievous and malicious,” a ministry statement had said. Meanwhile, Home Ministry sources said the apology letter from Tehelka was “hand delivered to Home Minister L.K.Advani”. They said the total video footage with them in this issue did contain views of certain arms dealers against the Home Ministry but these were edited out.
PTI BJP offices attacked Kolkata, March 16 Deputy Commissioner of Police (HQ) Raj Kanojia said the police fired two rounds of teargas as the clashing groups resorted to stoning. BJP President Asim Ghosh alleged the attackers threw stones and soda water bottles at the party office and lobbed several bombs on the lane in front of the building. Five BJP activists were injured in the attack, he said. MUMBAI: A mob gatecrashed into the premises of the BJP office in South Mumbai, damaged the chairs lying outside and pelted stones inside the office.
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Muslim leaders
blamed New Delhi, March 16 Sohail Siddiqui, an Urdu journalist, blamed Muslim leadership being unreasonable and irresponsible on the Ayodhya issue and urged the commission to issue summons to him to depose before it on the case. The affidavit claimed that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi entered into a secret pact with the then President of All-India Muslim Personal Law Board Ali Miyan to hand over Ram Janambhumi to Hindus to pacify their hurt feelings over Shah Bano controversy. Reacting to the news of opening of the locks at Babri Masjid Ali Miyan said, “So many mosques in India were in possession of non-Muslims” so that Muslims should not take much notice of what had happened in Ayodhya, he alleged. Former Union Minister Arif Mohammad Khan had said in an interview that Ali Miyan had okayed the unlocking of the disputed structure. Siddiqui also alleged that former MP Syed Shahabuddin along with Prime Minister V.P. Singh had talked to Bhavao Deoras where Mr Shahabuddin was prepared to shift the Babri mosque outside the Panchkoshi. Mr Shahabuddin wrote a letter to the Indian Express on December 13, 1990, saying that “Muslims can according to Shariyat forgo their claims over Babri mosque as a one-time gesture to promote permanent Hindu-Muslim amity.” Mr Shahbuddin threw away the cause of Babri mosque for the sake of a possible ministry seat, which Mr Chandrashekhar had promised him, the affidavit alleged. When Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao assumed power after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Maulana Illiyasi convinced him that if Imams were given salaries by the state he can go ahead with the temple construction, the affidavit stated. Moreover, Muslim Congressmen like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Tariq Anvar, Salman Khursheed, Ahmed Patel, Abrar Ahmed, Jaffar Sharrief and Kamaluddin Ahmad whole heartedly supported Mr Rao’s “action plan” on Ayodhya issue.
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EVMs cannot be ‘doctored’ New Delhi, March 16 “The software used in the EVMs, which is being supplied by us to the Election Commission (EC), is of fixed programme nature, which is fused into the processor and is effectively unalterable,” Chairman and Managing Director of ECIL, Mr V.H. Ron, told TNS here. Dismissing the claim of Capt Amarinder Singh that the computer chips being used in the EVMs could be easily replaced with ‘pre-programmed’ chips, Mr Ron said, “the 64-pin chips used by the company in the EVMs is factory soldered and the built-in security devices makes the machines virtually unalterable.” To elaborate his viewpoint, chief of the Hyderabad-based company said, “various possible methods of doctoring the EVMs, including the one suggested by Capt Amarinder Singh, were deliberated in detail by the three-member experts committee way back in 1990, which unanimously recommended the use of EVMs by the EC.” The three-member expert committee comprising Dr C. Rao Kasarbada, Prof P.V. Indiresan and Prof S. Sampath, in their report submitted to the EC in April, 1990, had unanimously recommended the use of the EVMs manufactured by ECIL and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). “With the system as designed by the above agencies with built-in security, the EC and the government only need to ensure the security of the equipment, to safeguard the sanctity of the electoral process,” the report says. Meanwhile, according to sources, ECIL has already supplied 40,000 EVMs of the total 75,000 ordered by the EC for the coming assembly poll in West
Bengal. The remaining machines will be supplied by March 31. |
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CEC meets Home Secy New Delhi, March 16 “The Home Secretary more or less agreed to the demands made by the Election Commission during the meeting,” a senior official told The Tribune here. Besides, Dr Gill, the Election Commissioners, Mr J.M. Lyndoh and Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy and the two Deputy Election Commissioners, Mr Subhash Pani and Mr Sayan Chatterjee, were present at the meeting, while Mr Pande was accompanied by Mr M.B. Kaushal, Special Secretary and Mr O.P. Arya, Joint Secretary. During the meeting the Election Commission (EC) officials reviewed the law and order situation in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, which are likely to go for assembly poll in April-end. The EC has directed the governments of Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry to confiscate illegal undesirable characters to ensure a smooth law and order situation during the upcoming assembly poll. In a letter to the Chief Secretaries of the four states and one union territory, the EC said the poll schedule would be announced in the near future. It was time, therefore, for the state administration to immediately start taking necessary steps to prepare for a fair and peaceful poll. |
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ISRO case: pay relief, Kerala Govt told New Delhi, March 16 Upholding Mr Nambinarayanan’s complaint of gross violation of human rights by officers of the Kerala police and Intelligence Bureau, the NHRC directed that the compensation be paid within two months. The commission also directed the state government to report what action it had taken against its delinquent officers, as ordered by the commission on September 6, 1999. Holding the Kerala Government culpable of supporting the unlawful action of the state police and IB officials, the NHRC said it has indulged in mala fide exercise of power. “The complainant, a senior scientist of considerable repute, whose contribution in the space research was acknowledged, was kept under suspension for a period of 18 months on a false case foisted on him which resulted in loss of his reputation apart from the ignominy and damage to his health in addition to the considerable expenditure incurred to defend himself from the false accusation. “The commission felt that the damage done to the complainant and his family as a result of the unlawful acts was difficult to fully assess. However, the findings of the CBI, duly approved by the Supreme Court, were sufficient to prove the gross violations of his human rights by public servants,’’ it added. In October, 1994, a criminal case of espionage under the Indian Official Secrets Act, 1923, was initiated against Mr Nambinarayanan and five others, including two Maldivian women. Mr Nabminarayanan was arrested on November 30, 1994, and the case handed over to the CBI on December 5, 1994. On December 2, the case was handed over to the CBI. Mr Nambinarayanan was remanded in CBI custody till the Kerala High Court ordered his release on bail on January 19, 1995. In its report submitted to the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ernakulam, by the CBI on April 13, 1996, the investigating agency said that the allegations of the espionage were not proved and had been found to be false. The CBI probe also disclosed that the accused persons had been harassed and physically abused. The medical examination, which had been conducted, also testifed to this. The torture was apparently inflicted to extort confessions. Accepting the final report of the CBI, the Chief Judicial Magistrate on May 2, 1996, discharged Mr Nambinarayanan and the other accused. However, the Kerala police filed a revision petition in the Kerala High Court, which was dismissed. The NHRC noted that in spite of these developments, the state government took the “unusual step’’ of issuing a notification to withdraw the consent given to the CBI for the investigation of the case and order “reinvestigation’’ by a special team of the Kerala police. The notification was later amended to describe the reinvestigation as ‘’further investigation’’. Mr Nambinarayanan appealed in the Kerala High Court against the state government order. The court held that though the notification could not be quashed, the state government had no jurisdiction to file a complaint before a court in respect of any offence under sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Indian Official Secrets Act. ISRO scientist challenged this in the Supreme Court, which on April 29, 1998 quashed the state government notification directing further investigation. The apex court also passed strictures against the Kerala Government and observed that its new notification was inconsistent with the role of a responsible government bound by the rule of law. The court awarded Rs 1 lakh to each of the appellants as costs to be paid by the Kerala Government. After the conclusion of the criminal case, Mr Nambinarayanan complained to the NHRC on October 14, 1998, complaining of gross violation of his human rights and seeking award of compensation.
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MPs get unutilised development
funds New Delhi, March 16 In a written reply to a question by Mr Sukhdev Singh Libra and Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, the minister said the district authorities of Ludhiana, Patiala and Ferozepore had credited the amount to the accounts of the local sitting MPs and issued the cheques for outstationed MPs. They said the district authority of Jalandhar was in the process of crediting the amount. The Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Shripad Y. Naik, informed the Rajya Sabha that the Himachal Pradesh Government was taking keen interest in the implementation of national agricultural insurance scheme (NAIS). He said all 12 districts of the state had been notified under the NAIS. In response to another question, the minister said the Himachal Pradesh had sought an assistance of Rs 208.24 crore due to loss suffered by excessive rains during kharif season in 1999 and an assistance of Rs 500 crore due to flash floods during July-August, 2000. The Minister of State for External Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha that the Central Haj Committee provided financial assistance to the state Haj committees for the construction of Haj houses in their respective houses to the tune of 10 per cent or Rs 50 lakh whichever was less. The sanctioned amount was released in instalments. In response to another question, the minister said no Chinese national had been injured and killed in combating terrorist attack in the Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Mr B.C. Khanduri, informed the Rajya Sabha that the Himachal Pradesh Government had been advised to frame permanent remedial measures to avoid damages to roads in future in some of the stretches of the Damtal Bazaar area. The minister said the state government had been advised to fix responsibility for the damages caused, if any, due to bad work. The damages caused due to rains in some stretches in the Damtal Bazaar area had been rectified, the minister added. |
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Mixed response to bandh over Balco Raipur, March 16 The bandh was peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported from any part of the state, the police here said. A majority of the shops were closed, but banks and kiosks remained open and buses were plying here in the morning, officials sources said. Reports from the tribesmen-dominated Bastar region said the response to the bandh in the Nexalite-hit Bastar, Kanker and Dantewada districts was near-total. In the sensitive Korba district, all shops and business establishments were closed in the Balco township, whereas in the district headquarters, almost all shops were open till noon. However, a few hundred workers from the Balco township came to the district headquarters and forcibly closed the shops, leading to tension at some places, official sources said. In the Niharika cinema hall area, shop owners objected to the forceful bandh by the employees, leading to a commotion but prompt police intervention saved the situation from taking an ugly turn, official sources in Korba said.
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Swamy for a govt sans Sonia New Delhi, March 16 Addressing a press conference, he said: “If Sonia Gandhi steps down as the Leader of the Opposition and declares that she is not a candidate for prime ministership, within 10 days an alternative government could be formed’’. Alleging that there was a “secret understanding between Ms Gandhi and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’’, Mr Swamy said: “She is the best bet for BJP’’. The Congress President had proved “utterly incompetent’’ when an opportunity was given to her to cobble opposition unity to form a government in 1999, he said. Stating that the resignation of George Fernandes as Defence Minister was “long overdue’’, Mr Swamy said “What is necessary is his immediate arrest under the National Security Act’’.
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MC budget passed amid pandemonium Sriganganagar, March 16 The BJP councillors were on their feet the moment the motion for debate on the budget was tabled in the House. They rushed to the Well of the House and raised anti-Congress slogans even as Chairman Jagdish Jandu announced the passing of the Rs 17 crore budget for the year 2001-2002 amid ayes from the ruling councillors. After the ruling councillors along with the Chairman had left the House, the opposition councillors put their leader Mr Dalip Sarahan in the Chairman’s chair and went through the agenda items. They also forcibly confined the Commissioner to the House and asked him to participate in the proceedings. During this time, Councillors Harjit Saini and Krishan Sayag came to blows on the issue of parallel proceedings. While the former belonged to the BJP, the latter to the Congress. |
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