The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

TRIBUNE VIGIL
Bar Council to register cases against ‘fake’ graduates
21 practising lawyers; 30 fresh graduates in the dock
Kiran Deep

Going on record, Mr Sidhu stated, "Ten advocates practising in the District Courts are in possession of fake degrees; seven advocates practising in the Punjab and Haryana High Court have fake degrees; a dismissed XEN is practising law and there are three more advocates in question."

Chandigarh, May 12
Taking a serious view of rampant corruption in awarding law degrees, the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana has decided to come down heavily upon some "fake" law graduates by registering cases of cheating and forgery against them.

In the line of fire are as many as 30 law graduates, who had applied for the Bar Council's licence over a period of past one year. After unearthing the fake degree racket, the Bar Council has decided to turn down the applications of all the so-called graduates whose degrees have been found to be fake during a verification drive conducted by the council authorities.

Meanwhile, taking cognizance in a second case of a similar nature, the Bar Council has marked an inquiry against 21 advocates currently practising in the Sector 17 District Courts and the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The advocates in question are allegedly said to be in possession of fake degrees. Ironically, many of these advocates have been in the profession for fairly long periods of time. The sensitive issue of professional ethics, which had been on the back burner all this while, came to the fore following a complaint into the matter by an SAS Nagar-based advocate, who stated before the Bar Council that "the said 21 advocates, as also many others practising in the courts, possess fake degrees."

In an exclusive interview with the Chandigarh Tribune over the matter, Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, Mr Anmol Rattan Sidhu, said, About 30 fresh students who have applied for the license were found to have procured fake law degrees of Bundelkhand Jhanshi University, Mahatma Gandhi Kanshi University and Magadh University, Bihar through unfair means." The matter becomes all the more grave in view of the fact that many fresh applicants have in fact never enrolled with the fore-mentioned universities, while many others have failed in the respective judicial tests. Cases of unfair means are pending against some others in the lot.

Mr Sidhu added that on February 25 the Bar Council had marked an inquiry for the verification as the council had received 100 applications from the law graduates for the issuance of licence. Mr Sidhu said the degrees of students whose credentials are under cloud were sent to their respective universities for verification. "Verification proved that many of the students who had applied for the licence were not enrolled with the universities and had procured a fake degree through illegal means. It was also found that other students who had procured a fake degree had failed in law examination or were facing unfair means cases," said Mr Sidhu.

Talking about the cases of 21 advocates who have been practising in the District Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court and allegedly having fake degrees, Mr Sidhu added that an exercise needs to be undertaken to know the genuineness of the certificates of lawyers who have already been granted licences for practice.

1 killed as tanker hits vehicles
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 12
One person was killed and two were injured when a tanker lorry driver went berserk tonight hitting a car, a motorcycle, a rickshaw and several cycles at Mani Majra Housing Board intersection. The multiple accidents took place at around 9.30 pm.

The police has identified the deceased as Rajiv Kumar, a resident of Sector 15, Panchkula. He was killed while getting down from his car after parking it. The police has registered a case in this regard. The truck driver was said to be in his early twenties.

The driver of the truck was hospitalised after he was thrashed by a mob. The police said truck driver of the truck (CH01 Q 9921) first met with an accident and then tried to escape.

In the process of fleeing from the spot, the driver turned his vehicle to a crowded area of Gobindpura in Mani Majra.

Not finding any space to take his truck, the driver kept on hitting cycles and rehris. The injured were taken to Sector 32 hospital and then referred to the PGI. The identity of the driver, hospitalised in PGI in an unconscious condition, is yet to be ascertained.

Is Kajauli project overpriced?
Sanjay Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 12
The Rs 26 crore PSC pipe laying part of the new Kajauli Waterworks Project is overpriced by at least Rs 6 crore due to the Punjab Public Health Department’s conditions for the 100 per cent Central Government-funded scheme of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh.

This has been claimed in a representation of Vichitra Presstressed Concrete Udyog, a joint venture partner of the Larsen and Toubro, bidding for the project, tenders of which were opened on April 22.

The representation has been faxed to the Chief Engineer of the Punjab Public Health and handed over to senior officials in Chandigarh Administration and Municipal Corporation.

The 'presstressed' concrete pipe (PSC) manufacturing company has offered at least Rs 6 crore less price (about Rs 20 crore) than the lowest bidder (around Rs 26 crore) for the designing, manufacturing, laying, jointing, testing and commissioning of 1200 mm dia pipe of the PSC pipes and a draft of Rs 50 lakh if they were awarded the project and has claimed that in an open tender they could go even less than that, the Executive Director of the Company, Mr. P. P. Kaushal, told the Chandigarh Tribune.

Mr S.S. Ghuman, the Executive Engineer Punjab Public Health Mohali, however, said there was no use of the offer after the company, a joint venture partner of the L&T for the project, failed to quote the lowest price in the tender.

Mr Kaushal in the representation has alleged that the company, which had 75 per cent component in the L&T’s bid, had sent its quotations to the leader joint venture partner which did not participate in the bid for reasons best known to them.

He said the reason of the high cost was due to the Punjab Public Health Department’s Detailed Notice Inviting Tender (DNIT) norms of allowing only a company having done Rs 20 crore of work leading to "pooling" by the big companies and resulting in a loss to the exchequer.

The representation said the Punjab DNIT requirement of Rs 20 crore for the 27-month project was higher than those demanded by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and other states where they had been able to win contracts at much lower prices of projects outside Punjab.

Vichitra has urged in the representation to re-invite tenders allowing it participation to ensure at least Rs 6 crore saving to the exchequer and invited the officers to verify its claim.

Vichitra has also claimed that their participation would also save the exchequer 6 to 7 per cent of the service charge they had to pay to their leader joint venture partner in the project. The representation, each page of which has been signed by the Managing Director of the company, has said the ‘’unnecessary’’ condition of Rs 20 crore work forced even the electrical giant Voltas to pair up with the L&T, for the remaining electrical part of the project.

Vichitra had also written a letter on April 9 before the tender was to be opened laying bare facts about the project to the Minister of PWD and Public Health in Punjab.

CBSE softens stand on affiliation rules
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 12
With land prices escalating in the region, the Central Board of School Education has now decided to relax its guidelines for the total area required for affiliation of high schools and senior secondary schools.

The Chairman of the board, Mr Ashok Ganguly, who was here to preside over a principals meet yesterday, said the price of land had gone up tremendously, especially in the metropolitan cities, over the past few years. “As a result, we have now decided to grant affiliation to high schools in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, having half an acre of total land,” he said.

Mr Ganguly said even for the satellite cities of Delhi like Noida in Uttar Pradesh, and Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana, where real estate prices had touched an all time high, certain relaxations had been given for granting affiliation to high schools. Though the CBSE rules say that a high school site should be measuring two acres, the site for a senior secondary school should have five acre land. However, CBSE has now decided to give affiliation to high schools in the above mentioned cities, if they have an area of one acre land.

Though these relaxations have not been extended to either Chandigarh, Mohali or Panchkula, the board has reportedly agreed not to act strongly against schools having upgraded themselves to high school and senior secondary school level, on land originally allocated for primary school.

Managements of these schools say that in the wake of CBSE having relaxed its guidelines, the HUDA authorities here, too, should give certain relaxations. It is learnt that these schools are now demanding that the rules should be reviewed and their upgraded status be recognised by HUDA. Meanwhile, a number of schools have also given representations to the Secretary, Town and Country Planning, in this regard, but no decision has been taken as yet.

Mr Sanjay Thareja, Secretary of Darbari Lal Foundation and Director of The Gurukul, Sector 20, here, said HUDA planning of school sites was also slightly faulty, with a nursery school site and a primary school site being located side by side. “Both schools will have a nursery class. The authorities should allow the clubbing of two sites and thus upgrade at least one of the schools”, he said.

It may be noted that most of the schools in the region have reportedly upgraded their levels to high schools or senior secondary schools, without having the area earmarked for a high or senior secondary school. In Panchkula, a recent survey conducted by HUDA authorities shows that a number of primary schools have come up on sites having area adequate only for nursery school and in some cases even for creches. In other cases, higher secondary schools have come up on a piece of land fit for running a primary school. These schools have expanded their buildings by adding floors and leaving little open spaces.

Sources in the District Town and Country Planning Department informed that there are as many as 51 nursery school sites , 50 primary school sites and 18 high school sites in Panchkula, Panchkula Extension and in Mansa Devi Complex.

CHANDIGARH CALLING

CAN you send a bill at a wrong address and expect a service subscriber to pay the same? In fact, that is what BSNL expects, precisely. Call it computer printer’s devil or sheer callousness; this has actually happened with a BSNL subscriber. The name has been mis-spelt and the address is also printed all wrong (see photo).

Had it not been for a Good Samaritan who took pains to access the telephone directory through the telephone number provided on the printout, the bill would have remained elusive and hence, unpaid.

Similarly, another subscriber had to face the BSNL’s wrath when her telephone connection was promptly cut off despite her having paid the bill. The BSNL policy seems to be to turn up with scissors to promptly nip the phone connection and blame the subscribers for no fault of theirs. This is how the telecom monolith prepares to face the competition onslaught. This subscriber would also like to thank another Good Samaritan who just left the telephone bill at the gate but did not leave his phone number or address.

Two stars

There were two stars of the Pankaj Udhas live show: one was the singer himself and another was his die-hard fan Arun Khurana who had been especially invited from Jalandhar.

During his presentation on May 9, Pankaj Udhas stole some moments to invite his friend and fan on the stage and introduce him to the gathering. He said: “My association with Arun dates back to the year when my song na kajre ki dhar Na motiyon ke haar...phir bhi kitni sundar ho..., was released. I started receiving letters from people of Jalandhar. The letters mentioned about this young boy, who would keep listening to my song all day, all night. The situation became so uncontrollable that the Mayor of the city wrote to me, requesting me to come over and pacify the boy. That was when I went to Jalandhar and met Arun, who entered the Limca Book of Records for having heard my song over 60,000 times.”!

The narration by Pankaj drew a tremendous applause. His introduction was followed by Arun Khurana’s confession: “Mera aur Pankaj ji ka rishta rooh aur jism ka rishta hai.”

Overheard

After applauding Pankaj Udhas for about five minutes while he was rendering the famous Zafar Gorakhpuri ghazal “Aye gam-e-zindagi kuchh to de mashwara”..., one man asked his friend: “What a ghazal! But what does maikada mean?”

The friend replied, “Maikada means a place where liquor is served.” The man again asked: “The ghazal is very fine but what does Talabgaar mean?” The friend replied, “Talabgaar means someone who is longing for something.” The man again began asking: “Pankaj is amazing, but what does taalluk mean?” Hapless, the friend replied, “O yaar, je ghazal aina changi hai taan sirf sun, sochda kyon hai?" (If the ghazal is so nice, just listen to it; don’t think.)

Grapes are sour

Many people had to return disappointed from Shantikunj on the day Pankaj Udhas held concert there. Most of them did not know that the entry was on passes issued by the UT Administration. On the day of the function a group of youngsters were caught in a verbal squabble with the security men on duty. When they could not get entry after repeated requests for about 15 minutes, they relented, but in fury. One of them shouted: “Pankaj Udhas is as such a fading star!”

The security man on duty sent back a smarter reply: “He is not a fading star. You yourself came here to see him. Now suddenly since the grapes have turned sour for you, he has become a fading star!” Touche!

Magic of art

Where earlier the sculptures created by students of the sculpture department, Government College of Art, Sector 10, remained confined to the college studio, now they are finding space on the college campus. Scattered all over the college premises are beautiful creations from students, who have touched upon the sensitive aspects of life through their art. Such is the beauty of most of the pieces (one such work is featured in the picture of Parvesh Chauhan) that visitors to the college actually express a desire to buy the works for adding life to their own environs.

No arms

Litigants and advocates who happened to be first time in the District Court premises are surprised by the warning painted with bold letters “ Arms are not allowed “ instead of “ fire arms not allowed in the court at the entrance gate of the old building (near the District Bar Association library).

— Sentinel

CRIME

Auto-rickshaw drivers clash
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 12
An altercation between two auto-rickshaw drivers over fares being charged from a passenger turned ugly when one of them was injured and the other was arrested by the police at the local railway station this morning.

According to information, a man alighted from the Kalka Mail and approached an auto-rickshaw puller, Ranjit, for going to Mani Majra. Ranjit reportedly asked Rs 50 as fare. Another auto-rickshaw driver, Parmod, who was standing nearby offered Rs 40. At this, Ranjit lowered the fare to Rs 25. An altercation broke between the two drivers and Ranjit allegedly hit Parmod. Parmod received injuries and Ranjit was arrested by the GRP under Section 323 of the IPC.

Five arrested

During the past 24 hours the police has arrested five persons from different parts of the city.

Three residents of Majari village, in Ropar district — Krishan Pal Singh, Satish Kumar and Rajinder Kumar, — were arrested from Sector 8 under Section 294 of the IPC. They were allegedly passing vulgar comments to a woman while sitting in a car. Abdul Hamid, a resident of Indira Colony and Malkiat Singh, a resident of Maloya Colony, were arrested under the Gambling Act.

Case registered

Ms Parveen Lata, a resident of Sector 29, reported to the police that she was allegedly harassed by her husband, Pawan Kumar, a resident of New Delhi, for bringing insufficient dowry. A case under Sections 406 and 498-A of the IPC has been registered.

Three booked

The police has registered a case under Sections 324 and 34 of the IPC against Gurdial Singh, Harpreet Singh and Gudarshan Singh, all residents of Dadumajra, for allegedly beating Mr Gurnam Singh on Friday. Mr Gurnam reportedly received minor injuries.

Car stolen

Mr Braham Dutt Sharma, a resident of Sector 38 (West), reported to the police that his Maruti car (DL - 1C - 4519) was stolen from his residence on Friday night.

Five arrested

Panchkula
The police has arrested five persons namely Tej Singh, Mahesh Kumar, Ram Dulare, Pyare Lal and Lal Bahadur on charges of disrupting public peace from Old Panchkula.

Gambling case

The police has arrested Jagdish Das from Rajiv Colony on charges of gambling at a public place and seized Rs 2,150 from his possession.

Assault case

The police has booked Jaipal, Kala, Subhash and Prem Chand on charges of assaulting Ramesh Kumar at Bhadaur village in Raipur Rani. A case under Sections 323, 506 and 34 of IPC has been registered.

12-yr-old causes death on road
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 12
A 12-year-old boy driving a car hit a woman, leading to her death in Sector 38 this evening.

Prashant, who reportedly stole the keys of the car bearing registration number CH03 F7063 from his house, fled from the scene and abandoned the car at an isolated place in Sector 38.

The victim, Sita Rani (48), a resident of Sector 41, was declared brought dead when taken to the PGI.

Prashant was later arrested from Sector 38. According to police sources, the car hit Sita Rani at a very high speed. The impact was so great that the victim was thrown at quite a distance.

Sita Rani had gone to Sector 38 to visit one of her relative. The deceased is survived by her husband and two sons. One of her son is studying at the engineering college in Gurdaspur, while the other is a student of B.Com I. The deceased was an aunt of Mr Mukesh Goel, PA to the SP (Operations), Mr H. G. S. Dhaliwal.