M A I L B A G

Against shifting local courts

Apropos of your news item, “Plan to shift local courts to cantt”, you have mentioned that various political leaders, organisations and advocates are demanding to bring back the local court for the past several years. This is factually wrong. Except a few lawyers, majority are working comfortably at the Sessions Court compound. None of the public members has got any grievance. For the last 12 years the work is going on smoothly. Earlier, the work at Cantt Court used to start almost after lunch because majority of lawyers used to be busy at the Session Court and cases used to be delayed. Now lower court work as well as Appellate Court work runs side by side because all lawyers are available in one complex at Sessions Court, and there is no problem of availability of lawyers.

Moreover, at Ambala City a big judicial complex is going to be completed in about six months having the capacity to accommodate not less than 30 courts. Hence there is no point in establishing a mini-complex at Ambala Cantt.

When the people from Naraingarh and beyond are coming to Ambala City after completing a big distance of 30/40 km, the 6-km distance between Ambala City and Cantt is no distance when local service is fully available.

If further enquiry is required then a spot survey may be done by the media to know the truth. Vested interests of a few people should not prevail upon the majority. The move, if any, must be dropped and all the courts should be consolidated in the newly built judicial complex at Ambala City.

M.G. BAGGA, Ambala Cantt

Declare assets

Capt Amarinder Singh will win more laurels and gain confidence of the masses if he and his team of ministers declare openly their moveable and immovable assets and liabilities forthwith. He should first set his own house in order, otherwise history may repeat itself. It may prove right “Tamasha dekhne walo, tamasha khud na banjana”.

K. SOHAN PAUL SINGH Panjaur (Hoshiarpur)

Taken for a ride

We wish to bring to your kind attention towards the fraud under-taken by some so-called photographers of Dalhousie. I along with my wife, son and his friend and my aunt from England visited Dalhousie on 22.3.2002.

We went to Khajjiar in our car the next day. There was snow on the side of the road. We stopped there and some photographers approached us. I settled for one who promised to deliver the photographs at my residential address within 15-20 days. We posed for photographs and gave him about Rs 700-800 for all photographs in advance.

There were other tourists and some photographers were offering them Himachali clothes to wear for posing for photographs.

Till date we have not received any photographs and feel cheated. I had heard that Agra was notorious, but never believed that in Himachal, too, such things happened.

TRILOK DHINGRA, Ludhiana

DA hike for pensioners

The Congress manifesto promised to double the medical allowance (at present paid @ Rs 250 per month) and house rent allowance to pensioners. It also promised that those officials who had spent more than 33 years of regular service would be compensated adequately, but nothing has been done so far so much so that DA hike @ 4% has already been released by the Government of India as well as the Punjab Government for their regular employees. This is yet to be announced for the pensioners.

HARDEEP SINGH SANDHU, Chandigarh

Teach ’em a lesson

Capt Amarinder Singh proved that “Honhar birwan kay chikney chikney paat”. We are hopeful that the C.M. will teach a lesson to evil-doers.

BRIJ MOHAN SHARMA, Ambala

Entrance test

The date for PTU’s entrance test has been fixed at June 2, 2002, which clashes with the entrance test date of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. PTU is requested to change the entrance test date. A large number of students may be affected by this clash of dates.

Lt-Col. P.M. SINGH, c/o 56APO