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Friday,
June 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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CVC, CBI to file appeal in Bofors case Centre warned against using Article 355 Air Force chief to visit
USA Mamata calls for stir against Nitish’s decision |
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Cong may not back NDA on Vice-President BSP splits as 4 MLAs join RJD Jagadambi Prasad dead DM suspended
for ‘not hearing grievances’
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CVC, CBI to file appeal in Bofors case New Delhi, June 20 Central Vigilance Commissioner N. Vittal said, “The high court judgement will be challenged not only by the CVC but also by the CBI as it is based on the interpretation of the apex court’s December 18, 1998, Vineet Narain judgement (in the hawala case) which prescribed that the premier investigating agency inform the CVC on the progress of major cases involving public servants.” Mr Vittal said in view of the high court judgement it had now become important to seek a clarification from the apex court about its 1998 order. According to him, the Supreme Court only suggested that in all major cases involving public servants, the CBI should inform the CVC about the progress of the case and seek its permission before filing a charge-sheet. Before dismissing the charge-sheet against the Hinduja brothers, Mr Justice
R.S. Sodhi in his June 10 judgement had opined that the CBI had flouted the prescription of the judgement in the Vineet Narain case by not seeking the permission of the CVC before filing the charge-sheet against the three Hinduja brothers —
S.P. Hinduja, P.P. Hinduja and G.P. Hinduja. He also observed that the CVC also did not bother to notice the error. The CBI, which on the same day announced its decision to challenge the judgement in the Supreme Court, felt that if the high court order had its say the stand of the agency in several other cases would also be affected. The CBI said, “Nowhere did the apex court ruled that the agency will have to take the permission of the CVC in all cases,” it argues. In the Bofors payoff case there was only one public servant involved — former Defence Secretary
S.K. Bhatnagar — and the agency had sought the permission of the CVC before charge-sheeting him, it says. However, the case against Bhatnagar was abated following his death. The CBI rejected the suggestion made by the Judge that it was free to file a fresh charge-sheet against the Hindujas after following the laid-down procedures and norms. The high court Judge had passed severe strictures against the CBI and the CVC for abdicating their responsibilities and not following the Supreme Court guidelines before filing the “frivolous and half-baked” charge-sheet against the Hinduja brothers. Mr Justice Sodhi said the CBI had failed to follow the apex court guidelines which made it mandatory for the premier investigating agency to place the findings of all investigations before the CVC ahead of going to the court.
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Centre warned against using Article 355 New Delhi, June 20 Referring to the memorandum given by SAD-BJP MLAs led by former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Congress leader said in a statement here that allegations about the breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state, rigging in the zila parishad and municipal elections and abetting murder of a political rival by a serving minister, were being made to stall the administrative and legal processes set in motion against a few individuals facing grave charges of corruption and breach of public trust. He said never before had a demand for direct or indirect central intervention in the affairs of state been made in about 100 days of governance of the duly elected government. Pointing to the accusations by the Akali-BJP opposition in Punjab about the state government’s “political vendatta” and “false cases of corruption,” he said that levelling charges and countercharges was a common feature of India’s democracy. “The decisive action by the government against a high constitutional functionary prima facie involved in job scam and ex-ministers against whom public prosecutors have produced sufficient evidence to merit further investigation and a trial, cannot be faulted as an act of political vendetta,” he said, adding, “the unquestionable dharma of the state is that virtue should be cherished and vice suppressed.” Quoting court judgements, Mr Kumar, who is also a senior advocate, said: Any infraction of the due process of law through the device of central intervention under any guise would be an assault upon the delicately nurtured constitutional edifice. “It is obvious that one cannot, consistent with constitutional wisdom, seriously contend that registering of cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code against individuals charged with corruption in public life would constitute internal disturbance so as to merit intervention by the Central Government under Article 355 of the Constitution,” he said. Mounting a case of breakdown of constitutional and administrative machinery in the state upon a solitary allegation of an alleged political murder at the behest of a serving minister was constitutionally unsustainable in view of a series of judgements by the apex court, including the Bommai judgement, he maintained. |
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Air Force chief to visit
USA New Delhi, June 20 The Chief of the Air Staff is visiting at the invitation of his US counterpart General John P. Jumper and during his nine-day stay in the USA he is scheduled to meet senior defence and Pentagon officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Richard B. Myers, and Admn Thomas B. Fargo, Chief of the US Pacific Command, IAF sources said. “The visit will provide an opportunity to discuss progress made by the two countries in their joint training programmes”, the sources said. While India and the USA had conducted joint exercises by the Army and the Air Force at Agra last month they propose to conduct more joint exercises in Alaska later this year or early next year. The Chief of the Air Staff will also share the American experiences in Afghanistan during his first meeting with General Jumper. The Chief of the Air Staff will also visit various air bases, including the Andrews base, Wright Peterson base, Air Force Command and Control, Training and Innovation Group, Aerospace Operation Centre and Air Education and Training Command. He will also deliver a talk at the Rand Corporation, an American thinktank on defence issues. State of Indo-Pak relations in the wake of the recent steps taken by India to reduce tension will be on the top of the agenda during the visit. The will utilise the opportunity to stress upon the need to put more pressure on Pakistan to put permanent end to cross-border terrorism and infiltration. The Indo-US defence cooperation has seen new heights after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA. The two countries have since been regularly interacting with each other at the level of senior officers of the three services. |
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Mamata calls for stir against Nitish’s decision Kolkata, June 20 The CPI(M) leadership and the state Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, welcomed Ms Banerjee’s call and decided to join the Trinamool Congress in the agitation against the Railway Minister’s decision. Ms Banerjee, now in New Delhi, will be meeting the Prime Minister and some other NDA leaders to seek their intervention to persuade Mr Kumar to withdraw the decision, which she alleged was taken to serve certain vested interests. The TMC chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Mr Sudip Bandopadhyya, arrived in Kolkata this morning from the Capital carrying Ms Banerjee’s directives to the party workers and leaders for launching a massive agitation, including rail roko movement against the Railway Minister’s decision to bifurcate the Eastern Railway. The Trinamool Congress also hastily decided to form a union of railway hawkers for strengthening Ms Banerjee’s hand to fight against the Railways. The CPI(M) state unit secretary, Mr Anil Biswas, said they were happy that Ms Banerjee had now decided to fight against the Centre for a right cause. He announced that the CPI(M) workers and supporters would support her agitation. Other partners of the Left Front, including CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc, also decided to extend their support to Ms Banerjee. An all-party delegation of the MLAs of West Bengal will soon visit New Delhi and demonstrate before Parliament against Mr Kumar’s move to bifurcate the Eastern Railway in the name of smooth administration. The Congress and the BJP in the state already protested against the Railway Board’s move to bifurcate the Eastern Railway but they would not join hands with the Trinamool Congress in the agitation as they felt the step was politically motivated and an attempt to put pressure on the NDA to ensure an honourable return for Ms Banerjee into the Union Cabinet. |
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Cong may not back NDA on Vice-President Vijapur (Gujarat), June 20 “At the same time, we would try to evolve a consensus with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on issues of national interest, such as the presidential poll”. But the consensus would not necessarily extend to the election of Vice-President, he added. He was here on a day’s visit of Gujarat to seek “darshan” of eminent Jain monk Acharya Mahapragya. When asked whether the Left parties had isolated themselves by fielding their own candidate against the non-Left supported Presidential nominee Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Mr Patil said the latter had a democratic right to do so.
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BSP splits as 4 MLAs join RJD Patna, June 20 BSP’s state unit president and Road Construction Minister Rambali Singh and two other ministers Chedilal Ram, Rajesh Singh and another legislator Zakir Ahmad, met Assembly secretary J.P. Pal and submitted a letter addressed to the Speaker seeking recognition as members of the RJD legislature party. They also requested that arrangements be made for their seats in the Treasury Bench. Speaker Sadanand Singh is in Bangalore to attend a conference of presiding officers. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Chandra Purve, Laloo’s high profile brother-in-law Subhas Yadav and RJD MLA Jaiprakash Narain Yadav were present in Pal’s chamber. Mr Rambali Singh claimed that another BSP MLA Suresh Pasi too had supported the bid, but he could not turn up as he was away in his home constituency.
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Jagadambi Prasad dead
Coimbatore, June 20 He was 78 and is survived by three sons and five daughters. Mr Yadav, who came here on June 11 in connection with an official meeting, had to undergo an emergency major brain surgery after he fell ill. At the hi-tech K.G. Hospital, a blood clot in the cerebellum was removed. Since then, he was in a critical condition. The body was later taken in a special flight to New Delhi from the Peelamedu airport here this evening. It would be taken to Patna tomorrow for the last rites.
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DM suspended
for ‘not hearing grievances’ Lucknow, June 20 Mr Mishra was found not present on duty by an inquiry team of two secretaries - Mr C B Paliwal and Mr Kunwar Fatehbahadur, in the Chief Ministers secretariat this morning after people of the district complained that the DM was not present to hear their problems in the morning. According to an official statement, both secretaries found that Mr Mishra came to his office around 11.45 a.m. while a large number of people were waiting to meet him.
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