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Tuesday,
September 23, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Challan against Sharan triggers
debate INLD, Cong meetings in Ahirwal
today 26 chargesheeted in Financial Corporation
scam Western Command for DPDO’s removal Cong leaders to present car to
Hooda |
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Avedna’s family given full assistance, says DC ASI suspended over demolition Former minister
Poswal dead Ruchika case adjourned
HIGH COURT 
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Challan against Sharan triggers
debate Chandigarh, September 22 Mr Sharan was arrested on June 25 under the Prevention of Corruption Act and certain provisions of the IPC for allegedly causing a loss of about Rs 97 crore to the Haryana Financial Corporation when he was its Managing Director. The debate has been triggered by the fact that the challan is not accompanied by the Union Government sanction to prosecute Mr Sharan. The presentation of the challan has assumed importance because if the prosecution fails to file a challan within 90 days, an accused person is automatically granted bail in those cases where the punishment is more than 10 years of imprisonment. In the cases where the punishment is less than 10 years, the period for presenting the challan is 60 days. Their provision in the
Cr.P.C. has been included by the legislature to ensure speedy trial. In Mr Sharan’s case, the 90-day period expires tomorrow. According to information received here, the bureau has filed the challan against Mr Sharan after obtaining sanction from the state government. Many bureaucrats feel that in the case of an IAS officer, the sanction to prosecute must come from the Union Ministry of Personnel, which is the controlling authority for the all-India service. On the other hand, sources in the bureau say that the Centre’s sanction is necessary only as far as the case relates to the Prevention of Corruption Act. As far as the case relates to the provisions of the IPC, the sanction of the state government, they say, is sufficient. Bureaucrats point out that under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, it is mandatory for the prosecution to obtain prior sanction from the competent authority. The section says that “no court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under Sections 7, 10, 11, 13 and 15(of the Act), alleged to have been committed by a public servant, except with the previous sanction....”. Bureaucrats say since an IAS officer can be removed from office only by the Union Government, the competent authority to give sanction to prosecute an IAS officer is also the Union Government and the state government has no role in it. The bureau’s action in filing the challan without sanction from the Union Government is obviously aimed at denying the benefit of automatic bail to Mr Sharan after 90 days. |
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INLD, Cong meetings in Ahirwal
today Gurgaon, September 22 South Haryana covers Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari, Mahendergarh, parts of Rohtak, Jhajjar and Bhiwani districts. Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala will address a public meeting in Nasibpur in Mahendergarh district. INLD sources say that Mr Chautala will touch upon the sensitive SYL canal project issue. The SYL is a sensitive issue as shortage of water and electricity have always been the focus agitations in South Haryana. The
Congress, led by the AICC General Secretary, Mr Nawal Kishore Sharma and the Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, Mr Bhupinder Singh
Hooda, will try to paint the INLD government in poor light by giving a cutting edge to the water issue in South Haryana, especially the Ahirwal belt, by zeroing on inequitable distribution of water in the area along with the entire gamut of SYL at the party meeting at Rewari. Mr Hooda will also take on the INLD government for affiliating the degree colleges in Hisar, Bhiwani and Jind to the newly set up Devi Lal University in Sirsa. The Congress leaders will also assure the people of Ahirwal belt of providing the local youths of getting preference in non-technical jobs in the industrial units being set up here when it comes to power. The Congress will also raise the issue of “deteriorating” law and order in the state. It will raise the recent murder of a journalist in Kaithal and the police inability to nab the culprits. The other issues like marginalisation of the farmers, levying of various taxes on the all sections of the people and the unfulfilled promise of providing free electricity to the farmers by the INLD are also items in the agenda of the Congress attack on the government. |
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26 chargesheeted in Financial Corporation
scam Ambala, September 22 The DSP, Vigilance Bureau, Ambala, Mr Rattan Singh, filed the chargesheet against 26 persons, including five officials of the HFC — Ajit Mohan
Sharan, Ugarsain Chadda, Rakesh Khurana, Ashok Pahwa and Anurag Vasishth — and four beneficiaries. Anurag Vasishth was granted bail by a court while the rest of the officials have been in the judicial custody. The beneficiaries include
R.P. Sareen, Vivek Sareen, Sukhdev Singh and K.C. Arora. Mr Arora was granted bail by the court and the rest of the beneficiaries have been in the judicial custody. The chargesheet comprising around 1,000 pages has charges of corruption and forgery against the officials. The documents were brought in the court in three trunks. A corruption case had been registered against Mr Sharan and a few others on April 24, 2002, in a police station of Ambala city. Later on June 25 the bureau had arrested Ajit Mohan Sharan from his residence at Delhi. Former Executive Director of the
HFC. Ugarsain Chadda was also arrested by the bureau. The bureau had alleged that during the tenure of Mr Sharan loans totalling Rs 1,200 crore were disbursed among several entrepreneurs which had caused a loss of Rs 97 crore to the
HFC. |
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Western Command for DPDO’s removal Chandigarh, September 22 Sources said a senior functionary at the command’s Administration Branch had written to Mr S. Mathur, the
CDA, stating that there had been complaints about the lack of interest and high-handedness on the part of the
DPDO. The letter adds that the CDA’s office “may like to adjust the DPDO at some other post not related to the welfare and entitlements of ex-servicemen”. The letter points out that the aforementioned office is not restoring the commuted value of pension after the expiry of the commutation period, which is causing agony to a large number of ex-servicemen. Western Command asked the CDA to take immediate steps for restoration of the commuted value of pension. However, Mr
R.S. Behl, DPDO, Ambala, said no complaints of this nature had been received by the
CDA. “If Western Command makes such statements, it should have proof,” he retorted, adding that his office does not come under the purview of the army authorities. Meanwhile, taking note of the increasing number of cases where the pension of ex-servicemen has not been revised, Western Command has written to the Controller-General, Defence Accounts
(CGDA), New Delhi, stating that the revision of pension of pre-1996 retirees has not been done in all cases by the banks concerned “on one pretext or the other”. The letter, states that several cases have also come to light where the banks have also shown reluctance to revise even the special family pension of widows, in spite of clear government orders in this regard. Stating that the non-revision of pension could possibly be due to non-availability of orders or lack of knowledge, Western Command has demanded that specific and unambiguous orders be issued to the banks concerned for immediate revision of pension. |
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Cong leaders to present car to
Hooda Chandigarh, September 22 The Congress functionaries, including seven MLAs and nine district Congress presidents, issued a statement today saying that they would present “a decent car” to Mr Hooda on behalf of the residents of all 90 assembly constituencies of the state. The government was not giving a good car to Mr Hooda to prevent him from visiting various places, the statement alleged. The car earlier given to Mr Hooda was in bad shape and met with an accident near Hardwar in July. |
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Avedna’s family given full assistance, says DC Ambala, September 22 He said Avedna appeared in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. “Later, the issue of fake documents came to light. On September 8, members of the Sangharsh Samiti met me and the SP. In the meantime, I spoke to the Punjab Wakf Board Administrator, Mr Rehman, who suspended junior engineer, Zakhir Hussain. Later, Zakhir was dismissed from service,” he said. “On September 9, we consulted the District Attorney and the next day, we met the Haryana Advocate-General. The AG directed an Assistant Advocate-General to assist in the case. Meanwhile, a city court had stayed their arrest. The next date has been fixed for September 24,” he said. He said when the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, visited Ambala on September 18, he directed that action should be taken as soon as the stay was vacated. “The Investigating Officer of the case has been changed. There is no laxity in the case,” he said. “We are going to call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue,” he added. He said the process of shifting dairies from Ambala city and Ambala Cantonment was on. “In Ambala City, 237 dairies will be shifted. For this, 29 acres of land has been acquired in Kaonla and Khatauli villages. In Ambala Cantonment, 199 dairies will be shifted out. For this, 21 acres of land has been acquired in Ugada-Bada. The Additional DC, Mr M.L. Kaushik, is the in charge of the project,” he said.\ The Deputy Commissioner said that the new judicial complex in Ambala City is ready.
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ASI suspended over demolition Yamunanagar, September 22 The action was taken on a complaint from the school management that the SD Public School building had been illegally demolished in the presence of ASI Yash Pal of Buria Chowki. |
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Former minister
Poswal dead Gurgaon, September 22 Mr Poswal (82), a leader of the Gujjar community, is survived by his son, and daughter. According to family members, Mr Poswal was ailing for the past many days. He had breathing problems in the morning at his residence after which he breathed his last. Several dignitaries, including former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, Congress MLA from Rewari and Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Haryana Assembly, Ajay Singh Yadav and the president of the
distinct (Gurgaon) unit of the ruling INLD, Mr Anant Ram, visited his residence after learning of his death. Mr Poswal, who was elected four times as MLA (once at the time of joint Punjab) was also a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1996 to 98. He was first elected as MLA in 1962 during the time of joint Punjab and was made a minister. |
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Ruchika case adjourned Ambala, September 22 Mr Anand Prakash had recorded his statement in the court last month. He was cross-examined by counsel of Mr
Rathore. The cross-examination could not be completed during the last hearing. The former
DGP, Haryana, Mr S.P.S. Rathore is the alleged accused in Ruchika molestation case.
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LEAF FROM
HISTORY BD Flour Mill in Ambala Cantonment is perhaps one of the first industrial units in this region to have its own railway siding. The flour mill is today an important landmark of Ambala. The products of the BD Flour Mill were famous all over the country as well as abroad. An industrial legacy came to an end in 1984 when the mill burnt down. The mill, which had been established in 1902, is considered to be a major success story at a time when the winds of industrial revolution were sweeping across the country. Rai Bahadur Lala Banarsi Dass established the flour mill in the beginning of the last century. He was a visionary and a philanthropist. He foresaw the importance of industrialisation and established the flour mill. In the days before Partition, there were only three major flour mills in the country. Besides BD Flour mill, there was Wallace Flour Mill and Modi Flour Mill. BD Flour Mill had a phenomenal capacity and if the mill worked for 24 hours at a stretch, it could process about 150 tonnes of wheat into flour. Mr Gian Chand, who is the grandson of Lala Banarsi
Dass, recalled the heydays of the BD Flour Mill. “The equipment in the mill had been imported from England. The equipment was of Messrs Hendry Simon of Manchester England,” he said. He said that till 1950, an English engineer used to look after the functioning of the mill. “The engineer Carl Michael was adept at running the mill and before he left, he fully trained Indian engineers,” he said. BD Flour Mill is spread over 6.5 acres. “In those days, there were living quarters in the complex. About 150-200 workers used to work in the mill,” he added. An interesting aspect of the flour mill was the machinery was wooden. “Incidentally, we did not have an electric connection till 1967-68. Before that, the flour mill used to run on steam engine. We had our own charcoal-fired system,” he added. Mr Gian Chand pointed out that they used to get raw material from all over the country. “We used to carry out special work for defence, particularly the grinding of wheat,” he said. The products of BD Flour Mill included
‘aata’, ‘maida’, ‘chokar’ and ‘suji’. There used to be 10-15 varieties of
maida. The products were extensively used for preparing cakes and bread. The products were distributed upto Bombay. BD Flour Mill had its own railway siding. The railway track was required due to the large volume of raw material. The railway track laid for the BD Flour Mill was manufactured in 1926. “We had our own railway siding. The train used to bring the wagons upto the mill gate. Thereafter, the wagons would be pushed into the mill by workers. The job was made easy by the fact that there was a slope leading to the mill,” he said. He said that after the wagons were unloaded, the wagons were taken away by the railway engines. The railway siding was useful for easily getting across the raw material. The raw material was sourced from different areas and it would smoothly reach upto the mill gate due to the railway siding.
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, September 22 In his letter, Mr
S.P. Kohli had earlier given details of the pollution being caused by certain industries in Gurgaon. His letter was treated as a public interest litigation by the High Court. |
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LEAF
FROM HISTORY