New Delhi, March 8
The NDA Government’s action of not convening the first session of Parliament this year as a “joint session” to be addressed by the President, was today challenged in the Supreme Court on the ground that the Vajpayee ministry had not only violated the constitutional provision but had also set a precedent in this regard.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Mr V.N. Khare, Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia, while issuing notices to the Union Government and Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Ramdas Athawale, RPI(A) MP of the dissolved Lok Sabha, observed that the opening session of each year should be addressed by the President.

The NDA Government had committed “constitutional impropriety” by its action, Athawale’s counsel senior advocate Rajiv Dhawan said while urging the court to refer the matter to a constitution bench.

He said Article 87, which deals with the summoning of Parliament, has to be defined clearly as a very important question of law has been raised by the petitioner.

The PIL said Article 87 of the Constitution had clearly laid down that “At the commencement of (the first session after each general election to the House of People and at the commencement of the first session of each year) the President shall address both Houses of Parliament together and inform it of the cause of its summons”.

Agreeing with the objection raised by the petitioner, the Bench observed that even if the debate of the constituent assembly was examined, it would be clear that the first session of Parliament each year, should be addressed by the President.

Seeking a reply from the government and assistance of Attorney General Sorabjee in adjudicating the matter, the court, made it clear that its findings on the issue, would have only a prospective effect and would not apply to the action of the NDA Government.

Athawale submitted that the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die by the Speaker on December 23, 2003 and reconvened on January 29, 2004.

Though the January 29 session was the first of the current year, the Vajpayee government had not bothered to call it as a joint session and had denied the President an opportunity to address it.

New Delhi, March 8
The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh and Delhi Governments on a petition filed by the mother of slain business executive Nitish Katara, challenging the removal of special public prosecutor in her son’s murder case. Controversial Rajya Sabha MP D.P. Yadav’s son and nephew are the main accused in the case.

The prosecutor S.K. Saxena was replaced about two months ago by the Delhi Administration on the recommendation of the UP Government due to “political pressure”, Nitish’s mother Neelam Katara alleged in her petition.

A Bench comprising Mr Justice K .G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice B.N. Srikrishna, sought replies from both the governments within four weeks.

Neelam Katara’s counsel said the removal of the prosecutor was “motivated” at a time when the main witness Bharati Yadav, daughter of D.P. Yadav, was to be cross-examined by the prosecution.

The trial of the case was transferred from Ghaziabad to Delhi on the orders of the Apex Court two years ago after Neelam Katara had alleged that the witnesses were being threatened at the instance of Yadav.

The police had alleged that Vikas had murdered Nitish in February taking objection to his proximity to Bharati.

New Delhi, March 8
The Supreme Court today dismissed petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu Government challenging the jurisdiction of Central POTA Review Committee to go into the legality of invocation of the provisions of the anti-terrorism law against MDMK leader Vaiko, Nakkeeran Editor R. R. Gopal and eight others.

New Delhi, March 8
The BJP continued with its parade of Bollywood and small-screen stars with Manoj Kumar formally joining the party today.

“I have been a member for a long time but only now I am signing up my membership form,” hero of yesteryears told mediapersons in the presence of Law Minister and party spokesman Arun Jaitley and his colleague Prakash Javadekar.

Manoj Kumar, known for his films being based mostly on patriotic themes, met Mr Advani yesterday.

Asked why he was supporting the party when the subject of most of his films, farmers, continued to suffer, he said a breeze of ‘India Shining’ had blown their parched lands.

“It is only a sample and soon it will overwhelm them,” the veteran actor-director-producer said.

Also to be inducted in the saffron party today was ‘Saas’ (mother-in-law) Apra Mehta — a Gujarati stage actress whose 2,700 episodes of TV serials have been aired so far.

Mrs Mehta had joined the BJP in Mumbai last week but she was presented to mediapersons here with a view to gain publicity again.

Mumbai, March 8
Keen on keeping mobster Arun Gawli out of the Lok Sabha, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar has decided to field his nephew, trade unionist Sachin Ahir, against him.

According to NCP sources here, Mr Pawar has decided on the Mumbai South-Central seat for Ahir who is also president of the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh (RMMS). The Sangh has major influence in this area which is home to Mumbai’s mills many of which have closed down.

Confirming the party’s decision to field him, Mr Ahir said here today that he would fight to win the seat for  the NCP. The Mumbai South-Central seat is currently held by Mohan Rawle of the Shiv Sena. Mr Rawle is facing a tough time since he had won the last elections with the help of Gawli.

The Maharashtra Government has also decided to smoothen Mr Ahir’s path by getting the police after Gawli’s men. Home Minister R.R. Patil, an NCP office-bearer, has already ordered the police to arrest Gawli last week on charges of defacing public property.

Though Gawli came out on bail immediately, the Mumbai police has begun to arrest several boys who are said to be working for Gawli’s Akhil Bharatiya Sena. Local-level NCP workers have filed police complaints alleging harassment against ABS activists and more arrests are expected.

Gawli, who operates from the notorious Dagdi Chawl in Byculla in the same constituency, has turned the housing complex into a network of warrens complete with tunnels and secret chambers.

New Delhi, March 8
Reports that the BJP plans to field at least one Muslim face for the coming Lok Sabha election in Gujarat has put the Congress in a fix.

The Congress had, so far, no plans to field any Muslim candidate in this communally-sensitive state on the ground that it would led to unnecessary polarisation. But the party would have to do a lot of explaining if the BJP, which is associated with the post-Godhra riots, actually backs a minority candidate in Gujarat.

“The BJP will not get any minority votes in the state. But this move carries high symbolic value in the rest of the country. We will then be left explaining as to why we are not fielding Muslim candidates,” said a worried Gujarat Congress leader.

While the minority population in Gujarat is close to 9 per cent, there are three Lok Sabha constituencies — Kutch, Ahmedabad and Bharuch — which have a high concentration of Muslims and where their vote can tip the balance. Although the minorities have constituted its traditional support base, the Congress had failed to field any Muslim for these three seats even in the 1999 elections.

Since the Congress had lost the Bharuch seat three times, the party did persuade senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel to contest this seat last time but the ticket was finally given to an Adivasi as Mr Patel did not wish to be seen only as a Muslim leader. This time round, the party is again cajoling Mr Patel to take the plunge but no final decision has been taken in this regard.

New Delhi, March 8
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) tomorrow to finalise the party manifesto and also discuss its vision document and a charge sheet chronicling the scams and scandals which surfaced during the NDA regime.

The CWC is expected to adopt a resolution highlighting the Sangh Parivar’s doublespeak on various issues.

Congress sources said once the manifesto was ratified by the CWC it will be formally released, most probably on March 14.

This is likely to be preceded by the release of charge sheet which the Congress is preparing in its efforts to pin down the BJP-led government. The vision document, which details the party’s future plans on employment, economic affairs and social empowerment is likely to be released after the manifesto.

The party’s preparedeness for the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll was taken up at a meeting of the strategy committee today. The meeting, it is learnt, was informed that the charge sheet would be distributed among party workers and serve as a ready reckoner on the “sins of omission and commission” committed by the Vajpayee government.

Senior party leaders campaigning across the country have been highlighting the NDA government’s all-round failures. These will be taken up with greater vigour once the new drive gets underway.

Giving inputs about the situation in different states, Mr Birender Singh, CWC member, in charge of Uttar Pradesh unit, is learnt to have pointed out that though the alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had not fructified, the Congress had finalised electoral pacts with smaller parties in the state.

Ms Mohsina Kidwai, AICC General Secretary and in charge of Punjab and Rajasthan affairs, is stated to have pointed to the serious infighting in the Punjab unit. She is also learnt to have said the early selection of candidates would be useful but added that this process in Punjab had been held up because alliances had not been finalised.

New Delhi, March 8
A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking restraint on the BJP from carrying out its “Bharat Uday Rath Yatra” starting March 10.

The petition, filed by Indian Trade Union Congress Secretary Shyamdev Bhadana, alleged that the yatra would violate the model code of conduct, which only permitted meetings or processions to be carried out by political parties and had no provision for such a yatra.

New Delhi, March 8
The proposed talks with Hurriyat leaders this month will not get affected due to Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani’s “Bharat Uday” Yatra and the Centre does not expect the separatist group to back out of the dialogue process.

In between the two-phase yatra, the Deputy Prime Minister will be in Delhi for four days, between March 26 and March 30, during which the meeting could be scheduled, official sources said here today.

They said Mr Advani, who will begin his yatra from Kanyakumari on March 10, is keen on continuing the dialogue process and has expressed his willingness to meet with them as per schedule to be decided by the two sides.

The Deputy Prime Minister and five Hurriyat leaders held their first-ever dialogue on January 22, during which they had agreed to meet again in the last week of March.

New Delhi, March 8
India and Pakistan will hold two-day technical-level discussions in Islamabad from tomorrow on starting a bus service between Munabao (Rajasthan) and Khokrapar (Sindh, Pakistan) which would be the second bus link between the two countries after the Delhi-Lahore bus service.

The Indian delegation will have officials from the Ministries of External Affairs, Road Transport and Highways as also the Rajasthan Government who will discuss with their Pakistani counterparts modalities for the bus link between Munabao and Khokrapar.

Officials from the two countries will meet again on March 29-30 to discuss starting of a bus service between Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Srinagar.

New Delhi, March 8
The Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust has invited applications from journalists under the age of 40 for two scholarships to undertake research in media-related subjects.

Each of the two scholarships is for Rs 75,000 for one year. They are sponsored by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and are paid in four installments. While the first installment is given on selection, the remaining three are made available after the work in progress has been approved by a committee.

In addition, at least two articles on the research topic should be published in journals or newspapers. There will also be a one-time annual award of Rs 25,000 for the best young journalist under the age of 25 who has shown the most promise in reporting on environmental and social affairs.

In a statement, the trust said the applicants should send a covering letter which includes a latest bio-data, a synopsis of the proposed subject of research, three clippings of recently published work and a reference from the candidate’s Editor, employer or in the case of self-employed candidates, other suitable person.

New Delhi, March 8
A special cell of the Delhi police today claimed to have arrested another person involved in the sensational escape of Sher Singh Rana, alleged killer of Phoolan Devi, from the high-security Tihar Jail.

This is the third arrest in the case as the Special Cell sleuths on February 28 had arrested Rana’s brother Vikram and Sandeep Thakur, who posed as a cop to take away Rana from the Tihar Jail on February 17.

New Delhi, March 8
Subsequent to the announcement of polling schedule for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to postpone the All-India Engineering/Pharmacy/Architecture Entrance Examination (AIEEE) to May 20 and 21, 2004. The examination was earlier scheduled to be held on May 9 and 10.

New Delhi, March 8
The Centre has waived duty on the import of belongings of late Sergeant Uday Singh, an Indian who had been serving in the US Army and died during Iraq operation. The government’s decision follows a request made by Lieut-Col P. M. Singh (retd), late soldier’s father. He had written to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh seeking exemption of customs duty on Uday’s belongings which include a Toyota Corolla Dx and a Honda motorbike.