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SC refuses to stay Badals’
trial
Goa, Nagaland Governors impeding talks with NSCN
(IM)
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Uttaranchal releases Maoists’
photos
Jaya: POTA repeal
ill-considered
BJP rattled by Sonia, says Cong
Charges framed against 16 in Best Bakery case
Lucknow Uttaranchal’s Capital in
textbooks
India, Russia to collaborate in hardware
sector
Minister of State for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal
(left) with Principal Scientific Advisor Dr R. Chidambram at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.
— Tribune photo by Rajeev Tyagi Contempt proceedings against
reporter Gudia under pressure,
says women’s forum
Policy to deal with natural disasters
soon
Army rejects Major’s
request
Dawood’s brother files nomination
BSP names candidates
Graphic: 1999
Maharashtra Assembly poll Outcome
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SC refuses to stay Badals’
trial
New Delhi, September 22 The court, however, fixed hearing on their special leave petition (SLP), challenging their prosecution for want of sanction from the competent authorities. The SLP was filed by them against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s September 2 order dismissing their petition challenging the Special Judge’s order taking cognizance of the chargesheet in the case without sanction from the authorities concerned. The high court had also rejected the Badals’ plea challenging the jurisdiction of the Special Judge, Ropar, to hold trial in the case. A three-judge apex court Bench headed by Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti declined to stay the framing of charges in the case on September 28 by the Special Court, observing that it would not make any “difference”. The court told Mr Badal’s counsel Harish Slave that there was no urgency for
proponing the hearing of the SLP which would be taken up in the normal course on October 1. When the counsel alleged that the case against the former Chief Minister and his son was “politically motivated” and the framing of the charges on September 28 would cause harm to his reputation, the Bench observed “what is so great about the framing of the charges. It is not like demolishing a building that cannot be reconstructed.” Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for the Punjab Government along with its Additional Advocate-General Atul Nanda, opposed the Badals’ plea for
proponing the hearing of the SLP and stay of the trial proceedings. The Punjab Government had filed caveat in the apex court to ensure that its views were taken into account by the court while hearing the Badals’ petition. As Mr Salve said in the event of the apex court refusing to prepone the hearing, the petitioners and the prosecuting agency, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, could make a joint request to the Special Judge to defer the framing of charges, the Bench said it was for the two parties to decide how to proceed with the case. The Badals in their SLP alleged that the high court had “given a patently erroneous” judgement on the question of sanction under both the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sanction in the case of Mr Badal, who is a member of the Punjab Assembly and Leader of Opposition, had to be obtained from the Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha. In the case of Mr Sukbir Singh, who was a Rajya Sabha MP at the time of filing of the chargesheet, the sanction had to be obtained from the Chairman of the Upper House, the SLP contended. The high court also “committed a patent error” in upholding the validity of the notification of November 17, 2003, issued by the Punjab Government designating the Additional Sessions Judge, Ropar, as Special Judge to hold trial in the case, it claimed. The Badals said since they lived in Chandigarh, the city alone could be the place of territorial jurisdiction for the purpose of investigation and trial of any alleged offence against them. |
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Goa, Nagaland Governors impeding talks
New Delhi, September 22 While a former politician and presently Goa Governor S.C. Jamir is pulling the strings from behind, former Intelligence Bureau chief and now Nagaland Governor Shyamal Dutta is playing a more direct role. Mr Dutta is working, in a rather direct way, to ensure that enough roadblocks are created to derail the talks between former Home Secretary K. Padmanabaiah and NSCN (IM) leaders in some foreign capitals. In his ‘secret/personal’ letter to Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Mr Dutta describes a tripartite meeting between the officials of the Home Ministry and Security Forces (SF) and the representatives of the NSCN (IM), held in the third week of last month for reviewing the “Ceasefire Ground Rules”, as giving “imprimatur to many of the illegal activities of the NSCN (IM)”. A closer scrutiny of the three-page letter reveals that Mr Dutta is well informed about the details of the talks that were held in New Delhi for two days. The talks, which were of exploratory nature, were held to make a list of complains and demands that the Security Forces (SF) and the NSCN (IM) representatives had. If disgruntlement or disillusionment starts setting in among the cadres on the ground then it becomes difficult for the negotiating leaders to make a deal which involves “give and take,” an official said. For example, an NSCN (IM) representative asked for free movement of their cadres, living in 11 officially-designated camps, as their organisation was no more banned. Similarly, the SF reported about cases of extortion which the NSCN (IM) was conducting to which the outfit’s representative reacted saying that it was not extortion but tax collection to which they were entitled by Akbar Hyderi Agreement of 1947. The NSCN (IM) also complained about harassment of their cadres by the (SF) and delay in granting permission for setting up camps. Because of the custom of Jhum cultivation, the Naga people have to abandon a particular area after a gap of 7-8 years, the NSCN (IM) representatives informed the meeting. Such and other issues figured at the two-day meeting and it was decided to meet again soon when some definite response to many of the questions and demands of the NSCN (IM) would be forthcoming. The NSCN (IM) representatives, who reportedly went happy and satisfied, possibly, misunderstood the official response as no definite “commitment” was made. Mr Dutta, in his letter, reports about the NSCN (IM) representatives returning “happy” from the meeting. Mr Dutta comments that “The reasons of their happiness are attributed to the facts that several of their positions maintained for long, were not contested either by the Security Forces or by the MHA.” The Governor said, “it is evident that the NSCN (IM) had its way with regard to most of the points raised. Nothing could be pressed for stricter enforcement of the ground rules.” “On the contrary, impression was given that to many of their illegal activities like the running of parallel administration, policing, extortion, training, recruitment, operations by town commands, setting up of illegal camps etc, the SF would remain mute spectator,” he added. “In the circumstances, the Ceasefire Monitoring Group and its Chairman may, hereafter, find it difficult to strictly enforce the ground rules,” the Governor said in his letter to the Home Minister. Apart from his letter, sources said Mr Dutta’s opposition to the NSCN (IM) is at the behest of Mr Jamir who is opposed to the ongoing peace talks. Mr Jamir’s affinity to the NSCN (Khaplang) group is known and he has all along been opposed to peace talks as the Khaplang group has been totally sidelined in the process. Immediately after the coming of the UPA government at the Centre, Mr Jamir had been asked by the Congress high command to suggest ways for the revamp of the party in the North-East. In his report to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Mr Jamir had recommended imposition of the President’s rule in Nagaland but had not suggested replacement of Mr Dutta as the
Governor of the state, sources said. Mr Dutta, incidentally, had been appointed by the NDA government. |
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Uttaranchal releases Maoists’
photos
Dehradun, September 22 Nineteen Maoist rebels had escaped from a prison at Mahendranagar in Kanchanpur district of Nepal on September 11 following a Maoist attack on the jail to free them. The photographs of 14 Maoist rebels have been put out at various police stations at the request of the Nepalese Government, which suspects that they might have escaped across the border. A new taskforce has been set up and we are keeping the centre posted on the problem, said DGP Kanchan Choudhary Bhattacharya. |
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Jaya: POTA repeal
ill-considered
Chennai, September 22 Inaugurating a national workshop on terrorism in India organised by the Tamil Nadu police, she said the repeal of POTA denuded the state governments of their powers to combat terrorism. She said: “The law enforcement agencies would not have any special law at their disposal to effectively tackle terrorists and extremist outfits and would have to rely upon the provisions of archaic laws, which have repeatedly proved inadequate, even to handle serious and heinous crimes.” The IPC had not even defined “sabotage”, she added. She said she did not see much point in the assurance that necessary provisions would be added to the existing laws to compensate for the repeal of POTA, adding that “in fact, such a stand merely shows ambivalence and vacillation.” Ms Jayalalithaa stressed the need for strengthening the intelligence machinery, which was an area of major concern and said that the failure of intelligence had invariably been noticed in the post-mortem of various She said she had opposed the renewing of ferry service between Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo as it was a serious security hazard, which exposed the country’s coastline to narcotic smuggling, infiltration of terrorists and asylum seekers. |
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BJP rattled by Sonia, says Cong
New Delhi, September 22 Party spokesman Anand Sharma said the BJP was rattled by Ms Gandhi and its “Sonia mental fever is not diminishing.” Replying to questions on Dr Singh’s interview to an American television channel in which he said Ms Gandhi had told him that he would be the Prime Minister once results of the recent Lok Sabha elections started coming in, Mr Sharma said it was a matter between Ms Gandhi and Dr Singh and the people were aware of the sequence of the events. He said her capacity as the elected leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Ms Gandhi had gone to meet President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam to convey that she was not interested in becoming the Prime Minister. |
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V C Shukla quits BJP
Raipur, September 22 “I sent my resignation letter to BJP President Venkaiah Naidu today,” Mr Shukla told PTI here. In his letter, Mr Shukla said he was resigning from the primary membership of the BJP, which he joined just before the last Lok Sabha elections. —
PTI |
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Charges framed against 16 in Best Bakery case
Mumbai, September 22 The hearing has been posted to October 4. Meanwhile, on a defense plea that the court should also visit the scene of the crime in Vadodara in Gujarat, Mr Thipsay said he would decide on the matter on September 28. The Best Bakery case relates to the burning alive of 14 persons and injuring six others on March 1, 2002.—
UNI |
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Lucknow Uttaranchal’s Capital in
textbooks
Dehradun, September 22 If the eighth standard Sanskrit textbooks read in 2,627 junior high schools are anything to go by, Lucknow is the capital of Uttaranchal. The state Education Department has distributed these textbooks free among the students under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The very first line of chapter one in the Sanskrit book ‘Piyusham’ reads Lucknow is the capital of our state. With a faux pass of such a scale, the Opposition has found a readymade issue to take up. The government is blowing up public funds on giving out wrong information about Uttaranchal, which is a result of prolonged efforts of its people, the BJP said. These textbooks with a super bloomer right in the first chapter are being read in over 2500 schools, said Vikas Nagar BJP General Secretary Rajinder Singh Tomar. Though the government has brushed it aside as a printing error, measures for damage control are under way. Not aware of the error before pointed out to him, State Education Minister N.S. Bhandari said: “I agree there has been an error but it is because probably the printers used the old CD instead of the new one.” The government would ensure that the corrections are made soon, the minister said. |
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India, Russia to collaborate in hardware
sector
New Delhi, September 22 Addressing a press conference here today he said: “India and Russia have a long tradition of joint ventures in the field of science and technology. Under the integrated long-term programme of cooperation in science and technology, scientists of both
countries are working on over 500 projects. ” He said the government would promote collaboration between Russian laboratories and their Indian counterparts to promote technologies in the field of labour-intensive textile, sugar industry, biotechnology and automobile sector. Mr Sibal said the government would follow a “four-cornered access” approach bringing together labs, academia and entrepreneurs on a common platform with it to make India emerge as a technological leader, and will provide necessary regulatory frameworks to allow industry play its role. “For the first time in India this four-cornered access is being developed to join labs, academia, entrepreneurs and state,” Mr Sibal said while announcing the two-day “10th Technology Summit and Technology Platform”, beginning on October 19. “When this will be in place, we will be on way to becoming a developed country,” Mr Sibal said, adding that the state needed to change its mindset and bring on board entrepreneurs with it. He said the CII and the state should concentrate on areas which had a potential to generate employment. |
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Contempt proceedings against
reporter Chennai, September 22 The five-member Bench of the High Court has directed him to appear before the court on October 27 “to show cause as to why he should not be punished for contempt.” The court has also restrained the news television channel from telecasting any news relating to the contents of the fax message. On September 20, Mr Rajesh sent a fax message to the Chief Justice requesting his point of view on certain issues mentioned in a document in his possession. He stated that he had copies of the document “substantiating various charges” against the Chief Justice, and wrote in the fax message “journalistic ethics demands that we have both sides of the story.” Mr J.A.K. Sampathkumar, Registrar-General of the Madras High Court, replied to the television reporter on September 21, saying that as directed by the Chief Justice, “I am to state that you have got no authority whatsoever to seek any response” from the Chief Justice, and that “the matter was strictly between the two constitutional functionaries (Mr Justice Reddy and Chief Justice of India R.C. Lahoti) and your intervention is not only unwarranted” but, “in fact, contemptuous.” He asked the reporter to “refrain yourself from proceeding any further,” and issued a deadline to withdraw the fax message by 1.30 p.m. on September 21, failing which “appropriate legal action would be taken.” Since no reply was given by Mr Rajesh, the High Court Bench initiated the suo motu contempt proceedings against him, stating that in spite of the “caution” issued by the Registrar-General he had not responded. |
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Gudia under pressure,
says women’s forum
New Delhi, September 22 Dr Sughra Menhdi and Naheed Taban of the forum, who were present during a TV show which seemed to have resolved the Gudia-Arif-Taufiq tangle, told UNI, “When a poor illiterate girl like Gudia is told by ulema that according to Shariat, she should go back to her first husband, she cannot dare decide otherwise. “She was not even made aware about the other option of getting divorce from Arif and then legalising her marriage with her second husband.’’ The activists said when they protested at the “TV panchayat” that Gudia was not being given a fair chance to express her will, they were not listened to by the host. They said eight months pregnant Gudia was too emotionally stressed to take an on-the-spot decision about her future. The best thing would have been to let Gudia deliver her baby and she and Arif both should have been given some time to think over the matter, they suggested. Ms Taban claimed that the solution of the problem, which was shown to have evolved during the TV show, had in fact been already arrived at the village panchayat with the concurrence of the ulema and Gudia’s parents before the parties concerned were called to the TV studio. “There would have been no harm had Gudia decided to follow the ulema’s ruling out of her own will without any pressure. |
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Policy to deal with natural disasters
soon
New Delhi, September 22 “The decision to formulate a policy and a legal framework to deal with natural disasters is a very recent one. So policy and laws have only just started taking shape and form,” Mr Patil told newspersons here after inaugurating a workshop on “Developing landslide hazard mitigation strategy.” Earlier, the Minister of State for Coal and Mines, Dr Dasari Narayana Rao, said the Geological Survey of India had mapped nearly 12,000 sq km of sensitive areas and an inventory of 700 site-specific landslides had been prepared. |
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Army rejects Major’s
request
New Delhi, September 22 The accused officer did not have the discretion under the statute to choose the form of trial and being under the Army Act, he could be tried only under the same, a defence spokesman today said. Major Surinder Singh, who is being tried in connection with a “killing case” by the Army’s General Court Martial (GCM) had requested for his trial to be conducted by any other independent agency, a retired judge or under the Navy or Air Force Act. During the GCM which assembled at Jodhpur yesterday, the Major, objecting to the composition of the court, expressed apprehensions that he did not expect a fair trial and justice by the Army court. — UNI |
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Dawood’s brother files nomination
Mumbai, September 22 The Bombay High Court yesterday overruled a special court constituted under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act and allowed Kaskar to contest the elections. |
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BSP names candidates
Mumbai, September 22 The party announced that party chief Mayawati would campaign in Maharashtra from October 2 to 9. |
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New Delhi, September 22
