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Drug trafficking cases: SC lays guidelines on search of accused
Lalu confident of RJD govt in Bihar
2 chargesheeted for forging pension orders
Pak refuses visa to Shubha Mudgal
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Culinary delights for Pervez
Multiplexes planned to revive film industry
Plan to revive derecognised zoos
Ray of hope for
Punjabi migrants
JD (U) seeks publication of Phukan report
Withdrawal of case against Raja Bhaiya defended
VHP leader backtraks
Vice-Admiral R.P. Sawhney dead
Protest staged against WTO policies
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Drug trafficking cases: SC lays guidelines
New Delhi, April 16 Section 50 of the NDPS Act provided prompt search of the “person” of a drug trafficking accused under the supervision of a gazetted officer or a magistrate, who would decide whether there was reasonable ground for his search on being suspected of carrying drugs. The question before the Apex court was whether the word “person” referred in Section 50 meant only the physical search of a person, did it apply to the baggage carried by him when detained by the law enforcing agencies. The ruling came on an appeal made by the Himachal Pradesh Government against the acquittal of two accused by the state high court. Laying down the guidelines for the courts below to handle such matters, a Bench comprising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice G.P. Mathur and Mr Justice P.K. Balasxubramanyan said, “The most appropriate meaning of the world ‘person’ appears to be the body of human being as presented to public view usually with its appropriate coverings and clothings, including footwear.” Holding that the accused could not claim the benefit of Section 50 for the search of his baggage also in the same manner as provided for search of his “person”, the court said a bag, briefcase or any such article or container could under no circumstances be treated as a human being’s body. “It is not possible to include these articles within the ambit of the world ‘person’ occurring in Section 50 of the Act,” the court said, accepting the argument of Himachal Additional Advocate-General J.S. Attri that the under the scheme of the NDPS Act the benefit of searching the baggage of an accused in the presence of a gazetted officer, or a magistrate did not warrant as was required for his physical search. The court clarified the search of a person under the supervision of a competent officer had been made by keeping in mind when “human body comes into contact or shall have to be touched by the person carrying out the search”. Special care had been taken by the legislature about the search of a female accused by a female officer, it said. Since the bag, briefcase or any such article, or container would not normally move along with the body of a human being, “such objects cannot be said to be inextricably connected with the person, namely the body of the human being,” the court said, setting aside the acquittal of the accused. Both the accused were awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment by the trial court and each of them was also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh. |
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Lalu confident of RJD govt in Bihar
Kolkata, April 16 He, however, was confident that within a month or so the RJD would form a stable government in the state, ending the Governor's rule. But the state RJD leaders who met him, claimed that a large number of MLAs belonging to Mr Paswan's as well as Mr Kumar's camp had agreed to join hands with Mr Yadav in order to form a democratic government in the state, though the BJP and other vested interests were still indulging in horse trading to muster MLAs support for Mr Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister. The Railway Minister was here to attend the week-long Railway Week function beginning from today. But his visit was virtually turned out to be his 'political mission' for gaining the RJD's supremacy in Bihar and consolidating his position in the UPA government. Mr Yadav met the former Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence and advised her to join the Congress-led UPA government. Talking to RJD workers and supporters, Mr Yadav asked them to strengthen the party in the state and fight against the BJP and other communal forces which had been ruining the nation. the RJD will fight the forthcoming municipal elections in Kolkata and other districts in May and June and the Assembly election next year, the leader announced. Later, addressing the Railway week's function at Eastern Railway's sports complex at Behala, the Railway Minister declared that they had decided to spend Rs 4,000 crore in the next few years for modernising and upgrading the railways and the money would be mobilised from the railways internal resources including enhancing the goods traffic. He said the ministry had also decided to commercially utilise the vacant and unused Railway lands in the country. The minister gave away prizes to eight Eastern Railway employees along with several others workers of other railways for their outstanding performances in their respective fields during last year. The two other State Ministers of Railways, Mr N.J. Rathwa and Mr R.Velu and several other Railway Board's officials including the Chairman present at the function also spoke on the occasion.
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2 chargesheeted for forging pension orders
New Delhi, April 16 The charge sheet was filed yesterday in the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi, against J.C. Kalia, a retired Under Secretary of the Punjab Government and R.C. Handa, an Under Secretary with the Ministry of Home Affairs (Freedom Fighter Division), a CBI press note said here today. According to the charge sheet, the accused had allegedly issued 62 forged sanction orders for grant of freedom fighter pension at the rate of Rs 3,000 plus dearness relief, per month, to persons in Punjab under the Freedom Fighter Scheme in 1999. The CBI has filed the charge sheet under Section 120-B, IPC, read with Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 IPC. The case was registered by the CBI in 2003 on the complaint of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was revealed during investigation that during the years 1999 to 2003, R.C. Handa, who was then a section officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs (Freedom Fighter Division), and J.C. Kalia and others allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the Government of India, the press note claimed. “The accused official of the Home Ministry even forged the signatures of another Under Secretary who was authorised to sign such sanction orders,” it said, adding, “those who benefited from these pension orders paid huge amounts to both the accused for obtaining such sanction orders.” On the basis of these forged sanction orders, the Pay and Accounts Office of Ministry of Home Affairs, issued PPOs to the pensioners for drawl of pension from various banks of Punjab and payments amounting to Rs 1.3 crore were made against these PPOs during the period. “Withdrawal of the amounts from the bank accounts of the alleged pensioners were stopped on registration of the case and amounts lying in the accounts will be confiscated in favour of the government,” it added.
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Pak refuses visa to Shubha Mudgal
New Delhi, April 16 The singer along with her troupe was to fly to Pakistan yesterday for a government-sponsored week-long tour of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad beginning today. Ms Mudgal said she had diplomatic passports issued to her and the troupe by the government and the tour was agreed at the level of the two governments. However, the Pakistani authorities denied them a visa. While she said there was no communication from the Pakistani High Commission after her sponsor, Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) that works under the External Affairs Ministry, submitted their visa applications, the High Commission claimed that they would get back to her on Tuesday. Ms Mudgal and her group were to begin their tour today and scheduled to return on April 22. The ICCR has since called off the tour. The singer also claimed that she had been receiving e-mails from Pakistan from people asking her to organise other performances while others said they would want to help her. Ms Mudgal said she felt sorry for her group members, who had set aside their personal commitments to go to Pakistan and expressed hope that this incident would not become a case for an “eye-for-an-eye” treatment by denying visas to Pakistani musicians coming to India.
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Culinary delights for Pervez
New Delhi, April 16 Catering to General Musharraf’s every culinary fancy, chefs have cooked several dishes, including his favourite dal gosht and have even flown in the best of the king of fruits, alphonso mangoes, from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. “We know that the Pakistan President loves mangoes and dried fruits so the best have been arranged and will be placed in his suite while for his breakfast we will have an assortment of North and South Indian cuisine for he usually likes a local flavour in his meals,” said Executive Chef Amit Choudhary. According to the chef, President’s wife Sehba loves Awadhi cuisine which is why several types of biryanis are being prepared. “The General apparently loves gulab jamun which is why we are preparing some with the famous Pishori pistas,” Mr Chaudhary said. Six to eight different varieties of fresh juices are also on the menu for the General and his wife.
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Multiplexes planned to revive film industry
New Delhi, April 16 Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy told mediaperons on the sidelines of the conference that the government plans to table the Content Regulatory Authority Bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Briefing mediapersons about the 10-point programme unanimously agreed by the ministers at the 25th conference held here today, Mr Reddy said the past three years have witnessed a substantial reduction in the entertainment tax collections. “In some states, it was as high as 150 per cent. Today, in most states it is less than 60 per cent. I’m sure by the time we meet next, we will be able to get it reduced to 30 per cent.” He said the ministers agreed that there was a need for effective anti-piracy laws with adequate powers to the local authorities. Reddy said the states and UTs have agreed that cable operators be registered with the District Magistrates, Subdivisional Magistrates or Police Commissioners as the case may be. “As of now, they are registered with post offices. It has become difficult to know the number of cable operators. The conclusion of the meeting was that as and when the cable operators renew their registration, they do so with the DMs, SDMs or Police Commissioners. Under the Cable Network Regulation Act, all the three can be named authorised officers.’’ Reddy said practical methods would be devised to implement the Conditional Access System (CAS) in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai and the ministry will hold consultations with governments before implementing CAS. The I&B Minister said video libraries would be brought under the regulatory regime either through registration or through licensing. Explaining the rationale behind the move, Reddy said the cinema and music industry had been complaining about piracy.
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Plan to revive derecognised zoos
New Delhi, April 16 The CZA is worried about the future of animals in these zoos, mostly mini zoos and deer parks that have black buck, an endangered species besides sambar, neelgai, hog deer and barking deer. The authority feels that these zoos have a potential for improvement and wants to give them one more chance to provide proper housing, healthcare, technical staff and full-time veterinary officers. At present, 165 zoos are left in the country after the CZA dereognised 91 zoos. Most of the zoos are in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. While Karnataka has 15 zoos, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have 11 and 10, respectively. The zoos are run by the forest departments, Army, trusts, local bodies, societies, municipal authorities and universities. Sources in the CZA said they wrote to state governments in 2002-’03 asking them if they would be able to provide the necessary funds and operate the zoos on a sustainable basis. The CZA issued notices to Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal. “Reminders were sent even last year, but we have not received replies from all states. We have not heard from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Uttaranachal. To put an end to this correspondence, we have decided to invite zoo directors, administrative heads of the zoos who deal with finances. The meeting will be chaired by Member Secretary, CZA, Dr B.R. Sharma,’’ said an officer working with the CZA. Sources said some state governments have expressed their willingness to continue operating some zoos. For instance, the Arunachal Government wants to continue operating the Forest Department run zoos in Miao and Roing. The Himachal Government has said that it wants to continue the Rewalsar zoo in Mandi. It has closed down the Dharamsala and Manali zoos. The Chhattisgarh Government has told the CZA that it is prepared to revive the Nandan Van in Raipur but wants to close down the Indira Udyan in Bilaspur and move the animals from Indira Vidyan to another zoo in Kananpindari. The Jharkhand Government also wishes to continue the zoo in
Muta.
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Ray of hope for
Punjabi migrants
New Delhi, April 16 A member of the Minority Educational Institutions Commission, Mr B.S.
Ramoowalia, today left for Madrid to sort out the problems faced by the illegal immigrants in getting the necessary documents to avail of this general
amnesty. The Spanish authorities have granted one time general amnesty till May 6 to all illegal entrants hailing from different countries who are required to present their passport and police clearance certificates for acquiring permanent immigration status. Hundreds of Indian illegal entrants were yet to get duplicate passports in lieu of original passports lost by fraudulent travel agents. Many of those who holding a valid passport were not getting police clearance certificates, Mr Ramoowalia said. He said if they did not meet these requirements and failed to apply for regular immigration by the May 6 deadline they were bound to suffer and likely to face prosecution. Mr Ramoowalia said he had taken up the issue with the Prime Minister urging the government to grant one time relaxation matching the one-time general amnesty as was done earlier in 2002 in case of illegal Indians in Italy who finally got permanent immigration. While the External Affairs Minister had assured action on an “urgent basis”, the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council Ms Sonia Gandhi, had asked the External Affairs Minister to issue “early directions” in this regard, which Ramoowalia said had “given a ray of hope.” Apart from interaction with the Indian community in Madrid and Barcelona, Mr Ramoowalia said he would also call on the Indian Ambassador to find an early solution. Recently, relatives of the
stranded Punjabi youth had moved the National Human Rights Commission, urging it to direct the Centre to help them avail of the amnesty announced by the European country. In a petition submitted to the
NHRC, the relatives alleged that the Indian embassy in Madrid was “refusing” to issue duplicate passports to at least 10,000 youth stranded in that country. The memorandum claimed the consular office staff was “hostile to and insulting” the applicants and was not even accepting passport application forms. “We request the Centre to grant one-time relaxation and issue passports and police clearance certificates before April 24 to all stranded Indians, so they could apply for regularisation before the deadline,” the memorandum said. Spain has decided to go ahead with the amnesty despite strong concern expressed by other members of the European Union that Madrid could become an attractive destination for migrants. Spain is the main gateway to Europe for illegal immigrants. An estimated 8,00,000 migrants live in the country illegally, but there is no way to know how many will benefit from the amnesty, a report said. |
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JD (U) seeks publication of Phukan report
New Delhi, April 16 JD (U) spokesman Shiv Kumar alleged that the government had filed the second affidavit under pressure from the Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The second affidavit filed before the Supreme Court by the Ministry of Defence said the government had decided to refer to the CBI 23 more cases out of the Comptroller and Auditor General Report on purchases made during the Kargil conflict. The first affidavit filed before the apex court had said that there was no violation of rules in the purchases made during the period. The JD (U) spokesman said the second affidavit was filed to justify the Congress obstructing Parliament on the issue of Kargil purchases. He said JD (U) would go ahead with its nationwide dharna and rallies in state capitals on April 25 and the party would seek support and cooperation from its NDA partners. |
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Withdrawal of case against Raja Bhaiya defended
New Delhi, April 16 Raja Bhaiya, who had formed a group of independent MLAs in the U P Assembly, was booked under POTA by the previous Mayawati government but after the installation of the Samajwadi Party government of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, he was not only made a Cabinet minister but the POTA case was also withdrawn against him. The affidavit said the POTA case was considered to be withdrawn from the date a decision had been taken by the State POTA Review Committee in this regard. The state government further said once a decision was taken by the committee, it could not be challenged in the court. The first order passed by Mr Mulayam Singh after coming to power was in fact regarding the withdrawal of the POTA charges against Raja Bhaiya as the support of a group of independent MLAs formed under his leadership was crucial for his government. |
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VHP leader backtraks
Bhopal, April 16 Talking to reporters, he only reiterated RSS chief K.Sudarshan’s observation that Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr Lal Krishna Advani should retire paving the way for the younger leadership. He said both Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani were very able leaders and it was expected that they should give up the posts they were holding and guide the younger leaders. No one, he felt, should contest the elections or hold positions of profit for more than three terms. |
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Vice-Admiral R.P. Sawhney dead
New Delhi, April 16 Born on September 11, 1932, in Lyallpur district of west Punjab, he was a cadet of the first Joint Services Wing (JSW) course and joined the Indian Navy on May 1, 1951. He served as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff from 1987 to 1989 prior to heading the Southern Naval Command at Kochi from 1989 to 1990. He was a specialist in gunnery and he served on board the frigate INS Betwa and the cruiser INS Mysore. |
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Protest staged against WTO policies
Dehra Dun, April16 The villagers said they were forced to buy genetically modified (GM) seeds termed as organic, from outside by the members of the Krishi Vividhikaran Yojna. The seeds led to low produce following which they decided to stick to the traditional methods, the villagers added. However, the traditional produce was being bought at lower rates and the villagers were being pressurised into buying GM seeds, they said. |
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