New Delhi, April 25
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today rejected the proposal of Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to cut down the excise duty on petroleum products to compensate the oil marketing companies against the proposed hike in excise duty on diesel and petrol.

However, the final decision regarding the increase in oil prices and a cut in the excise duty is likely to be taken by the Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet later this week.

Mr Aiyar, who met the Finance Minister today, will also meet the Left Parties to arrive at a consensus on raising petrol and diesel prices in tandem with the rising trend in international crude oil prices.

Emerging from the meeting, Mr Aiyar, who went to Mr Chidambaram armed with the parliamentary panel report, said he was now ‘’convinced’’ about the Finance Minister’s way of calculation.

He reportedly informed the Finance Minister that the Budget proposals would require an increase of Rs 2.52 per litre in petrol and Rs 1.65 a litre in diesel and this hike should be rolled back to provide comfort to the consumers.

Mr Chidambaram clearly told the Petroleum Minister the hike in the duty on petrol and diesel were neutralised by lowering of tax rates on LPG and kerosene.

According to the definition of “revenue neutral’’, all funds transferred to the consolidated Fund of India were taken into account while funds collected under ‘’cess’’ were calculated under a different head and not in the consolidated fund, he reportedly said.

Mr Chidambaram has increased the cess on petrol and diesel by 50 paise each, which has resulted in an outgo of Rs 3,000 crore from consumers’ pockets.

But the Petroleum Ministry was not satisfied with the Finance Ministry’s views and said, it was the consumer who would have to bear the bill.

Oil companies are also under pressure to increase the prices as they have to pay cess as an additional excise duty.

The Finance Minister reduced customs duty on crude from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. The custom duty on LPG and PDS kerosene was reduced to nil and on petrol and diesel to 10 per cent from 15 per cent. The custom duty on other petroleum products was reduced from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.

Similarly, the excise duty on PDS kerosene and LPG has been brought to nil. For petrol and diesel, the excise tariff, comprising a mix of ad valorem and specific components, was raised to 8 per cent plus Rs 13 per litre in case of petrol and 8 per cent and Rs 3.25 per litre in case of diesel.

New Delhi, April 25
The BJP today accused Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav of “staging a drama” to prepare the ground for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s dismissal, challenging both Congress and the RJD to furnish any video clip to prove that the Union Minister was attacked during his visit to the state.

“The rear screen of the car was damaged by the Railway Minister’s own people. The commission set up by the Gujarat Government to probe the alleged attack on him should look into it. We have clinching evidence to prove there was no attack and no stoning,” BJP vice-president Sushil Kumar Modi, who led a three-member party team to probe the incident, told newspersons here.

Claiming that Mr Yadav was a “pastmaster” in staging such dramas, Mr Modi dared the Congress, RJD and even television channels to prove that the minister was stoned.

“This is being done to put the Chief Minister in the dock. The objectives behind the allegations are to divert attention from the mishap, prepare ground for Mr Modi’s dismissal so that he (Yadav) can become a hero as he did after arresting L.K. Advani during the rath yatra and to revive his Muslim vote bank which shifted during the recent elections,” the BJP leader said.

Mr Modi also posed several question, including why Mr Yadav did not even get a scratch and why the state government was not given intimation about his visit.

Claiming that party MP Jayaben Thakkar was present all along with Mr Yadav and did not notice any attack, he said there was “some tension” on the hospital premises when Congress and Shakti Dal volunteers raised pro-Laloo and anti-Modi slogans and the “kin of the dead and injured” responded with pro-Modi and anti-Laloo slogans.

The BJP leader also alleged that the minister was irked by the presence of Range DIG Rakesh Asthana at the hospital as the latter was SP, CBI, when the fodder scam cases were being investigated.

“Mr Yadav used the most abusive language both against the Chief Minister and the DIG in his media interaction”, Mr Modi claimed.

New Delhi, April 25
Upholding the media’s right of a “fair criticism” of court judgements, the Supreme Court has cautioned news organisations against casting motive on the judiciary merely for the purpose of “sensationalising” news reports on any verdict. It said such motivated criticism would erode people’s faith in the justice-delivery system.

Laying down the guidelines for media as to what extent they could go in criticising the judgement of a court, a Bench of Mr Justice Y K Sabharwal and Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee upheld the conviction of trade union leader Rajendra Sail from Madhaya Pradesh for contempt of court. He was awarded a sentence of six months’ imprisonment by the MP High Court for “casting motive” on the judge for acquitting the accused in trade union leader Shankar Ghua Niyogi murder case in 1998.

His statement against the judgement was published in a local Hindi daily, Hitavada, whose Editor, publisher, printer, bureau chief, chief sub-editor and reporter were also convicted by the high court.

However, the Supreme Court let off the functionaries of Hitavada as it had published an apology for the mistake committed by it even before the high court had issued notices to them.

The court also reduced the sentence of sail from six months to a week’s simple imprisonment.

But it ruled that the sentence awarded to Sail by the high court after taking into account the nature of contempt (committed by him) could not be said to be unjustified, specially when he himself was a law graduate.

The Bench said while criticising the judgements of the courts the media should keep in mind that the “freedom of expression must be exercised with utmost care and responsibility. It must not be abused”.

“Judgements of courts are public documents and can be commented upon, analysed and criticised, but it has to be in dignified manner without attributing motives. The media —whether print or electronic — all concerned have to see whether any such criticism has crossed the limits.”

“Undoubtedly the judgements are open to criticism. No criticism, however vigorous, can amount to contempt of court, provided it is kept within the limits of reasonable courtesy and good faith. A fair and reasonable criticism of a judgement, which is a public act of a judge concerned with administration of justice, would not constitute contempt,” the court held. It also suggested that the media has to evolve a mechanism by itself against unfair and motivated criticism of court verdicts as TV channels were telecasting news round the clock to every nook and corner of the country.

New Delhi, April 25
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered a compensation of Rs 3 lakh for the family of an IIT, Kanpur, student, Tapas Mishra, who died due to “gross negligence and lapse” of a government hospital.

Tapas was admitted to Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital in Kanpur after he suffered serious head injuries following an accident 10 years ago. He succumbed to injuries almost 15 hours after he was admitted, which were compounded by “gross negligence” of the authorities concerned, which took too long to diagnose the extent of injury and denied him prompt treatment by a specialist.

The apex consumer court took serious view of the loss of three hours as Tapas was taken in a trolley to a CT scan centre, some distance away from the hospital, by his friends without any medical escort. It found the hospital “wanting in duty of care in administration of treatment”.

The court rejected the hospital’s contention that the victim was not a “consumer” as it renders free service and that he died due to “fat embolism”, an internal blood clotting, which was beyond their control. Commission’s presiding member Justice K.S. Gupta and member B.K. Taimni said, “The hospital cannot get away from its actions or lack of positive action, which are basically administrative but could have played a pivotal role in saving his life”.

“Life of a young man cannot be brought back and no amount of compensation may fill the gap, yet we are of the view that the complainants need to be compensated for acts of negligence,” the court said, giving its order on the complaint filed by the parents and brothers of the victim.

Tapas suffered injuries after a tempo he and his friends were travelling in rammed into a stationary truck. He was thrown off the vehicle due to the impact. His friends initially took him to the IIT health centre, where he was attended to by a nurse and dressing staff. He was brought to Lajpat Rai hospital at 3 a.m. but was taken to the emergency ward of an orthopaedic surgeon only by 9.30 a.m.

The court also criticised the conduct of the friends of the victim for taking him to a faraway health centre with no facility to handle emergency cases and ignoring a hospital which was just a kilometre away.

New Delhi/Siwan, April 25
The district of Siwan has shut down to support its controversial Robin Hood member of Parliament, Mohammad Shahabuddin. While the police says the bandh has been forced on the public, members of the public say it is a bandh to protest against Sunday’s raids on Shahabuddin’s residences.

Terming the raids on his various residences in Siwan by the SP and DM as revenge, RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin has said he will go for judicial proceedings against the Siwan DM at an appropriate time.

Terming District Magistrate C.K.Anil as a corrupt officer, Shahabuddin said there were a number of proceedings pending against him.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, he said, “At least five to 10 proceedings are going on against C.K. Anil. He is accused of not listening to his seniors, submitting forged bills and of bribery. He is doing all this (raids) out of revenge.” “I have full faith in the judiciary and will move it at an appropriate time. Legal action will be my next move. I will consider the time of moving to the court once I get a copy of the FIR,” said Shahabuddin.

On the other hand, the police headquarters in Siwan informed ANI that the district had fully shut down following the raids on the local MP’s residences.

“The district is totally shut down. The MP’s supporters have forcibly closed the district. However, no violence has been reported yet,” said Brij Kishore Dubey, who is working at local SP Ratna Sanjay’s office.

Meanwhile, four new cases were registered against Shahabuddin today in connection with the seizure of illegal firearms and animal skin from his ancestral house at Pratappur villge in Siwan district yesterday, a senior official said.

The cases were filed under the Arms Act, the Wild Life Protection Act, the Bihar State Electricity Act and the Transport Act. — ANI, PTI

Mumbai, April 25
Faced with long hours of power shutdowns by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) in the middle of summer, consumers are venting their ire by assaulting employees and damaging equipment.

In all, 15 incidents of rioting have been reported across the state, according to senior police officials in the state in the past week. In some places, the police called to rescue trapped MSEB engineers, have had to open fire in to the air to disperse mobs. The authorities were even forced to impose curfew in some places.

“Several policemen have received injuries and are recuperating at hospitals,” a senior Home Department official said.

The situation worsened after the MSEB decided to shut down power for as long as nine hours to prevent transmission equipment from tripping. Though the armed police has been deployed at several MSEB installations, there are no signs of the protests dying down. “We have arrested more than 200 persons so far for rioting,” an official said.

According to state Home Department officials, the protests have been spread across the state. However, Eastern and Central Maharashtra, where temperatures soar to more than 45°C have seen the worst clashes between people and the authorities. The opposition BJP and the Shiv Sena are in the forefront of the protests in many places.

The MSEB officials admit that the power shortfall in the state is to the tune of nearly 4,000 MW. Today, the employees opened a new flank against the board. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, the executive president of the MSEB Workers Federation, Mr Mohan Sharma, said the board could easily add 1,042 MW daily by postponing the shutdown of its plants for maintenance.

He alleged that four units at various power generation stations of the MSEB had been shut down for annual maintenance.

The board has been lacking funds to modernise its obsolete equipment. Worse still, as much as 40 per cent of the power generated by the board is stolen.

New Delhi, April 25
Expressing strong opposition to the Congress-led UPA government’s decision to resume arms supply to Nepal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) today asked the Centre to seek a categorical assurance from the Nepal king as a specific time frame for the restoration of democracy before resumption of arms supply to the Himalayan kingdom.

“The government must not resume the supply of arms without an assurance or official statement from Kathmandu stating a time frame for the restoration of democracy,” CPM leader Nilotpal Basu told reporters here.

He said after the royal coup in Nepal the Left and other parties had a detailed discussion with the Centre. It was agreed that arms supply to Kathmandu would not be resumed till the restoration of democracy there.

Mr Basu said the government’s move to resume arms supply “is like going back on its words.”

He said the party opposed the move as there was no guarantee that arms would be used against extremist elements and not against the democratic forces in Nepal.

King Gyanendra had announced that India had agreed to resume military supplies to the Himalayan kingdom after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Jakarta.

The party said Gyanendra, in his speech at the Asian African Summit, strongly defended his authoritarian action. All that he had assured in his talks with the Prime Minister was that democracy would be restored “sooner rather than later”. Already municipal elections had been announced, which were a farce and could not be a substitute for the full restoration of parliamentary democracy and having an elected government.

The CPM Politbureau said there should be no question of resuming arms supplies to a despotic king who had suppressed the elementary democratic rights of the people. The UPA government must realise that the appreciation and goodwill it had earned with its firm stand in defence of democracy and a popular government in Nepal would disappear and it would be held responsible for abetting the King’s authoritarianism, it added.

New Delhi, April 25
Two Congress chief ministers — Delhi’s Sheila Dikshit and Maharashtra’s Vilasrao Deshmukh — were today called by the party leadership to explain their controversial decisions, which have drawn all-round flak.

Mrs Sheila Dikshit and Mr Ram Babu Sharma, president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC), who is leading the revolt against the chief minister, were eventually called for a hearing by party president Sonia Gandhi tonight.

This meeting was preceded by a one-hour session with Mr Ashok Gehlot, AICC general secretary incharge of Delhi, where the two leaders are learnt to have given their version of recent events which have given rise to dissidence in the state unit. The attack against Mrs Dikshit became even sharper after she walked out of a party meeting last week when legislators objected about her style of functioning.

AICC sources said efforts were on till late tonight to find an amicable solution to the ongoing open battle in the Delhi unit. One option under discussion is to go in for a Cabinet reshuffle and accommodate some of the dissident legislators. Another option is to constitute a coordination panel or a election manifesto implementation committee to bridge the gap between the party and the government.

Mr Deshmukh, who is likely to meet Mrs Gandhi tomorrow, had lenghty meetings with Mr Ahmed Patel, Congress president’s politcal secretary, and Mrs Margaret Alva, AICC general secretary incharge of Maharshtra, ostensibly about a possible Cabinet expansion. However, Mr Deshmukh has also had to explain his remarks on “keeping outsiders out of Maharashtra” and his government’s decision to close down dance bars, which has snowballed into a major controversy.

Mrs Dikshit’s meeting with the Congress president followed two days of speculation that Mrs Gandhi had taken a dim view of the chief minister’s decision to storm out of a party meeting and she was, therefore, not inclined to meet her. However, Congress insiders explained, that Mrs. Gandhi wanted the two leaders to first meet the general secretary incharge. Since Mr Gehlot was not in Delhi, the meeting with the Congress president was consequently delayed.

Although there were murmurs that a change in leadership was being contempltaed, Congress insiders maintained that this entire exercise was meant to “rein in” Mrs Dikshit who, it is felt, was exceeding her brief by taking autonomous decisions. By ensuring that she followed party protoccol and first met the concerned general secretary was essentially a message that no leader is above the party.

In her meeting with Mr Gehlot, Mrs Diskhit is learnt to have asked the AICC to set down the parameters for greater interaction between the government and the party, stating that she would abide by the party’s decision. While Mr Ram Babu Sharma reiterated that the chief minsier had insulted the party when she walked out of a DPCC meeting, Mrs Dikshit explained why she felt compelled to leave. There were sharp exchanges between the two with the chief minister stating emphatically that she would not be browbeaten into taking decisions while the DPCC chief complained that party workers were being neglected as their grievances were not being heard.

New Delhi, April 25
Despite slow progress in disbursing Rs 1,500 crore compensation among six lakh victims of Bhopal gas tragedy, the Supreme Court today extended the time frame for completing the task by one year as the Welfare Commissioner (WC), Bhopal, entrusted with the work, submitted that identification of right claimants was a time-consuming exercise.

The money, paid by US company Union Carbide, from whose plant the deadly gas had caused the death of nearly 5,000 persons and left lakhs of others either infected by various diseases or permanently disabled, was released for disbursement by the apex court in November last year from the Reserve Bank.

Accepting the request of the WC to extend the time limit by one year, a Bench comprising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice B.N. Srikrishna said the task should be completed by May 1, 2006.

The court directed the WC to submit a quarterly progress report about the disbursement of the money.

While ordering the release of the money on November 15, the court had fixed a deadline of April 30 to disburse it among the six lakh victims after an assurance to this effect was given to it by the WC.

But the counsel for the WC today told the court that the assurance given was “perhaps over enthusiastic”.

In the report, the WC had cited the deficiency of the judicial officer and staff as a reason for not been able to complete the work. The report said so far an amount of Rs 224.43 crore had been disbursed among 78,939 victims in the 72,018 cases settled.

Victims’ counsel S. Murlidhar pointed out that the procedure for identification of right claimants had been made so cumbersome that it took a longer time to complete. He pleaded for relaxing the procedure by removing certain unnecessary conditions.

Asking him to submit the details of the difficulties faced by the victims on this account to the Registrar General of the apex court, the Bench said a “sympathetic” view would be taken of their problems.