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Hooda evasive on Congress charge sheet against Chautala
Criminals making the most in CM’s hometown
Lawyers, admin at loggerheads over seating arrangement
Haryana appoints 64
new law officers
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Varsity not to be lenient with truant Abhey
Father, 2 kids buried alive
MC removes encroachments
Karnal leads in wheat procurement
Safai karamcharis seek better deal
Four killed as car overturns
Disconnection of power supply decried
2 promoted to grade of DGP
Summer timings at HAU
Bar panel members nominated
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Hooda evasive on Congress charge sheet against Chautala
Chandigarh, May 2 He did not give any clear-cut answer today when asked about the government’s course of action on the charge sheet the Congress had submitted to the state Governor before the Assembly elections held in February. The party claimed that the charge sheet contained details of property illegally amassed by the then Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and members of his family. Speaking at a press conference here Mr Hooda once again gave his stock reply when faced with questions about the wealth allegedly illegally amassed by the Chautala family. “The Congress will not indulge in political vendetta against anyone. The Vigilance Bureau and other organisations are doing their work and the law will take its own course in all complaints,” he said. He added that there was no need to give the charge sheet to the state Vigilance Bureau. “The charge sheet was submitted by the party to the Governor who had sent it to the authorities concerned,” he said. The AICC general secretary and in charge of party affairs in Haryana, Mr Janardhan Diwedi, who was also present at the press conference, said the charge sheet was prepared by the Congress in order to expose the alleged corrupt deeds of Mr Chautala. The people of Haryana had already punished him by giving him a severe drubbing in the Assembly elections, he said. He said Congress President Sonia Gandhi would address the “dhanyavad rally” to be held in Jind on May 14 to thank the people of the state for giving the party a massive mandate in the elections. He said the rally would have been held earlier but got delayed due to the death of two ministers in a helicopter accident. Regarding ailing Haryana Congress president Bhajan Lal, Mr Diwedi said he was hopeful that he would recover soon and attend the rally. Asked if the Congress high command was planning to change the state party chief, Mr Dwivedi said the organisational poll was being held in the state shortly and it would settle the issue of leadership. Mr Hooda expressed ignorance about a case filed in the Supreme Court against his appointment as Chief Minister, and said he had not received notice from the court so far in connection with the case. Mr Diwedi, Mr Hooda and Haryana Congress working president Randeep Singh Surjewala later addressed a meeting of party workers convened to discuss the preparations for the “dhanyavad rally.” While addressing the workers, Mr Hooda said those party functionaries who mobilised the largest number of persons for the rally would be rewarded. In the case of MLAs, the reward could be a berth in the Council of Ministers, Mr Hooda said. He added that though the Congress was in power in the state, government machinery should not be misused for mobilising people for the rally. Mr Diwedi asked Congress functionaries to sort out their differences and grievances at party fora instead of making their problems public. |
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Criminals making the most in CM’s hometown
Rohtak, May 2 In a daring robbery about two weeks ago three motorcycle-borne youths decamped with jewellery from a showroom in a multi-storeyed building on the town’s most crowded and busiest Civil Road in broad daylight. They even fired shots in the air before fleeing. The case is yet to be solved. This shocking incident was followed by a theft in a showroom located only a few yards from the private residence of Mr Hooda here. Though police guards are posted at the residence of the Chief Minister, there is also a police post right opposite the burgled showroom. Despite this, the thieves stayed in the showroom for more than an hour and stole whatever took their fancy. Though the Superintendent of Police and the Deputy Commissioner were summoned to the CM’s residence and given a dressing down, the case remains unsolved. This was followed by a complaint by a teacher of Maharshi Dayanand University, who alleged that a police constable attached to the security of a visiting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was found peeping into ladies toilet in the university’s faculty house while she was using it. The matter was reported to the judge, who summoned the SP and brought the incident to his notice. The police has not yet registered a case, albeit an inquiry has been ordered. But even before the inquiry report was received, the SP was quoted in a section of the Press that prima facie it appeared there was no substance in the allegation. Earlier, during the Chief Minister’s two official visits here most of the policemen on duty were seen wearing sports shoes. This was despite the fact that after the new government came into being the DGP had directed that the turnout of the policemen on duty should be proper. Traffic conditions in the town continue to be chaotic. Though traffic lights are installed at all important road crossings, there is no check on jumping of lights. Traffic police constables can be found seated on chairs in the shade and making no efforts to regulate traffic. One of the busiest intersections is located just 100 yards from the SP’s residence. |
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Lawyers, admin at loggerheads over seating arrangement
Fatehabad, May 2 While the administration is determined to get the hall vacated from lawyers, the advocates are adamant to continue their possession over the hall till their chambers were constructed. A delegation of lawyers will leave for Chandigarh tomorrow to meet the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice, Mr D.K. Jain, in this connection. The local courts started functioning in the new judicial complex today. The complex was inaugurated yesterday. As the issue of chambers for the lawyers was still hanging fire due to non-availability of land, the lawyers put up their chairs, tables and other belonging in the litigant’s hall of the complex immediately after the inauguration yesterday. Mr Justice Jain, who had come here to inaugurate the judicial complex, had reservation over the ‘encroachment’ of the litigant’s hall by lawyers, according to sources. Even in his speech after inauguration, the Chief Justice had voiced concern over lack of facilities for litigants in the newly constructed judicial complex. As the courts started functioning today, the Bar Association President, Mr Ravinder Tayal, told lawyers that the administration wanted them to lift their belongings from the litigant’s hall and make some alternative arrangements. Though the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Phateh Singh Dagar, was not available for comments, sources said the administration had asked lawyers to vacate the hall. The lawyers convened an emergency meeting of the Bar Association today and decided to maintain possession of the hall till their chambers were constructed. A 12-member action committee of lawyers was constituted with senior lawyer Mr Om Parkash Mehta, as its head to chalk out a strategy in this regard. A delegation of lawyers met the Senior Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr H.S. Bhangu, during lunch and apprised him of their position. The judge, according to sources, expressed his helplessness to do anything in the matter. The lawyers then decided to proceed to Chandigarh and take up the matter with the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. |
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Haryana appoints 64
new law officers
Chandigarh, May 2 Those appointed as Additional AG are Mr M.L. Saggar, Mr Harish Ghai, Mr Rameshwar Malik, Mr Kewal Sharma, Mr Surinder Garg, Mr Anil Rathee, Mr Kulbir Narwal, Mr Ashok Jindal, Mr Anmol Rattan Sidhu and Mr Sanjiv Bansal. The Senior Deputy AGs are Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Birender Singh Rana, Mr Madan Gopal Gupta, Mr Ranjeet Singh Baath, Mr Jatinder Kumar Chauhan, Mr Rajiv Kwatra, Mr Suresh Monga, Mr Sri Krishan, Mr Pratap Singh, Mr Harish Rathee and Mr S.S. Pattar. Among the Deputy AGs are Ms Ritu Bahri, Mr Mahavir Singh Sindhu, Mr Ravi Dutt Sharma, Mr Ramesh Sharma, Mr Paramjit Singh Sullar, Mr Deepinder Singh, Mr Ajay Singh Gangas, Mr Virender Singh Rathore, Mr Vijender Singh Rathee, Mr Sunil Katyal, Ms Mala Choudhary, Ms Pushpa Mahant, Mr Dharampal Sharma and Mr Gurdev Singh Virk. The Assistant AGs are Ms Palika Monga, Ms Mamta Singhal, Mr Sudhir Makkar, Mr Satyavir Yadav, Mr A.K. Rathee, Mr S.S. Kharab, Ms Shalini Attri, Mr Kanwalpreet Gill, Mr Deepak Gihrotra, Ms Hemlata Balhara, Mr Narinder Sura, Mr Sidharath Batra, Mr Sumer Singh Ohlian, Mr J.S. Pannu, Mr Rajesh Verma, Mr Dinesh Arora, Mr Vijendra Singh, Mr Manjeet Singh, Mr Deepak Bura, Mr Ashok Balhara, Mr H.S. Bisla, Mr Yashvinder Singh, Mr Jinender Mann, Mr Amit Kaushik, Mr Ajay Gulati, Mr Hitender Singh Surjewala, Mr Satish Kumar, Mr Mohinder Singh and Mr Manmohan Sikka. With today’s appointments, the total number of law officers, including the AG, has gone up to 66. A Senior Additional Advocate-General had been appointed along with the AG. Interestingly, some of the newly-appointed law officers are already functioning as law officers in the office of Punjab AG. They include Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association President Anmol Rattan Sidhu, who is a Senior Deputy AG in Punjab. |
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Varsity not to be lenient with truant Abhey
Sirsa, May 2 Talking to TNS, though Vice-Chancellor R.R. Fuliya evaded giving a direct answer on the issue, he assured the CDLU would not be “lenient with anyone”. He was on the campus for the first time after assuming charge last month. The Tribune had highlighted that Abhey Singh was an irregular student in the Department of Law. During the entire session he had allegedly not attended even a single lecture. There was an uproar on the campus regarding this. According to sources, the Vice-Chancellor today had a meeting with Dr M.C. Garg Chairman of the Department of Law, and discussed the matter with him. During the discussion, the officials were understood to have agreed on not allowing a roll number to be given to Abhey Singh as he had not attended the requisite lectures. Though the officials kept mum over the issue, sources said that following pressure mounted by the news items published in the Tribune over the issue the Vice-Chancellor had given the nod to going by the rules. He had asserted there was no need to succumb to any pressure. But the issue over how Abhey managed to secure the seat and who took the tests in the past two years remains a mystery with officials being in no mood to shed any light on this. |
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Father, 2 kids buried alive
Sonepat, May 2 According to a report, a large number of residents who had assembled at the site succeeded in taking out Manoj and his sister Promila. But their father Balbir Singh was yet to be taken out. They were taken to the local Civil Hospital but no doctor was present in the emergency ward. They went to a private hospital where a doctor declared both as brought dead. They, then brought the bodies to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Many residents alleged that officials of the district and police administration were busy making arrangements for the tour of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister, who was to inaugurate a food processing unit in Sector 7 of the city. Only after Hooda left the city, the DC, SP and SDM reached the village and requisitioned a JCB machine for taking out Balbir Singh. The work was still in progress. |
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A school of failures
Thaththar (Morni), May 2 An island of life in wilderness, the village is a world in itself with no connectivity with the outside world — neither telephones nor transport. No wonder, teachers dread a posting to this school in no man’s land where they literally have to bite the dust to reach the school. The only two formidable ways to get to the village are by trekking through a stony river bed for a good 5 km or taking the narrow, muddy tract in the hillocks which is longer by 23 km. And of the three teachers at the school, Mr Dharam Singh walks down 12 km from Morni to reach the school everyday, while PTI, Chandrashekar, walks through the river bed to take his classes. “We come here with great difficulty only for the sake of the students. All of last year we tried teaching the kids whatever little we could of their curriculum. The school has had no teachers for various subjects. Two teachers, a Shastri and a social science teacher came for a short while but sought a transfer within a month after the villagers resisted all attempts of the teachers to bring some discipline,” the teachers maintain. The panch from the village, Mr Karam Singh, says they will take up the matter afresh with the Education Department. “The teachers have to come without which it is pointless running this school. We are grateful to the three teachers posted here. We will also urge the Transport Department to start buses in consonance with the school timing to get the teachers to a nearest possible spot around the village. Another point of view at the village is that the Education Department ought to close down this school if it can’t arrange for teachers for the kids rather than bringing them a bad name annually. “We even tried to take local help for teaching in school. There are two matriculate boys in the village who were roped in to take the board classes. They left within a week since the remuneration of Rs 400-500 didn’t seem very tempting,” the teachers hold. |
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MC removes encroachments
Panipat, May 2 A team led by two officials of the MC removed these temporary encroachments. The residents opposed the move. One of the affected persons, Mr Om Parkash Sapra, said that they were not given any notice by the MC in this regard before removing the encroachments. They had planted saplings to beautify the area, he added. Mr Sapra and other residents alleged that an influential resident of the colony had encroached upon a big portion of the MC land for over one-and-a-half decades and he had constructed rooms on the encroached land, but the officials had not botherd to remove that encroachment, although a number of residents had lodged complaints against him. |
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Karnal leads in wheat procurement
Karnal, May 2 As per an official statement issued by the Food and Supplies Department 43.16 lakh tonnes of wheat had arrived in the mandis of the state. The government agencies had purchased 42.72 lakh tonnes of wheat while traders had purchased 43,898 metric tonnes of wheat, which was just 1 per cent of the total wheat arrival. Hafed had procured 15.62 lakh tonnes, the Food and Supplies Department 9.06 lakh tonnes, FCI 5.90 lakh tonnes, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation 4.13 lakh tonnes, Haryana Warehousing Corporation 4.07 lakh tonnes and Confed 3.92 lakh tonnes. The state government has claimed that payment to farmers was being made within 48 to 72 hours. The government had so far disbursed Rs 1,937 crore among the farmers. On the other hand, the arrival of mustard in the mandis is also in full swing and 2,37,310 metric tonnes of mustard had arrived in the mandis. So far, 1,80,070 metric tonnes have been purchased by Hafed. |
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Safai karamcharis seek better deal
Ambala, May 2 Chairperson of the commission, Ms Santosh Chaudhary, today told mediapersons that they had suggested in their report that Gandhi Jayanti should also be celebrated as Safai Karamchari Divas. “We have suggested that contract system should be brought to an end since safai karamcharis are made to work more and are paid less,” she said. She also said it had been noticed that there was discrepancy in pay scale of safai karamcharis in different states. “We have sought that there should not be any disparity in pay. We also want the prompt implementation of the Labour Act.” Ms Chaudhary said there was a lack of awareness among safai karamcharis about the numerous programmes being run for their benefit. She said a fresh survey of safai karamcharis was required since there were certain discrepancies in the records. Ms Chaudhary expressed unhappiness over the non-implementation of the National Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Safai Karamcharis. “We have asked the state governments to give status report on scavengers. Some state governments have neither submitted the utilisation certificate nor sought more money for future,” she said. Citing an example, Ms Chaudhary said a sum of Rs 17 crore, which was allocated to Gujarat had not been spent. “The Gujarat Government has given an affidavit in court that there are no scavengers in the state. They have no clear reply to what happened to the money which was forwarded to them,” she said. She said today safai karamcharis of Ambala Railway Division had met her and told her about their problems. “They said there was a backlog of posts, lack of promotion and better quality uniforms were needed,” she said. “I have directed the Railway officers that they should first spend money on the maintenance of the safai karamchari quarters and then with the remaining money the maintenance of bungalows should be carried out,” she added. Ms Chaudhary said the Prime Minister was keen that the system of scavengers picking up night soil should end by December 31, 2007. “We also want that the definition of scavengers should be re-defined,” she said. |
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Four killed as car overturns
Sonepat, May 2 According to information, the youths were attending a marriage at the village and had gone to fetch some liquor from the kundli border. However, their car was hit by a vehicle and the impact was so forceful that the car overturned several times. All four died on the spot. Their bodies have been brought to the local Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination. In another incident, a motorcyclist identified as Kamlesh from Uttar Pradesh died on the spot after his motorcycle hit a rickshaw this morning. |
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Disconnection of power supply decried
Ambala, May 2 He said that the Army officials had not given heed to the problem being faced by the bungalow owners. “On one hand, MES does not want to give them power and on the other hand, HSEB is not in a position to provide power to the bungalows. The bungalow owners are sandwiched between two departments,” he said. Mr Vij said that a solution could be that the power supply to MES should be increased so that there are no power cuts in the Cantonment area. |
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2 promoted to grade of DGP
Chandigarh, May 2 Mr Koshy will remain the Director, State Vigilance Bureau. The government upgraded the post of Director, State Vigilance Bureau, to the grade of Director-General up to June 30, 2005. |
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Summer timings at HAU
Hisar, May 2 Since August 1 last, the varsity was observing winter timings, from 9 am to 4.30 pm. The Registrar said these timings would also be observed by all outstation centres of the university, including Krishi Vigyan Kendras and regional research stations. |
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Bar panel members nominated
Ambala, May 2 Executive committee members are Mr N.K. Gupta, Mr Umesh Mittal, Mr SC Jaiswal, Mr P.K. Bansal, Mr Anil Malhotra, Mr Sunil Malik and Mr Kamal Jassi.
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Patwari held for graft
Sonepat, May 2
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Garg is officiating Controller of Exam
Sirsa, May 2
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