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Police memorial issue: HC summons DUAC chairman
Nanavati Commission: 22 Delhi Police officers faced criminal charges
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Lovely discharged in rioting case
VAT rates rationalised
Khatana elected Faridabad mayor
House allotment cancelled for commercial activity
IRS officer’s murder: Cops make no headway
Councillors to get more development funds
Criminal gunned down
Man shoots self after tiff with wife
Sex racket busted, 27 prostitutes held
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Police memorial issue: HC summons DUAC chairman
New Delhi, August 9 “After perusing the affidavit, our confidence in DUAC has been shaken,” a Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma observed while directing Correa to remain present before it to assist it in the matter on the next date. The Bench also asked the Centre to produce records of correspondence between the DUAC and Land and Development Office of the Union Urban Development Ministry in this regard. The court, which was earlier ready to refer the matter to the DUAC for review, said it would like the matter to be looked into by an independent panel and asked Additional Solicitor General P. P. Malhotra and petitioners’ counsel V. P. Singh to give some names of prominent persons from the fields Architecture, Heritage and Environment. The court got angry after perusing NDMC’s affidavit which contradicted DUAC’s submissions and narrated the sequence
of events and documents that led to the decision of raising the height of the Memorial from 31.5 meter to 47.22 meter. The court observed that the DUAC affidavit did not contain relevant information and was not in consonant with the affidavit filed by the New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC). The high court, on July 22, 2004 had stayed construction of the Police Memorial at Chanakyapuri in the heart of the Capital on a suit filed by six prominent citizens of the city. The Centre, Central Public Works Department (CPWD), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), NDMC and DUAC were the respondents. Challenging the construction of the 150-feet high steel structure as part of the Memorial near the Shantipath-Kautilya Marg intersection, the plaintiffs — senior journalist B G Verghese, social activist Anita Vikram Lal, senior citizen A N Mishra, secretary-general of the Heritage Society of Delhi Trilochan Singh, senior architect and structural engineer Mahendra Raj and art historian Dr Shobita Punja — urged the court to direct the respondents to dismantle or remove the structure from the present site. The suit said that four of the plaintiffs — Mr Verghese, Ms Lal, Mr Mishra and Mr Singh — are staying near the site and are among the persons who are directly affected by the construction of the structure. The plaintiffs submitted that the enormous height of the steel structure would impinge on the glory of Rashtrapati Bhavan and completely block the view of its dome from Shantipath, which is the main approach to the city via the diplomatic enclave. They further submitted that the steel structure would also undermine the status of Rashtrapati Bhavan. The suit said the erection of the structure is totally out of context and out of sync with the aesthetic, architectural and historical character of Lutyens’ Delhi. It further said that the structure is obtrusive on account of its massive proportion and does not blend with the vista of the Lutyens’ Bungalow
Zone. The plaintiffs stated that the Centre, CPWD, NDMC, and DUAC had bypassed and ignored the recommendations of the Committee constituted by the Union Urban Development Ministry under M N Buch to
review the situation in the New Delhi area, and in particular the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone. Hearing an appeal against a Single Judge’s order staying the construction, the Bench took a serious view of the fact that the memorial was being built on a piece of land measuring 6.1 acre shown as a District Park in the Zonal Development Plan (Zone D-1) and 1.42 acre of round about in Chanakyapuri. The ASG wanted the court to allow completion of the construction. “Ninety five per cent work is over. Let us complete the work and if there is an order to the contrary, we will demolish it,” Malhotra submitted.
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Nanavati Commission: 22 Delhi Police officers faced criminal charges
New Delhi, August 9 The list of the ‘accused’ included two Assistant Commissioners of Police and five Station House Officers (SHO), according to the Nanavati Commission report. Among others named in the ‘list’ are four Sub-Inspectors, five Assistant Sub-Inspectors, one Head Constable and five Constables. Of these, only one was convicted and five others acquitted. Against one, ‘no evidence’ was reported. Besides these ‘no charge-sheet (was) filed’ due to lack of evidence. Also, while there are eight in whose case ‘files (remain) untraced’, in five other cases the status is of ‘pending trial’. The Nanavati Commission had blamed the police of remaining passive and “refrained from protecting” the people, while asserting that had timely action been taken several lives could have been saved. “The attitude of the police force was callous...,’’ said the Commission. In its report, the Commission held the then police Commissioner S C Tandon responsible for “what was going on in Delhi during those days” and ‘indicted’ him for his failure to take prompt and effective action. “There was a colossal failure in maintenance of law and order and as the head of the police force he has to be held responsible for the failure,” it said in its report. He should have taken strict action against defaulting officers immediately and ought to have given directions to be more strict with the crowds, it added. The Commission report while pointing a direct finger on its role during the sectarian riots, recommended that the police force be kept free from political influence and be well-equipped to take immediate and effective action.
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Lovely discharged in rioting case
New Delhi, August 9 Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjiv Jain discharged the two ministers along with 13 other Youth Congress activists allowing an application filed by the prosecution seeking withdrawal of the case pertaining to a demonstration demanding a ban on activities of Bajrang Dal and VHP. “Accused were demonstrating for their demands and had no serious intentions. They were not professional criminals or previous convicts. I agree with the contention of learned APP that no prejudice would be caused to any person by the withdrawal of the case. Accused persons are discharged”, the
Magistrate said in the order. According to the FIR, hundreds of Youth Congress activists led by Surjewala and Lovely assembled at Raisina Road on June 30, 2000 and began marching towards the Prime Minister’s residence demanding a ban on VHP and Bajrang Dal. But police stopped them some distance away following which they turned violent. They then broke through the barricade forcing the police to burst tear gas shells. Police charged 15 people, including Surjewala and Lovely under section 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), 332 (obstructing public servant from performing their
duty and 353 (assault on public servant). But charges could not be framed in the case as on each date some or the other accused remained absent.
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VAT rates rationalised
New Delhi, August 9 Delhi Finance Minister Dr A K Walia said that spare parts of manually operated agricultural implements, papad/vadi, leaf plates/cups, paper waster and incense sticks have been exempted from VAT. Earlier these items were being taxed at 4 per cent. Toffee, papad, incence sticks and household plastic items like combs and soapcases will also become cheaper. He also informed that 10 items of industrial use, 5 items of human consumption and 5 other items of utility to common man have been brought down from 12.5 per cent to 4 per cent, providing huge relief to the traders and common man. The fee for seeking clarification on the VAT rules has also been brought down. Traders will now have to pay Rs 500 instead of Rs 10,000 per question. The government reduced VAT on ten items of industrial inputs and ten consumer items from 12.5 per cent to 4 per cent. These items include spare parts and accessories of agricultural implements, electrodes and welding equipment, adhesives, electroplating chemicals, industrial perfumes and concentrates. Hardware like window fitting, knobs, nail, paint brushes and insulating varnish have also been extended to the reduced VAT. Meanwhile, the Delhi Urban Development Minister Dr A K Walia today inspected the Trans-Yamuna’s largest Underground Reservoir and Booster Pumping Station at Bank Enclave in Geeta Colony and discussed the progress with the officials. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB), which is constructing the reservoir and the booster pump station at an estimated cost of Rs 11 crore, would have a capacity of 24.3 ML and the work is likely to be completed by March 2006. After inspecting the site, Dr Walia instructed the officials to speed up the construction work and said that lakhs of residents residing in the area would get better water supply next year. The residents of Bank Enclave, Priyadarshini Vihar, Kundan Nagar, Vishwakarma Park, Laxmi Nagar, Ramesh Park, Lalita Park, Jawahar Park, Krishna Nagar, Ram Nagar, Chandan Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Jagat Puri and Gagan Vihar would get maximum relief after the commissioning of this reservoir.
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Khatana elected Faridabad mayor
Faridabad, August 9 The election of the mayor was held after a record time gap of 98 days. Mr Shiv Charan Lal Sharma and Mr Basant Virmani were elected senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively. Mrs Khatana will be the fifth person to occupy this post since the MCF came into being in 1994. The development is seen as the result of a tussle and differences between the local MLAs and the MP over the selection of the candidate. This led to an unusual delay in the election of the mayor. While the elections to the MCF were held on April 30, the wrangling for the post had begun as soon it was declared that the post was reserved for a woman. Though as many as 12 women have been elected members of the house out of the total membership of 35, the corporators could not reach a consensus over any candidate as no one was experienced or considered suitable for the job, claimed one of the members. He, however, admitted that the interference of the MLAs and the MP had made matters worse, resulting in the intervention of the Chief Minister. According to reports, all 35 members were present at the meeting. As the names of the candidates were disclosed before the members, the latter adopted the unanimous selection method to complete the formality. Mr Mahender Bhadana, corporator from ward number 9, proposed the name of Mrs Khatana for the post of mayor, which was seconded by Mr Dayachand Yadav. For senior deputy mayor, Mr Sharma’s name was proposed by Mrs Seema Trikha. The Commissioner, Gurgaon Range, the Commissioner, MCF, the Deputy Commissioner and the Additional SP were among others present at the meeting. Scribes of the local dailies who were not allowed entry in the hall, however, protested. They raised slogans against the government and the authorities besides staging a dharna for some time.
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House allotment cancelled for commercial activity
Noida, August 9 Besides, the allotment of five others have been suspended for not having deposited the allotment money within the time limit. According to a spokesman of the authority, residents welfare associations had complained against residential premises being misused for commercial purposes in their respective sectors. The Noida authority had sent notices to the offenders. Most people had stopped the commercial activity. Noida engineers, in a survey, found that in some 176 residential houses and plots commercial activity was still being carried on. Notices to some of them had already been sent but to no effect. CEO Avnish Awasthi then passed cancellation orders for certain houses as per the report. The allotment of houses of Ravinder Kumar (E-253), Krishan Kumar (E-177), B. Kishore (E-84) in Sector 27, Jagjeewan Prasad, H-84, Sector 22, and Vidhya Devi Y-358A, Sector 12 here have been cancelled by the Noida CEO. Notices to another 172 allottees have also been sent, it is learnt.
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IRS officer’s murder: Cops make no headway
Gurgaon, August 9 Mr Biswas, who was found in a semi-conscious condition with head injuries near the body of Sharwani on August 5,was admitted to the local Umakal Hospital. The police today visited him at the hospital after it was medically certified that he was in an improved physical condition. An officer of the rank of DSP
visited Mr Biswas and was with him for more than three hours. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Gurgaon, Mr Hanif Khureshi, said although the police had a talk with Mr Biswas no statement had been recorded. According to him, the police felt that he needed to be given more time yet to recover before his statement could be recorded. Mr Khureshi said the statement could be recorded tomorrow. The DSP, Mr Kulwinder Singh, who visited Mr Biswas said he had still not recovered fully and was unable to relate the sequence of events. The investigation so far has not made much headway as Mr Biswas is apparently the only person who can throw light on the incident relating to the death of Sharwani. The domestic help that the couple had employed has been missing, allegedly after the incident. The fact, however, is that the police are not sure whether the domestic help went missing after or before the incident. In the absence of any credible lead, the police have been so far working on various theories but so far have drawn a blank.
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Councillors to get more development funds
New Delhi, August 9 This was announced here today by Delhi Mayor Mr Satbir Singh in reply to a query by independent councillor Asif Mohammad Khan In connection with the money, the Commissioner said that the additional amount of Rs 50 lakh will be sanctioned after a list of the work will be submitted to the officer concerned. Now the councillors have no need to submit the details of the work to be done in the particular ward of the corporator.
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Criminal gunned down
New Delhi, August 9 According to the police officials, the Special Cell today caught two persons, Kuldeep Singh and Mukesh. The two were allegedly accomplices of the deceased. The police claimed to have seized firearms from their possession. The duo reportedly told the police Anil was coming to the Kanjhawala area in the evening. A trap was laid at the spot. At the specified time, a Maruti car bearing a Haryana registration number was seen coming from the Haryana side. When the police signaled for the car to stop, the occupant ignored and tried to
escape. The police further said Anil, who was sitting in the car, opened fire at the police party but no policeman sustained any injury. The police party fired two shots at the victim in the moving car. The latter sustained bullet injuries. He was taken to Maharishi Balmiki Hospital where he was declared brought dead.
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Man shoots self after tiff with wife
Noida, August 9 According to the police, Shailender Kumar Chauhan of Mainpuri and Shabnam, daughter of a factory security personnel, Santosh Kumar, were married about two years ago. Shabnam wanted her husband to look for a job in Noida, but Shailender felt he had many responsibilities and a mere job would not be sufficient to meet the family’s needs. Shabnam had returned from her in-laws’ house to her parents’ house in Noida sometime back. Shailender had come to fetch her on Sunday. Shabnam reportedly refused to accept her parents’ advice also since she was adamant on staying in Noida. There was tension in the family. Shailender sent Shabnam’s cousin Naveen to fetch a glass of water. As the latter left, a gunshot was heard. Shailender was lying dead in a pool of blood.
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Sex racket busted, 27 prostitutes held
New Delhi, August 9 The pimps have been identified as Jitender (20), Sombir (28), Lakhi (22), Krishan Kumar (30) and Laxman (27). The arrests were made on the basis of a tip-off received by the local police.
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