New Delhi, August 31
Dealing with a petition challenging the dissolution of Bihar Assembly, the Supreme Court today referred the matter to a five-judge Bench asking it to examine the four questions framed by it in this regard.

The Governor’s has immunity under Article 361 from being taken to the court for any of his action in the performance of his constitutional obligations, including recommending the imposition of President’s rule in a state under Article 356. This immunity has been challenged in the apex court on the ground whether he could be put to court’s notice for “non-performance” of the duties conferred on him by the Constitution.

This question has emerged from Bihar Governor Buta Singh’s alleged non-performance of his constitutional obligation to administer oath to elected MLAs after election earlier this year before imposing President’s rule on March 7, three days after the Election Commission (EC) had notified the constitution of the Assembly on completion of the poll process.

The Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice G.P. Mathur and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan told Attorney-General (AG) Milon Banerjee and Additional Solicitor-General (ASG) Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for the Centre, that such a situation where a Governor failed to perform his duty specified in the Constitution “is disturbing our minds… what should be the Constitutional position… shall we not ask him to perform his constitutional obligation”.

If the action of a Governor “suits” the political party in power and he did not perform his duty in accordance with the Constitution “deliberately”, what is the position?, the Bench asked. Should the Governor not be put to notice of the court and asked to file reply when his inaction is challenged in a writ petition?

In view of this, the court framed four questions: (1) whether the protection afforded by Article 361 of the Constitution to the Governor, extent and scope of it prevented him from being impleaded as a party in a case even when there are allegations of mala fide in a writ petition; (2) whether inaction or omission to exercise a power conferred or failure to perform a duty imposed by the Constitution, or fraudulent use of power, would come under protection of Article 361 and could it be claimed that the Governor shall not be answerable to the court for non-exercise of the power or non-performance of the duties conferred or imposed on him by the Constitution; (3) whether in a case where a mandamus directing the Governor to perform his constitutional obligation of administering the oath of office to newly elected MLAs for making the Assembly functional as contemplated by Article 188, and the appointment of Chief Minister and Council of Ministers is sought, the Governor could not be “co-nominee (by his name)” impleaded as a party since the mandamus sought for is against him and not against the Union of India; and (4) whether the argument of the Attorney-General and the Centre that even in the case of the failure of the Governor to perform his constitutional duty, the mandamus or any other direction could be issued only to the Union Government not to the Governor.

While fixing September 6 for hearing arguments on these questions before a five-judge Constitution Bench for disposing of the matter in view of the importance it attached, the court said all related matter, including an application seeking stay of the election in Bihar, till adjudication of the matter, would be heard by the Constitution Bench.

The court also orally asked the Election Commission (EC) to defer issuing of its press release on election schedule till September 6 without passing a formal order even when commission’s counsel wanted the same as Union Government counsel opposed any such direction to the poll panel, contending that it would amount to staying the election process.

The four questions framed by the court were finalised after minor amendments suggested by the AG, ASG, petitioner’s counsel Soli J. Sorabjee and advocate Viplav Sharma, from whose public interest litigation (PIL) the whole issue of Governor’s “non-performance” of constitutional obligation, has emerged.

New Delhi, August 31
Inter-ministerial discussions prior to the Public Investment Board (PIB) meeting were held today to take a look into the Air-India's plan to acquire 50 Boeing aircraft at cost of Rs 30,000 crore.

Officials from various ministries looked into the aspects of the proposal, but oddly in an apparent rush to clear the deal, decided to seek whatever clarifications they had only during the PIB meeting. However, the meeting reflected a step forward for Air-India in acquiring new generation aircraft that intended to meet its requirements from 2006 through 2013.

Officials from the Finance, Commerce, and Civil Aviation ministries, besides Planning Commission, and those from the public sector carrier, held the first round of pre-PIB discussions today.

Generally two rounds of pre-PIB discussions take place before the issue is referred to the PIB. Once the PIB clears the plan, the Union Cabinet's approval is required.

Sources said certain clarifications had been sought from the airline, but refused to elaborate. However, there were indications that these clarifications might only be sought during the PIB meeting.

The government has set up a three-member Oversight Committee, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General C.G. Somaiah to go through the acquisition process. The other members are Expenditure Secretary Adarsh Kishore and Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad.

After examining the recommendations of an in-house techno-economic committee appointed to examine the bids by manufacturers like Boeing and the Airbus Industries, the AI board had on April 26 approved the purchase of eight Boeing 777-200 LR (long range) in three class configuration, 15 Boeing 777-300 ER (extended range) 350 seater and 27 Boeing 787 medium capacity long range 250 seater aircraft in two class configuration. These planes have been selected in three categories, medium capacity ultra-long range, medium capacity long-range 350 seaters and medium range 250 seaters.

New Delhi, August 31
A CISF constable, on guard duty at the Rashtrapati Bhavan was found dead in the wee hours of the day, which prima facie appeared to be a case of suicide.

Krishna Kumar (29) was found with a single gunshot wound in the chest at the sentry post at the gates of the sprawling presidential palace at around 3:00 a.m., the police said.

His colleagues rushed him to a nearby hospital, but he succumbed to the injuries on the way.

Kumar, of the 81st Battalion of the CISF, hailed from Chhattisgarh and had resumed duty only yesterday after a leave.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi district) Anita Roy said while prima facie it appeared to be a case of suicide the possibility of accidental firing could not be ruled out.

“We cannot say anything for certain until we receive the forensic report,” she said. The shot was apparently fired from the constable’s service revolver.

A fortnight back a CRPF jawan, posted at Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran’s Akbar Road residence in high security New Delhi district, had shot dead his senior colleague, apparently due to some personal enmity. — PTI

New Delhi, August 31
Urging the Centre to ensure speedy and complete rehabilitation of those affected as a result of anti-Sikh “communal” riots of 1984, the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, today commended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for “his determination and assurance to the nation to take legal action against those guilty of the riots and acceptance of all recommendations of the Nanavati Commission.

Speaking at the NIC meeting, Mr Singh said the country had witnessed severe crisis in the past on account of communal stress and tension. “Most condemnable communal violence in the recent past was anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and anti-Muslim Godhra riots of 2002,” he said.

In the context of communal crisis, the most decisive impact of government action could be by holding responsible the concerned officials for any act of omission and commission in preventing a communal situation from developing, he said.

Mr Singh said swift and exemplary punishment to the officials would not only send the right signal to the administrative system and prevent recurrence of communal conflagrations but also restore faith of people, particularly the minorities.

The Chief Minister said there was complete communal harmony in Punjab. “There are, however, some disturbing trends such as a section of radical Hindu organisations trying to exploit the issue of conversion and some Sikh groups raising their voices over the alleged saffronisation of their religion by staunch Hindu organisations. However, we are confident that the people of Punjab would not allow any such mischief mongers to raise their head because of their intrinsic love for peace and harmony. They have demonstrated this to the nation with their victory over terrorism during the eighties and nineties,” he said.

The Chief Minister said lack of employment opportunities was a major concern of his government. “With over 20 lakh educated unemployed youth, the rate of unemployment is very high at 8 per cent in Punjab. Besides the rural youth are grossly underemployed,” he said.

The Chief Minister said education was one of the primary instruments for strengthening the secular fabric of the society and a critical source of social transformation and development. He said the Centre should raise the funding for education to 6 per cent of GDP as envisaged in the National Policy of Education.

He said the Centre and states should take up the responsibility to ensure educational growth of religious and linguistic minorities. Mr Singh sought a central legislation to protect these minorities and ensure educational development of the under-privileged. He said the country had the largest number of languages and the minorities in the world.

The Chief Minister said Punjab Scheduled Castes Commission had become fully operational and was providing an effective mechanism for redressal of genuine grievances of the SC population of the state.

New Delhi, August 31
India today sought increased participation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its national highways and inland water transport development plans.

At a meeting with a high-level ADB team, Union Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Minister T. R. Baalu said there had been a major shift in the government’s policy in road sector projects from the EPC-based project funding to build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

Highlighting the National Highway Development Project (NHDP) Phase III, he said the project envisaged improvement of 10,000 km of national highways through four-laning at a projected cost of Rs 55,000 crore.

In the changed scenario, private investment of Rs 30,000 crore was expected and the remaining amount would have to be made available by way of viability gap funding, he said, seeking the ADB’s participation in viability gap funding by adopting a programme-based lending approach as against the existing project-based funding approach.

Welcoming the suggestion, ADP president Haruhiko Kuroda agreed to review this within their framework of policies.

Mr Baalu also discussed the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) issues pertaining to the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) projects being funded by the ADB.

He said the ADB’s approach towards funding was different from that of the NHAI for its domestic projects, while suggesting that the ADB should consider adopting India’s R&R policy for funding the road sector projects in the country.

Issues like pre-qualification of contractors and approval of the ADB also came up for discussion. As per the ADB procedure, pre-qualification of contractors is done mainly on the basis of experience of lead partners that are often foreign companies.

Gandhinagar, August 31
Dr V.Kurien father of the milk revolution in India and chairman of the Institute for Rural Management Anand (IRMA), suffered a major setback yesterday when the Gujarat High Court ruled the removal of the Director, Prof. K.Prathap Reddy from his post as null and void.

Mr justice M.R.Shah in his judgement ruled that only the board of directors of IRMA who had appointed the Director could remove him. The court also deprecated the conduct of the Irma chief who was aware of this fact since he had sought such powers from the board of directors which had been denied to him.

The genesis of the present legal battle lies in the termination of the services of Prof. Reddy by orders of the IRMA chairman, Dr Kurien on April 6, 2005 though it hides a proxy war between India's milkman and his one time protégé Dr Amrita Patel, chairman of the National Dairy Development Board.

Professor Reddy challenged his dismissal in the high court which granted an interim stay in April this year terming Dr Kurien's order as unlawful and illegal. The court asked Professor Reddy to continue as IRMA Director. Passing the interim order, Justice A.Quereshi said prima facie the Irma chairman's order terminating Professor Reddy as Director of IRMA was without authority, unlawful and ab-initio void. — OC

New Delhi, August 31
With the arrest of a person, the Delhi police today claimed to have solved the case of extortion in which the accused had demanded huge ransom from Delhi-based industrialist Sanjay Kapur. The accused has been arrested from Mulund, a Mumbai suburb, in Maharashtra.

Accused Rajkumar Wazir Chand Vazirani alias Raju, who owns a video parlour, Royal King Club in Mumbai's West Mulund area, was arrested yesterday by the sleuths of the Delhi police's special cell, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnail Singh told mediapersons today.

The man arrested in Mumbai in connection with the e-mail death threats to film star Karisma Kapoor's estranged husband Sanjay Kapur was today produced before a city court here.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate remanded accused Raju Bahi Virani to the police custody till September 6. A team of the Delhi police had gone to Mumbai after Mr Kapur filed an FIR here that he had been receiving e-mail, threatening him of dire consequences if he failed to pay Rs 50 crore.

He has been brought to Delhi for further interrogation, he said. During interrogation the accused disclosed that he had sent the extortion e-mail, demanding Rs 50 crore, to Sanjay Kapur on August 26 from a neighbouring cyber cafe.

Involved in several criminal cases, Rajkumar has been arrested several times. Meanwhile sources said, the accused had links with some Ravi Pujari a member of the Chhota Rajan gang.

Industrialist Sanjay Kapur, married to filmstar Karisma Kapoor, had met Police Commissioner K. K. Paul the following day after he received the threatening e-mail on August 26.

The commissioner had directed him to the special cell which was asked to look into the case. Soon after this a case was registered and a team sent to Mumbai for investigation.

New Delhi, August 31
CPM general secretary Prakash Karat today urged the UPA government to bring in a legislation to deal with communal violence at the earliest as the state administrations and the police were found wanting as witnessed in Gujarat violence, in the aftermath of demolition of disputed structure in Ayodhya and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

“The UPA government has promised to bring in a model bill to curb communal violence that should act as the framework for legislations in all states. Such a legislation should be enacted without delay,” Karat said while addressing the National Integration Council meet here.

Emphasising the need for such a legislation, he said “if we look back at the history of communal violence in the country, we will find that seldom do the organisers and perpetrators of the violence get brought to trial and justice done. In discussing the prevention of communal violence, a system of accountability of the administration and officials dealing with law and order must also be ensured.”

Taking a pot shot at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, he said while discussing communal harmony in the context of the rising communalism, the central event that dominated the recent period was the systematic pogrom conducted against the minority community in Gujarat after the Godhra train incident.

“It will be unwise to ignore the meaning of such mass violence with state sponsorship for the future of communal harmony and national unity of the country. The National Integration Council should draw lessons from this horrific event,” he said.

The Marxist leader said while it was heartening to note that the number of communal incidents and persons killed and injured in such violence had gone down in the years 2004-05, there should be no complacency. He said reports were coming in of low-intensity violence and targeted attacks against the minorities in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Orissa.

He said the communalisation of the educational system had become a matter of concern.

Karat said though progress had been made in some sectors mass poverty remained the central problem to be addressed. Economic policies had to address not only the rate of growth of GDP and flow of investments from abroad, but also take into account how the fruits of economic development could reach the backward regions.

New Delhi, August 31
In an apparent climb down from its earlier stand, the BJP today expressed ‘deep disappointment’ over the stance taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the CBDT’s appointment of Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s wife as special counsel in Income Tax cases before the Madras High Court.

The party said at least the Prime Minister should have made the Finance Minister apologise to the nation for his ‘act of impropriety’.

Conveying party’s disappointment and concern, BJP spokespersons Sushma Swaraj and Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the Prime Minister always spoke on the need to maintain honesty, integrity, transparency in public life but it was not enough for a person to maintain clean life. It is also important that he shall not support or condone the corrupt deeds of other people, they said adding that the Union Council of Ministers was already a congregation of corrupt men and the list was only becoming bigger.

While Mr Chidambaram ‘’should have apologised to the nation for the wrong things committed, it was CBDT which apologised to the Finance Minister for employing his wife Nalini Chidambaram to fight its cases.’’ Mr Chidambaram had contended that he would have nipped the proposal in the bud if he were in the know of things while his wife had returned the lawyer’s fee. “Their words and actions have only confirmed our allegations”, Ms Swaraj said.

Ms Swaraj said the Prime Minister during his intervention in Parliament had pooh poohed the Opposition for raising the issue whereas the actions of Mr Chidambaram and his wife had only confirmed the allegations levelled against them by the Opposition.

On the just-concluded monsoon session of Parliament Ms Swaraj and Mr Malhotra said it had evoked mixed feelings in the BJP. The party was happy that it was able to express itself freely on issues close to the heart like IMDT Act concerning infiltration and terrorist attack on makeshift Ram temple at Ayodhya and express its concern over the signing of Indo-US nuclear agreement.

The party also articulated its views on issues concerning common man like hike in prices of petroleum products, Maharashtra and Mumbai floods, power hike in Delhi forcing the government to withdraw the increase and also forcefully raised the issue of atrocities on women in the capital.

It was also happy that the chair in the Rajya Sabha assured to convey the house’s views that the government shall not take any step on allowing the Foreign Direct Investment in retail sector.

Two of the Bills — Hindu Succession and Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence — that were passed in the session were the drafts prepared by the previous government.

The Opposition, Ms Swaraj said, was highly dissatisfied that the government could not even introduce the Women’s Reservation Bill because there was total lack of understanding within the ruling UPA on the issue.

“We, the Opposition come into the picture only after the government presents the Bill, but the regret is that even this was not done by the UPA government”, she said. The BJP, she said, had raised its objections to Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s attempt to put the blame on the Opposition.

New Delhi, August 31
Special training is to be imparted to Congress cadres in the 200 districts, where the recently-passed National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill is to be implemented to ensure that the party gets full credit for this ambitious programme. The heads of Congress committees in these identified districts are expected to be called to Delhi later next month for a briefing on the provisions of the new Act.

They will also be trained to monitor the implementation of the programme and to propogate its benefits. Since it is to be implemented through the panchayats, special workshops will be organised for the grassroot leaders so that they understand how this programme is to function.

Having claimed victory for the passage of the Bill, the Congress is well aware that it could loose all the goodwill if the programme is not implemented properly. Since it is to be implemented largely in opposition-ruled states, there is a view in the Congress that their opponents could walk away with all credit if the programme is well-implemented. Conversely, the Congress will get all the flak if the state governments concerned fail to deliver.

As the Centre will not be able to exercise full control over the actual working of the programme, the Congress believes it has become imperative to activate the party cells in these particular states and involve them in the monitoring of the implementation of this Act.

Party workers will also be authorised to hold demonstrations and dharnas if they spot any lacunae in the programme. A team of senior AICC leaders will be entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating and monitoring their activities. The Congress is also hoping that, in this process, its party machinery in the opposition-ruled states will be galvanised and its cadres sufficiently enthused to become more proactive.

Although a plan of action is yet to be finalised, Sonia Gandhi said she expected the party’s full involvement in the implementation of the programme. She dwelt on this issue in her valedictory address at the meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party when she called upon the party to be “extra-vigilant” in states where they are not in power.

New Delhi, August 31
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Mr Ali Larijani, here on a quick round of quiet diplomacy, today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and expressed his country’s keen desire to have a strategic partnership with India.

His meeting with Mr Natwar Singh in the morning was more crucial where he conveyed a host of important things to the Minister. Mr Larijani said his country’s nuclear programme was peaceful and solely for civilian purposes. He said Iran had not flouted a single norm of the International Atomic Energy Agency or any provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and made it clear that if the international community, led by the USA, were still to deal with Iran the way they dealt with Iraq, Teheran will stick to its position and even retaliate.

During the meeting Mr Natwar Singh pointedly asked Mr Larijani why Iran was not supporting the G4 resolution on UN Security Council reforms. Mr Larijani told the Minister that till recently Iran had not firmed up its position and broke the news to Mr Natwar Singh that Teheran would vote for the G4 resolution. 

New Delhi, August 31
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today charged the Centre with ignoring the security concerns of Gujarat. He regretted that the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act (GUJCOC), passed by the state legislature 13 months ago to deal with organised crimes, had not yet been approved by the Union Government.

Addressing a meeting of the National Integration Council here, Mr Modi said the Central Government’s approval of the GUJCOC, patterned on a similar law in Maharashtra, was essential to deal with disruptive elements and organised crimes being perpetrated by terror elements in Gujarat.

Stating that the threat to the national harmony and national integration was posed due to systematic machination, nurturing and protection of terrorist and subversive elements from across the border, Mr Modi said the state needed to be supported with adequate funds and infrastructure.

Terming as unfortunate reservation provided by some states on the basis of religion, the Gujarat Chief Minister said, “identification of a community as minority on such like religion considerations is against the principle of integration. Such action would cause social unrest.”

Bangalore, August 31
Governor Punjab and Administrator Chandigarh, Gen S.F. Rodrigues today played host to more than fifty CEO's from the IT industry in order to elucidiate on the policy of infrastructural development being followed by the Chandigarh administration.

He explained to the gathering that the Chandigarh Technology park along with its neighbouring technology habitat would provide integrated facilities like housing, community infrastructure, commercial areas and green belts for IT professionals. The Administrator said keeping in view the needs of the IT industry a planned holistic approach has been adopted by the Chandigarh Administration which would prove adequate in the future.

Earlier in the day General Rodrigues visited the International Tech park Limited (ITPL) in Whitefield which is spread over an area of 69 acres and which houses more than 100 IT companies from all over the world. He viewed a presentation by Mr Alexander Castelino, Vice-President, Corporate services , ITPL and discussed various factors concerning the park. He also interacted with the CEO of Infineon, an European IT company based in the park and gathered feedback on the requirements of the IT industry from such Parks.

New Delhi, August 31
A proactive special cell of the Delhi Police today said it had arrested a person working as a link among Kashmiri terrorist organisations and seized from his possession a huge amount of ‘hawala’ money, explosives and arms.

Mohammad Aslam Wani (25), staying in South Delhi’s Kailash Hills area, was arrested on August 26, said Jt Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnal Singh.

“Five kg RDX, 10 electronic detonators end a 9 mm foreign pistol and 15 cartridges along with Rs 63.96 lakh were seized from the possession of Srinagar resident Wani,” he added.