New Delhi, December 15
The Supreme Court today decided to have a fresh look into a case of sexual abuse of a minor daughter by a man from Himachal Pradesh 17 years ago in the servant quarters of Raj Bhavan and sentenced to life by it recently.

A Bench of Mr Justice H.K. Sema and Mr Justice P.P. Naolekar, which had sentenced 78-year-old Asha Ram to life on November 17, took the decision to reopen the case taking cognizance of a fresh affidavit of the daughter filed with a review petition by the accused, stating that he was innocent and was “falsely” implicated by her at the instance of her mother as she had “compelled” her to do so as a revenge for their separation.

The daughter, who was about 14 when she registered the FIR against her father in 1988 at the Chota Shimla police station, in her affidavit submitted that her statements to the police and the trial court about sexual assault by her father were false and made under pressure from the mother.

The Bench issued notice to the Himachal Pradesh Government, asking it to submit its reply and make its stand clear on the prosecution front.

The daughter now 31 and living with her husband and two children in Nawanshahr district of Punjab came forward to the rescue of her father after reading reports on his conviction in the media.

The trial court had found him guilty and awarded him the sentence of five years’ imprisonment. He had challenged it in the Himachal Pradesh High Court, which had acquitted him on July 1, 1998.

Asha Ram in his review petition said the affidavit of his daughter, who was not available earlier as she had no contact with him after marriage, was a vital piece of evidence to prove his innocence.

The daughter said at the time of filing the FIR she was only 14 and did not know the implications of it.

Asha Ram, who was 61-year-old at the time, contended that she was not even living with him in 1988 as she was staying with his wife.

The apex court had extensively quoted from the trial court judgement and medical report, observing that she was subjected to lengthy cross-examination and her statement had remained “totally unimpeached” even when it was specifically suggested to her by the trial court that a false case had been foisted against her father at the instance of her mother.

Kulu, December 15
Referring to Suresh Chandel episode, the Congress has demanded that the BJP leaders of the state should apologise to the public for their corrupt practices. Mr Satya Prakash Thakur, General Secretary, HPPCC, and Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Marketing Board, said this at a press conference here on Tuesday.

He said those who had been beating the drums of clean image and ethics could not even find shelter to save their face. He demanded that former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and BJP state president Suresh Kumar Bhardwaj should take ‘sanyas’ from politics.

He demanded the resignation of Suresh Chandel from the Lok Sabha as he had betrayed the people of Himachal by taking bribe for putting questions in Parliament.

Solan, December 15
Tall claims of the state government regarding ample power availability notwithstanding, the new industrial units have been made to run from pillar to post to get sufficient power. The problem arose with the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission issuing instructions to grant power connections of 2,000 MW and above through the 66 kv sub-station.

This had put on hold power connections to the bigger units requiring more than 2,000 MW power. A majority of these units comprise renowned pharmaceutical units which are coming up around Manpura and on the periphery of Nalagarh.

A senior manager of a pharmaceutical unit, while confirming that they were facing this problem, said they had now scaled down their power availability from 3,500 to 1,500 kw. He added that though they could make do with this power as the unit had just begun production but they might have to use diesel generation sets once they were fully operational.

Other upcoming firms like Glenmark, Alchem, Panacea Biotech, Torrent, Dr Reddy’s Labs have also been given partial loads which is less than their total requirement. A few units Cipla Pharmaceuticals have made a record of sorts by running on diesel generation sets since June this year. They have been granted partial load while the rest would be made available once the lines to the 66 kv sub-station are laid.

Senior officials of the state electricity board while admitting that some industrial units had been given partial loads to initiate their operations said the regulatory commission had worked out this measure as it would reduce the transmission and distribution losses. They added that tenders to lay a line for the 66 kv sub-station had already been floated and the work would be completed by May next year.

Officials further added that they had created 40 mva power availability by upgrading the existing transformer. Officials, while blaming the industrialists for the delay in setting up this sub-station said the industrialists initially agreed to install this transformer on their own but backed up wasting precious time. This delayed the process of inviting tenders and allotting the work.

Shimla, December 15
The drastic changes in the manual of instruction to eliminate the scope for irregularities and corruption in the wake of ''timber grading” scam has significantly increased the returns from auction of timber to the state Forest Corporation over the past six months.

This clearly indicates that the timber grading norms contained in the manual being followed by the corporation for the past two decades were far from objective and left much scope for irregularities, which enabled unscrupulous contractors to supply poor quality timber to the government in league with officials. The percentage of “samuda”(best quality timber) has also increased.

As per the available data, the average weighted returns from auction of sawn timber has increased from 8 to 26 per cent for various species. The average returns for deodar for the current year rose to Rs 20,360 per cubic metre from last year’s Rs 18,000 per cubic metre, an increase of over 12.5 per cent. In case of rai and fir species the average returns from auctions shot up by over 26 per cent from Rs 6,177 to Rs 7,806 per cubic metre. The increase for kail was over 15 per cent and chil 8 per cent.

Besides making timber grading an objective exercise, the new system based on the specifications laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) also ensures that the best quality timber was supplied to government departments.

The best quality timber, with minimum defects like knots and cracks, classified as “samuda”, is directly offered to the state and Central Government departments. All departments have been directed to procure their requirement of timber directly from the state corporation.

The “ samuda” timber, rejected by the government agencies after passing, is now sold as grade “A” timber, a newly introduced category. This has been done in view of the general complaint that inferior grade timber is passed as superior grade for supply to government agencies. The “A” grade timber can have four knots with diameter ranging between 35 and 50 mm per metre length or two knots of 50 to 70 mm diameter per metre length.

Similarly, the timber with bigger and higher number of knots and larger and deeper cracks is classified as grade “B”. The timber from which not even a single plank or sleeper could be made is put in the “C” category. The rest of the timber will not be brought to the depots and auctioned in the field. The number knots and cracks permissible per metre length have been specified for all categories. 

Shimla, December 15
Ms Vidya Stokes, Power Minister, said today that the state electricity board has formulated schemes involving an expenditure of Rs 94 crore to strengthen the distribution system and improve the quality of power in industrial areas.

Reviewing the progress of the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) at a hihg-level meeting here, she said increasing generation and providing quality power at competitive rates were the priorities of the government. She urged the officers of the board to ensure timely execution of the schemes under the programme.

She pointed out that electricity distribution system was far from satisfactory in the backward areas, which continued to face the problem of low voltage. The schemes should focus on improving the distribution system in such areas.

So far Rs 168 crore had been spent under the programme and in all 1,80,000 new electronic meters had been installed. As many as 1026 km of low tension line and 500 km of high tension line had been spread and 33,000 new electric poles were being erected in place of the old ones.

She said under the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yozna various schemes for seven districts had been submitted to the Centre. Schemes for the remaining five districts were being formulated.

Mr Shamsher Singh, Chairman of the board, said the implementation of the APDRP would be closely monitored to ensure timely execution of the schemes.

Shimla, December 15
The former Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, today said holding of Assembly session at Dharamsala was a panic reaction by the government, triggered by panchayat elections.

Addressing a press conference here, he said that the government had till date not consulted him about the holding of session in Dharamsala in his capacity as leader of opposition.

"The decision to hold Assembly session in Dharamsala has been taken in a haste as proper infrastructure is absent," he said.

The BJP leader said that the Congress had criticised the BJP regime under him for constructing a mini secretariat at Dharamsala and today they were claiming that they had always protected the interest of the people of Kangra. "We would welcome any discussion on the issue of regional discrimination during the assembly session," he said.

Mr Dhumal said the announcement about the holding of Assembly session at Dharamsala too was done after the model code of conduct came into force. "The Congress thinks that these kind of announcements will help them in the panchayat elections but issues like unemployment and price rise are uppermost in the mind of the voters," he said.

He also accused the state government of unconstitutionally and illegally dereserving the police constable seats meant for the OBCs in district Shimla. "The rules in this regard clearly state that dereservation cannot be done and recruitment process must be followed a second time," he said.

The BJP leader said that if suitable candidates from the SC/ST or OBC category are not available in the second attempt also, the seats reserved for them should be left unfilled and even in the subsequent years the backlog will continue. He said that similar dereservation had been done in the selection of primary assistant teachers (PAT).

Mr Dhumal said that the government was not sincere in giving employment to the educated youth, as JBT training had not been started.

Kangra, December 15
Medical representatives of different drug companies held a silent procession here wearing black badges on the second day of their three day nationwide strike today and submitted a memorandum to the SDM demanding reduction in drug prices.

Mr Dinesh Sharma, general secretary, Himachal Pradesh Medical Representatives Association, Kangra unit, demanded revival of the public-sector drug companies and establishment of new PSUs to make drugs available at affordable prices.

They demanded that the prices of the imported drugs should be controlled. Mr Sharma demanded a CBI inquiry into fake sales by drug companies and sale of the spurious drugs. 

Shimla, December 15
The local Municipal Corporation (MC) today continued with its drive against unauthorised structures as over 70 “dharas” were demolished by the authorities in the Kaithu area.

The demolitions were carried out around the Police Lines in Kaithu. Interestingly a majority of these illegal structures had been given water and electricity connections. The MC had earlier issued eviction notice to 106 persons who had raised unauthorised structures on forest land within the town.

There are a total of 916 encroachments on forest land within the municipal limits. The court had earlier directed the government that all encroachments be removed.

The total number of encroachments within the MC limits are more than 5,000, which include structures on PWD, revenue and other government land.

With the court giving the go-ahead for removal of the unauthorised structures, the MC is likely to carry on this drive and remove the over 5,000 encroachments on forest, PWD and revenue land.