The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Separate HC: Law Ministry team visits Chandigarh Maneesh Chhibber Our High Court Correspondent Chandigarh, May 2 A high-level team led by an Additional Secretary-rank officer of the Union Ministry of Law and Justice today held parleys with the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Advocate -General, Mr Hawa Singh Hooda, the Chief Secretary, Mr Prem Prashant, and some other senior government functionaries here. The team was visiting Chandigarh in connection with the renewed demand by the Haryana Government for a separate High Court for Haryana. At present, Punjab and Haryana have a common High Court here. Last year, the Haryana Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution demanding a separate High Court for the state. The government has suggested that, to begin with, the present High Court complex here could be bifurcated into two separate High Courts, one for Punjab and the other for Haryana. The demand for a separate High Court for Haryana has been hanging fire for many years, with almost every successive government in Haryana raising the demand at least once during its tenure. When Mr Om Prakash Chautala was the Chief Minister, the state legislature had passed a resolution for a separate High Court. However, the Union Government did not accede to the demand. The present government feels that the demand will be favourably viewed this time as the Congress is ruling the state and is the main partner in the coalition governing the country. Even the Union Law Minister, Mr Hans Raj Bhardwaj, hails from the state. While initially Mr Bhardwaj was not very forthcoming on the issue of a separate High Court for Haryana, later he also came out in support of the demand. Today, the team led by Mr Ravi Kanwal Bhargava, Additional Secretary in the Union Law Ministry, held extensive discussions with the government functionaries. The other members of the delegation were Dr P.K. Seth, Joint Secretary, and Mr Anurag Bhalla, Under Secretary. The Chief Minister demanded that a separate High Court for Haryana should be set up on the premises of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the basis of the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966. He also lamented that no Judge hailing from Haryana had so far been elevated to the Supreme Court. Referring to the issue of cases pertaining to Chandigarh, the Advocate-General suggested that a special Bench of the Delhi High Court could be set up in Chandigarh for taking up the case relating to the Chandigarh Administration. The team, accompanied by the AG and top Haryana Government officials, also visited the Civil Secretariat and the Vidhan Sabha complex, both of which are shared by the states of Haryana and Punjab. The team also made a round of the Punjab and Haryana High Court building, leading to speculation that, if Haryana does get its own High Court, it will be located in one portion of the present building.
	Arjun Singh fights battle against RSS in court Yoginder Gupta Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 2 A private criminal complaint filed before a judicial magistrate in the obscure town of Jagadhri in Haryana about two years ago, which then remained by and large unnoticed by the media, has suddenly come to the limelight with the Union Minister for Human Resources, Mr Arjun Singh, projecting it as his ideological battle with his bete noire, the RSS. Mr Arjun Singh's battle started on September 2, 2004, when Mr Darshan Lal Jain, a prant sangh chalak of the Haryana RSS , filed a complaint before a Judicial Magistrate, Mr Atul Marya, at Jagadhari. The complainant had taken objection to two statements purported to have been issued by Mr Arjun Singh. In his first statement published in The Hindu on August 9, 2004, Mr Arjun Singh had urged the Prime Minister to “cleanse the administration of people owing allegiance to the RSS, which was responsible for killing the Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi." After the RSS threatened legal action against Mr Arjun Singh, he dared the organisation on August 10, 2004, to sue him. Mr Jain, in his complaint, alleged that these accusations against the RSS had been deliberately made by Mr Arjun Singh to “defame and tarnish the image of the organisation and its members.” The RSS leader also made the newspaper a party to the case along with Mr Arjun Singh. The Magistrate summoned Mr Arjun Singh on January 7, 2005, to appear before him on January 31, 2005. He was granted bail and exempted from personal appearance. However, before the case could proceed further, the newspaper moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for quashing the summoning order. The high court stayed the proceedings in the lower court qua the newspaper on March 7, 2005. However, last month, Mr Arjun Singh filed an application before the Jagadhari court that while the proceedings against the newspaper had been stayed by the high court, he should be tried separately. Mr Arjun Singh said he would place the findings of these commissions and other material before the court to vindicate his honour and clear his reputation from the cloud cast by the complainant. The Jagadhari court has now asked Mr Jain to file his reply to Mr Arjun Singh's application for a separate trial on May 20, 2006.
	Haryana to amend Rent Act, High Court told Our High Court Correspondent Chandigarh, May 2 The Haryana Government has decided to constitute a committee to suggest amendments to the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973. The committee will also consider the need for changing the definition of a tenant as envisaged in Section 2(h) of the Act. This information was conveyed to the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the hearing of a writ challenging the Act. The Act defines a tenant as a person taking property on rent, a fact which, a writ in the High Court had alleged, was being misread by major companies and corporations, which took property on rent and then refused to vacate it on various grounds. In his writ, filed through advocate Puneet Bali, a serving Additional District and Sessions Judge of Haryana, Mr R.S. Virk, had challenged the Act and prayed for quashing it on the ground that it had lost its relevance and was being misused. He had stated that the Act was first formulated in 1917 by the then Bombay State and since then had seen many changes. With times having changed, the Act had also lost its relevance, he had added. He had claimed that landlords like him were facing the brunt of the "draconian" clauses in the Act, which had become outdated in view of the changed socio-economic scenario in the country. During the hearing of the writ, Mr Virk's counsel told the court that the property owned by the petitioner and his family at Yamunanagar was in the possession of the State Bank of Patiala, which had taken it on rent over 33 years ago. The bank was paying a rent of just Rs 3,833 per month while the current market rent was over Rs 2 lakh per month. Despite repeated requests, the bank had refused to either pay the market rent or vacate the premises. Interestingly, the petitioner had also referred to the notification issued by the Chandigarh Administration on November 7, 2002, through which it had ordered that tenants who were paying a rent of Rs 1,500 or more would not be entitled to any benefit under the Rent Act. During the resumed hearing of the writ, a communication sent by the Director, Urban Development, Haryana, was placed before the Bench. Thereafter, the Bench of Acting Chief Justice H.S. Bedi and Mr Justice R.S. Randhawa disposed of the writ in the light of the government's communication. The Bench, however, ordered that whatever amendments were to be carried out to the Act, should be finalised within six months.
	Demand to withdraw hike in water tariff Tribune News Service Rohtak, May 2 Former minister and Congress leader Subhash Batra today demanded withdrawal of the hike in charges for drinking water supply and sewerage facility. Talking to media persons here, he said the hike was unwarranted and unjustified and it had been announced at the most inappropriate time. Besides, separate rates had been prescribed for municipal areas and HUDA residential sectors. He said summer was at its peak and most parts of the state were reeling under an acute shortage of water. The average supply was just around 10 litres per head which was grossly inadequate. The hike, he said, would adversely affect the poor and the farming community. Mr Batra said he welcomed the development activities started in Rohtak after Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda became Chief Minister. However, the progress on all projects was tardy and the administration needed to be pulled up. He said careless digging had led to leakages in water and sewer pipelines and there was a real threat of an epidemic breaking out. He said a booster station had been built in Model Town on a green belt yet it was not benefiting anyone because of official apathy. More than rupees four crore spent on it had gone waste. He demanded that the administration ensure that the availability of power be raised to 70 litres per head daily which was the minimum norm.
	2 govt officials held for graft Our Correspondent Sonepat, May 2 In an anti-corruption drive by the district administration, two government employees — a Land Valuation Officer (LVO) of Land Mortgage Bank and a patwari of the Revenue Department — were arrested after being caught red-handed while accepting bribes from farmers at Goeana, a sub-divisional headquarter of the district, on Monday. According to information, LVO Purushotam Sharma allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 3,000 from Rajinder Singh, a farmer of Kathura village, for releasing second instalment of a loan of Rs 50,000 for mushroom cultivation. After receiving a complaint from the farmer, Deputy Commissioner Neerja Shekhar constituted a team headed by Inspector Rajinder Singh to conduct a raid. On Monday evening, the LVO asked the farmer to hand over the amount at his residence. After the money was handed over to him, the team raided the place and recovered the amount. Similarly, farmer Jai Kishan of Katwal village lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner alleging that village patwari had demanded a bribe of Rs 6,000 for registering “intkaal” of his land in revenue records. The Deputy Commissioner directed Magistrate Hoshiar Singh and DSP (Headquarters) Subhash Chander to take action against the patwari. The complainant handed over Rs 6,000 to the patwari in his office at Old Bus Stand, Gohana, after which the team raided the office and recovered the amount. Both were produced in the court today and were remanded in judicial custody.
	Unrest follows killing of Imam Tribune News Service Yamunanagar, May 2 A large number of maulvis and imams gathered at the civil hospital of Jagadhri this morning and demanded arrest of the accused before performing post-mortem examination on the body of Imam Mohd Hassan, who was killed in the village mosque last night allegedly by seven persons in Kalwar village falling in Thana Chappar police station here. It was only after the intervention of DSP Sajjan Singh that the angry maulvis could be pacified and the post-mortem was performed. Imam Mohd Hassan was lying injured in the village and he died on the way to hospital, said police sources. On the complaint of Aalamdin, the police has registered a case of murder against Amod Ranan, Subodh, Vinod Kumar, Satish, Kura Ram, Ram Pal and Padam, all residents of Kalwar village. Among others who had reached the hospital included President of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh Zamat-e-Ulma Maulvi Ilyas and President of Dini Talimi Council (Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pardesh) Peerji Ahmed Hussain. The police had received a telephone call last evening saying that some persons have damaged the masjid but when the police reached the spot it found the imam lying injured there. The accused persons and another group of persons, including Aalamdin, Shoki and Guffar, from the village had entered into a fight a few days ago. Both the parties had lodged complaints against each other. It was not yet known why Imam Mohd Hassan was attacked. After the post-mortem examination, relatives of imam took the body to Sharanpur, Uttar Pardesh for cremation.
	Body thrown from moving car Our Correspondent Sonepat, May 2 Some car-borne persons threw the body of a person from a moving car on the Baba Tarana Road here last evening. The victim was later identified as Jai Bhagwan of Liwaspur village. The body was reportedly thrown around 6.45 p.m., but according to the victim’s son Sonu, he received a phone call around 6.15 p.m. that his father had met with an accident and was lying dead near Minakshi Garden. The police reached the spot and from preliminary investigations, it appeared to be a case of road accident. It would be clear after the postmortem report and further investigations, the police said. According to another report, Bhola Ram, an aged person of Bhainswal Kalan village, was found stabbed to death on the outskirts of the village yesterday. A nephew of the victim, Radhe Shyam, alleged that his brother Chand Ram had conspired the murder due to a land dispute. Chand Ram refuted the allegation. The police registered a case of murder, but no arrest had been made so far.
	Ex-councillor foils rape bid Tribune News Service Hisar, May 2 A local resident allegedly tried to rape a former municipal councillor, Ms Babli Lamba, at her house in Mall Colony on Kaimri Road here last night. The woman foiled his bid, following which he fled. Ms Lamba received injuries in the scuffle and is undergoing treatment at the local Civil Hospital. Her husband is not well for the past several years and she is bringing up her three children all by herself. A property dealer of the area, Daljit, alias Fauji, from whom she had taken a loan, came to her house on the pretext of asking for the interest. Ms Lamba alleged that she had repaid the loan, but he still pestered her on some pretext or the other. When he tried to molest her, the former councillor resisted the attempt. In the ensuing scuffle, he attacked her with a sharpedged weapon and fled the scene. The neighbours assembled at her house and took her to hospital. Ms Lamba has lodged a complaint with the police in this regard. However, no arrests have been made so far in this regard.
	Pak flags burnt Our Correspondent Ambala, May 2 The Anti-Terrorist Front of India burnt Pakistani flags in Ambala city today in protest against the massacre of 32 innocent Hindus at Doda in J & K recently. The president of the front, Mr Viresh Shandilya, was also present. Addressing members of the front, Mr Shandilya, urged the Chief Minister of J & K to give Rs 10 lakh each to the next kin of the diseased as compensation. He alleged that Pakistan was promoting extremist activities in the country. He said the Union Government should give free hand to the Army to deal with extremism in J & K. Senior leaders of the front Mr Kulwant Singh Manakpur, Karnail Singh, Mohan Lal Ghel, Neeraj Malhotra and Gulshan Gulati were also present at the function.
	Pension benefits to HCMS docs Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 2 The Haryana Government will treat non-practising allowance of HCMS doctors retiring from April 18, 2006, as part of pay and will include it for calculating their pensionary benefits. While stating this here today, the Haryana Finance Minister, Mr Birender Singh, said in the case of HCMS doctors who retired between December 7, 2001 and April 17, 2006, the non-practising allowance would be accounted for revision of pension notionally and the actual benefit would be admissible to them prospectively i.e. from April 18, 2006 onwards.