New Delhi, May 13
In an important judgement defining the status of Kangra Central Cooperative Bank Ltd (KCBL), an important banking institution of north India, the Supreme Court has ruled that it was not an instrumentality of the state because the Himachal Government has no direct or indirect control over it.

KCBL, registered in Himachal Pradesh as a cooperative society, has not been constituted under an independent statue as it had been functioning like any other cooperative society and was regulated in terms of the Cooperative Societies Act, a Bench of Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice P.P. Naolekar ruled.

“The state has no say in the functioning of the society. Membership, acquisition of shares and all other matters are governed by the bylaws framed under the Societies Act… and it has not been shown that the state exercises any direct or indirect control over the affairs of the society for deep and pervasive control,” the court held.

The ruling came on an appeal by KCBL’s Branch Manager S.S. Rana, whose services were terminated by the bank management in November 1993 after he was found guilty in a disciplinary proceedings initiated against him.

He had challenged the termination order in the Himachal Pradesh High Court on the ground that the management had no right to terminate his service on its own as he should have been proceeded against in the same manner as in case of a government employee because the bank was an instrumentality of the state under Article 12 of the Constitution. The High Court, however, had dismissed his petition.

Seeking to define the status of KCBL, whether it was an instrumentality of the state and whether the rules and procedures applicable to the government employees were applicable to its workers, Mr Rana had approached the Supreme Court in an appeal.

Rejecting his contention that KCBL should be treated as an instrumentality of the state under Article 12 of the Constitution, the apex court said the state of Himachal Pradesh was not even a majority shareholder in the bank and its power was limited only to nominate one director on its board.

“It cannot, thus, be said that the state exercises any functional control over the affairs of the society in the sense that the majority directors are nominated by the state,” the court said.

It said KCBL failed to meet the four basic tests - How the society was created; Whether it enjoyed any monopoly character; Do its functions partake to statutory functions or public functions and can it be characterised as a public authority - to qualify it to be treated as a state instrumentality.

“The KCBL society does not answer any of these tests. In the case of a non-statutory society, the control therefore will mean that the same satisfies the tests laid down by this court in various judgements,” the Bench ruled.

Upholding the High Court order approving Mr Rana’s termination, the apex court said he had failed to show that the bank management had violated any mandatory provision of law or rules framed there under in this process.

Shimla, May 13
The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, today laid the foundation stone of Rs 2.84 crore Behna-Baragaon lift water supply scheme, at Baragaon near Rampur.

Addressing a public meeting Mr Virbhadra Singh said the government was taking all possible steps to safeguard the interest of fruit growers and save them from the exploitation by the middle men.

‘‘The government is pushing through the expansion of marketing network so that the growers are in a position to sell their produce directly to the consumers at remunerative prices,’’ he said. He added that new marketing complexes would be well equipped with the latest facilities and enable marketing through Internet services.

‘‘Even private buyers are coming forward to strengthen the marketing network and create cold chain facilities all over the state so that the produce can be marketed on time,’’ he said. The Chief Minister said the government was importing rootstock to replace the old stock, which would give the growers early and high yielding crop.

He said the horticulture sector was contributing significantly to the state’s economy and steps would be taken to strengthen it.

The Chief Minister announced the construction of PWD rest house at Bara Gaon and assured the renovation of Sangri Bhavan on priority. He directed the IPH officials to complete the Bara Gaon lift water supply scheme within 18 months so that the people of the area can get the benefit at the earliest.

Kangra, May 13
The Kangra police has arrested two women for allegedly abducting a minor girl and forcing her to go in for marriage.

SHO Kangra police station Sanjay Sharma today said that Chand Kaur and her sister-in-law Nirmala of Kachyari village, on the outskirts of the town, had been forcing Reenu (16) to marry the divorced brother, Om Prakash (35), of one of the women. When Reenu informed her mother about the development, she refused any such alliance. Reenu and her parents are working in a brick-kiln.

Mr Sharma said on May 11 last, the duo forcibly took the girl to Pathankot and wanted to get her married somewhere in Amritsar. He said the village pradhan of Kachyari informed the police about the alleged abduction. He said the police rounded up two male members of the family of the alleged abductors, who asked the two to return to Kangra along with the girl. On their arrival here, the two women were arrested under Section 366 of the IPC. They were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Dharamsala for judicial remand today.

Chamba, May 13
Despite the formulation of “River and Stream Bed Mining Policy for Himachal Pradesh—2004” and its stringent implementation by the state government, reckless mining and quarrying of slate in the fragile geological formations of the green Chamba hills on the northern aspect of the mighty Dhauladhars is continuing unabated.

The policy of the government is being openly flouted. Geologists working with the irrigation, drinking water and hydropower schemes and those involved in thorough study and research on the ecology of the whole area of the alpine region of Chamba view it as a serious hazard to ecology, irrigation and hydroelectric projects.

The area earmarked as forest land envisaged conserving the wildlife and biodiversity but illegal mining operations going on within the forest tracts pose a serious threat to the wildlife and biodiversity of the area.

Sources revealed that certain slate queries were operational within the boundaries of the area earmarked as forest land.

Although massive exploitation of hills in the catchment areas of the Ravi and other rivulets of this mountainous region has occurred due to reckless extraction, one cannot deny the fact that slate is required by the locals for constructing roofs of houses. However, this is threatening the green cover of Chamba as mining activity is eroding the hill slopes.

Environmentalists are of the view that ordinary tin roofs can easily serve the purpose besides protecting the ecology of the area. They maintain that the destruction brought about by the slate quarrying can be seen by everyone. But no effective steps had been taken in this regard either by the government or the voluntary organisations.

According to officials of the mining department, slate quarries are operational at Gehra, Trilocken Mahadev, Kupwara, Chura Ghrat, Tur, Piura, Kandla, Sukrahal and Sajot in Chamba tehsil, Kunna Behani, Suhagulu, Khera Khumb, Gular in Bhattiyat tehsil and Kunna Nala in Churah tehsil of Chamba district.

The slate quarry at Banbas, which is at an altitude of about 3,200 metres in Churah tehsil, has been closed for auction by the government for the past few years. Good quality slate is being extracted from Sajot quarry, situated at an altitude of about 2800 metres, in Chamba tehsil.

Forest officials claim that slate quarries are not being allowed to expand nor is the state government allowing any new quarry under the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986 which prohibit the creation of new quarries. The Act provides that if in the revenue record land is shown as forest land, then no mining lease should be given for that area without prior approval of the Centre. But, no such entry has been made in the revenue records in the case of quarries operating in the district.

Massive quarrying activity in forest land can be attributed to a lapse on the part of the state government, which has failed in implementing the forest settlement of 1960 to 1972 in toto.

Sources confirm that the settlement relating to reserved forest areas, demarcated protected forests and undemarcated forests has not been given final approval thereby putting the mining and forest departments in embarrassing situation.

Kumarhatti, May 13
A man was killed after he was hit on the head by a stone at Kheel Jhaslee, near here, last evening.

Vish Ram (65) from Kainthari village was returning home when a stone rolling down a hill hit him. He died on the spot. The stone had fallen due to the negligence of labourers working on the construction of a house uphill.

A case under Section 304-A, IPC, has been registered against Inderjeet, the contractor, and his labourers.