Chandigarh, February 9
The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Justice Vijender Jain, has given a call to judges and prosecutors to ensure the disposal of criminal cases within two years to make Haryana a leading state in the speedy dispensation of justice.

Mr Justice Jain, who was inaugurating a workshop on the "Speedy disposal of criminal cases - operation strategies to curtail procedural delays at all levels" here today, said the faith of the people in the administration of justice and the police was eroded by delay in the disposal of criminal cases. It was true that there was a shortage of judges and police officers, but to ensure speedy justice the foremost requirement was a change in the mindset. "We are no longer serving a colonial rule or perpetuating the rule of a particular political party. Both judges and police officers are here to serve the people."

The workshop had been organised by the Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HALSA).

Mr Justice Jain said about 56,500 criminal cases in Haryana had been pending for more than five years, with Ambala, Gurgaon, Hisar and Yamunanagar districts leading with 5,000 to 6,000 pending cases in each district. Similarly, 1,772 criminal cases in the state had been pending for more than 10 years. While Ambala had 409 such cases, Gurgaon had 435.

Expressing concern, he said there were 11 criminal cases in the state which had been pending for more than 20 years.

Urging the judges to try to dispose of these cases within six months, Mr Justice Jain, however, cautioned that there was no need to be a "disposal maniac". The disposal of cases must be in accordance with the law.

Mr Justice Jain said the workshop was the first of its kind where judges and police officers had come face to face to discuss measures to improve the justice delivery system.

The Director-General of the Haryana Police, Mr Ranjeev Dalal, said as suggested by Mr Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who is also the Executive Chairman of HALSA, the state police would soon start putting FIRs of certain categories like accidents on the website so that people did not have to run around to get their copies. Vacancies in the Forensic Science Laboratory were being filled. The Fingerprint Bureau was being strengthened.

Mr Dalal said as a pilot project two police stations had been selected in each district where the investigating and law and order wings would be separated.

Suggesting measures for speedy trial, Mr Dalal said all summoned witnesses must be examined on the day on which they were told to appear before the court. The presence of formal witnesses should be dispensed with. Petty cases should be compounded. If a stay had been granted on the first date of hearing in a service case, that case should be disposed of quickly instead of keeping it pending for years.

The Director of the Haryana Police Academy, Mr V.N. Rai, said an entrant to the police carried the burden of "cultural apartheid - apartheid of race, religion, caste, gender and riches". He was of the view that the initial police inaction in the Nithari killings was an outcome of such a mindset. Unfortunately, he said, there was a similar streak in quite a few prosecutors and judicial officers.

The IG, Hisar Range, Mr Yash Pal Singal, said legal assistance should be available to the investigating officers at every stage of a case like that in the CBI. Chemical examiners should be appointed in every district. He also pleaded that the procedure to declare an accused person a proclaimed offender should be simplified.

Mr Amitabh Dhillon, SP, Ambala, said the summoning process should be computerised.

Among others who participated in the workshop were Mr Justice J.S. Khehar, Mr Justice M.S. Gill, Mr Justice Ajay Lamba, Haryana Home Secretary K.S. Bhoria and several District and Sessions Judges and district police chiefs from Haryana. 

Chandigarh, February 9
A draft ordinance on police reforms proposed by the Haryana Government, which was sent to Delhi for the assent of the President, has run into trouble owing to procedural lapses on the part of the state government.

An Under Secretary with the Union Government has written a terse letter to the state government on the subject. The Under Secretary wrote that time and again the states had been intimated about the exact procedure to be followed for sending any legislation to the President for his assent. However, states continued to err on this count. The Under Secretary wrote she was “once again” sending to the Haryana Government the guidelines on the procedure to be followed for referring legislation to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The state government has been asked to illustrate three points for the ordinance to get the approval of the President. It has been asked to throw light on the subjects in the Concurrent List of the Constitution that have been dealt with by the ordinance.

It has been also asked to clarify how far the proposed ordinance will be in contravention of the existing laws. Lastly, the state government has been asked to send six copies of the ordinance. It had apparently sent only two copies of the ordinance to Delhi.

The Supreme Court had earlier ordered that reforms in the police departments in the states must be initiated by December 31. This prompted the state government to propose an ordinance on this subject. The state government is now preparing its reply to the points raised by the central official. The ordinance will be put up in the Assembly session in March if it secures the President’s approval by that time.

Importantly, this is the second occasion in recent days when a matter sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan by the Haryana Government has encountered problems on procedural grounds. Last month, the Haryana Government’s request to the President for the removal of HPSC members was sent back for not routing it through the Governor.

Bhiwani, February 9
Haryana Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dharmbir Singh today said construction on the Hansi-Butana link canal was at its final stage.

He added that with its opening, southern Haryana would start getting an additional 2000 cusecs of water, for which farmers had been waiting for years.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said 70 per cent of construction had been completed and the remaining work would be completed by the end of the year.

Criticising the previous government for misleading people on the water issue, he said political leaders had cashed on this issue during elections by luring farmers.

Jhajjar, February 9
In a shocking incident, a young woman was allegedly killed by her sisters-in-law at Bahadurgarh after she was stabbed with scissors on the pretext of treating her for mysterious ailments.

One of the accused practised as a ‘tantrik’ at the township.

According to the police, the accused repeatedly stabbed Urmila while administering her certain magical treatment.

Mr Mangat Ram, husband of the deceased, hailing from Hunani village in Mahendergarh, had come here to his sister’s residence for the treatment of Urmila.

The deceased was said to be suffering frequent fits.

The ‘tantrik’ sister-in-law allegedly stabbed Urmila with a sharp-edged weapon on the pretext of scaring away the evil spirits from her ailing body.

Urmila died past midnight due to the severe injuries inflicted by a ‘chimta’ and scissors.

The police registered a case against Bhateri and Roshni under Section 302 of the IPC.

Yamunanagar, February 9
A daily wage labourer was crushed to death under a bus of the DAV Public School here on the Jagadhri-Saharanpur national highway near Lal Kothi this afternoon.

After the accident, the driver of the bus fled from the spot, leaving behind at least 20 children in the bus.

After about an hour and half, another bus of the school reached the spot and the children reached their homes around 5 pm.

The labourer was identified as Ram Aasin (35), a native of Bihar.

He was on a bicycle when the bus crushed him to death.

Traffic on the busy road remained affected for more than an hour. The body was sent to the Civil Hospital here for postmortem examination.

Yamunanagar, February 9
Haryana Roadways employees blocked traffic on the Saharanpur-Kurukshetra national highway near the Seth Jai Parkash Polytechic Institute at Damala after some students of the institute stoned a bus of the roadways here this evening.

The two parties had an altercation, with the students alleging that Haryana Roadways employees assaulted them.

Traffic remained obstructed for more than two hours and was resumed after the intervention of the police.

The Haryana Roadways employees parked three buses on the road to block traffic.

It was alleged that students broke windowpanes of at least one bus.

The students alleged that Haryana Roadways buses did not stop at the designated place.

Sources in the Haryana Roadways claimed that students tried to stop long-route buses.

A leader of the Haryana Roadways Karamchari Union said all buses on short routes stopped at all designated bus stops and the complaints of students were baseless.

Union leader Hari Narayan Sharma demanded that a roadways inspector be posted near the institute to avoid such incidents.

The Yamunanagar depot of the roadways collected Rs 12 lakh annually from students for issuing bus passes.