The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	SC upholds higher depreciation value of power cos assets Legal Correspondent New Delhi, February 15 In a major relief to power distribution companies owned by Reliance and Tata in the Capital, the Supreme Court today upheld evaluation of higher depreciation value of their assets at 6.69 per cent and rejected the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) order fixing it at 3.75 per cent. The appellate authority, which deals with electricity tariff related disputes, had approved the depreciation value of 6.69 per cent and rejected the DERC order reducing it to 3.75 per cent. The DERC, the market regulatory for fixing of the power tariff in the Capital, was awaiting for the apex court order before announcing the new electricity charges in Delhi as it had told the court that it had already assessed the depreciation value for 2006-07. In view of the approval of higher depreciation value for power distribution companies’ assets, they would require Rs 300 crore more annually to improve upon their technical equipment and if the amount was not subsidised by the Delhi Government it would apparently be passed on to the consumers who had to pay higher electricity rates. The Delhi Government, though, had promised to compensate the difference but it was waiting for the judgement of the apex court. It had to be seen what stand it took after the judgement. A Bench of Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice S. H. Kapadia rejected the appeal of the DERC against the appellate authority’s order, holding that the regulatory commission had no power to fix the depreciation value as its job was limited to fixing the power tariff. The court had said through reports of the technical experts the depreciation was evaluated by the three companies, Reliance-owned BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna and Tata-owned NDPL, engaged in distribution of electricity in the Capital. The higher depreciation value was fixed by the private distributors for the period of 2002-05 after they took over from the public sector corporation, the Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking (DESU), the responsibility of power distribution. The DERC, during the pendency of the case, was restrained by the court from fixing the power tariff as it would have to take into account the depreciation value of the private companies assets. The regulator had told the court it had already arrived at a decision for fixing the depreciation value for 2006-07 but the dispute was pertaining to the past three years’ value which was under dispute. The dispute was mainly on private distributors claim that they had inherited poor infrastructure from DESU, which needed lot of expenditure to improve upon it.
	Noida authority ‘not coming clean on RTI’ Parmindar Singh Noida, February 15 Noida Authority, which is responsible for the hygiene and cleanliness of the town, including maintenance and cleanliness of the city drains, seems to be binding itself into knots as it is not coming clean in reply to a number of queries, sought by residents and social activists under the RTI on Nithari drains. “If Noida Authority were to be believed, no human skeletons or bones in the Nithari drain around house No D-5, were found up to a week earlier or as late as December 20 and 23, 2006, when Noida staff had reportedly cleaned the drains around Moninder Singh Pandher’s house in Sector 31,” says social activist and retired Naval Officer Commodore Lokesh K Batra. That is what RC Meena, the Assistant Public Information Officer, Noida Authority, has conveyed to Commodore Batra in his reply No 332-A, dated February 9, 2007 in reply to the information sought by Commodore Batra on January 4, 2007. In that case, the skeletons and human bones that were detected and fished out from the drains at the back and in front of the D-5 had been dumped there in a week’s time between December 23 and December 29, 2006, which Noida police, parents of the victims, and later the CBI sleuths had reportedly fished out of these drains. As per the para No 4 and 5 of Noida Authority’s reply, all the waste and filth dug out of these drains had been transported by Noida authority staff and dumped in Sector 54 Noida dumping grounds on December 23, 2006. Now this negates all the claims of the Noida police, residents and CBI officials about the finding of the human skeletons and bones packed in numerous polythene bags dumped into the drain by Surinder Koli, the servant and accomplice of Moninder Singh Pandher. The Noida authority also claims in this letter that no untoward activity was observed in this locality between December 23 and December 29, 2006. The Noida authority has also mentioned that the cleanliness of the drain on Masjid Road in Nithari is being done regularly at an interval of 15 or 30 days at the most. According to Commodore Batra, the Noida authority is deliberately withholding, delaying or twisting the information sought or is discouraging those who seek the information which is against the spirit of the RTI Act. The authority is perhaps showing a little disdain for the whole exercise of seeking information from it under the RTI Act. The above-referred letter advises the seekers of the information to study the UP Industrial Area Development Act 1976 which is available in the market or refer to the para 59 to 75 of the chapter 06 of the Noida Service Regulation 1981 wherein rules and procedures for awarding punishment to the negligent and defaulting Noida staff are enumerated, adds Commodore Batra.
	Fearing deliberate delay, woman banker seeks case transfer Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 15 A woman banker, who was allegedly duped of Rs 1.38 crore by a Supreme Court lawyer, has moved an application before the district judge, seeking transfer of her case from the present court fearing deliberate attempt to delay the trial. Pointing at the 21 adjournments taken by the defence for her cross-examination, which has now been pending for over a year, the complainant, Ms Guninder Kaur Gill, has sought transfer of the case from the metropolitan magistrate at Patiala House courts, where it is presently being tried. The accused lawyer, B. N. Singhvi, and his counsel had been successful in seeking adjournment on one pretext or the other from this court without any valid reason for the adjournment, Ms Gill alleged in her application. She claimed extreme hardship where she was being forced to live in Delhi away from her husband and two daughters residing in Mumbai. “Singhvi, along with his counsel, have been trying to scuttle the trial by deploying a number of obstructionist methods, including misbehaving with me”, Ms Gill alleged, adding that she felt terrorised by the atmosphere in the court. In her plea, she also alleged that one of the witnesses in the fraud case against Singhvi was framed for the offence of criminal intimidation and was later let off by another court finding no evidence against him. Ms Gill is a former senior banker with Deutsche Bank for India based at Singapore. According to the complaint, Singhvi, who was hired by Ms Gill for fighting a case against the illegal termination of her services by Deutsce Bank, had given her a forged draft of Rs 1.38 crore after winning the said case. He also blackmailed her, demanding a major portion of the settlement amount received by him from the bank on her behalf, she said in her complaint. Singhvi, a lawyer by profession, was arrested on August 10, 2004, following a complaint against him with the Economic Offences Wing and charges were framed against him by a court in June 2005 under various legal provisions pertaining to fraud, cheating and forgery. Singhvi, who has been in judicial custody since his arrest in August 2004, is also facing trial in three other criminal cases in connection with the alleged cheating of his clients and forging a Supreme Court order.
	Court frames murder charges against husband Our Correspondent New Delhi, February 15 Noting that the deceased had complained of atrocity by her husband, a Delhi court discharged seven in-laws of the victim in a dowry case while framing murder charges against the husband. There were specific allegations against Tilak Raj (husband) in the victim’s complaint four days prior to her murder, which got corroborated by the disclosure statement given by the accused to the police, said Additional Sessions Judge Rajiv Mehra. Discharging seven other accused in-laws of deceased Rameshwari of the dowry case, the court said on considering the complaint lodged by her, she levelled no allegation of any sort of maltreatment or cruelty against any of the in-laws except her husband. It further noted the accusations against the seven other family members, which included Raj’s mother, two brothers and their wives, were made as passing reference and were general in nature without any substantial evidence. The court, however, found sufficient evidence against Rameshwari’s husband and charged him under Section 302 (murder) along with Section 309 (attempt to commit suicide) of the IPC as he had consumed poison after allegedly inflicting fatal injuries on his wife. Rameshwari, a resident of Nabi Karim here, was brought dead to a city hospital on September 25, last year with multiple stab wounds, four days after she had lodged a complaint accusing her husband of ill-treating her, and the prosecution alleged she was killed by Raj, who had been making dowry demands.
	Alleged rape victim sent home with parents Our Correspondent New Delhi, February 15 A 13-year-old alleged rape victim was reunited with her parents after a Delhi court asked her to go with them, allowing the plea of her father seeking her custody from a shelter home. “As the prosecutrix (girl) submits that she intends to go with her parents, who are present to take her custody and the state has no objection, she, therefore, is handed over to the custody of the parents”, Additional Sessions Judge Narottam Kaushal said, disposing of an application moved by her father Shyam Sunder. The minor girl, who was produced from Nari Niketan, was asked by the court whether she was willing to go with her parents. Since she nodded in a positive manner, the parents were allowed to take her custody. The complainant, Shyam Sunder, had moved an application on February 7, saying that the girl had expressed her willingness to her mother, who met her two days ago before that, to live with the parents. The court, taking cognizance of his application, directed the in-charge of Nari Niketan, Jail Road here, to produce the alleged victim, who had earlier refused to go with her parents. The minor girl, who was rescued from an accused on October 1, last year from Uttar Pradesh, had been sent to Nari Niketan here a day after she, in her statement before a court, said she did not want to go to her parents’ house. In the statement made before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the girl said she had married accused Sonu after going with him on her own on October 7 last year. The accused and his father were arrested on October 14 last year from Etawah district in Uttar Pradesh after Shyam Sunder lodged a complaint with the Uttam Nagar police station in West Delhi, alleging that they had lured his daughter away. A case invoking Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping for the purpose of marriage) and 376 (rape) of the IPC was registered against the father and son. The police had also filed a charge sheet against them on December 5 last year. The main accused, Sonu, is in the judicial custody, while his father Shishupal is out on bail.
	Former UP minister takes lie detector test Our Correspondent New Delhi, February 15 Former Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Minister Mehrajuddin Ahmed underwent a lie detector test in connection with the mysterious disappearance and alleged murder of Meerut University lecturer Kavita Malik. During his interrogation for the second consecutive day, Ahmed, who resigned from the RLD on December 25, 2006, had named a UP minister, a former state minister and a Vice-Chancellor as allegedly having relations with Kavita, who had been missing since October last year, sources said. The CBI planned to interrogate the people named by Ahmed, they said.
	Judge denies bail to undertrial hurt playing cricket in jail Our Correspondent New Delhi, February 15 An undertrial, who sustained injuries while playing cricket in jail, was denied interim bail by a city court. “In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the opinion that the allegations against the applicant being serious it shall not be proper to release him on interim bail”, Additional Sessions Judge Narottam Kaushal said. Baldev Singh Negi, an accused in a robbery case, sought interim bail on the ground that he had sustained injuries in his knees while playing cricket in jail. Despite treatment being provided to him at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital here, his knee joints had not improved, 35-year-old Negi submitted. Opposing his bail application, the prosecution said that as per the medical reports of the Central Jail, Tihar, he had been treated and only had mild pain in his left knee. The court, however denying him bail, asked the Tihar Jail Superintendent to send the accused to RML Hospital here for treatment while directing him to submit the progress report of his treatment on February 28. Negi and his co-accused Satish are facing trial for committing robbery of Rs 2.75 lakh from Ramesh Nath Aggarwal.
	Canal becomes a source of heavy silt Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service Faridabad, February 15 The Gurgaon canal, passing through the district and is considered a lifeline of agriculture, has become a source of heavy silt and encroachment. Due to lack of proper cleaning and maintenance, its capacity to carry water to the target areas has got reduced heavily. The efficiency of the thermal power plant of the state government here which depends on the raw water from this canal has also been affected adversely, resulting in frequent breakdown and lower production. As the canal becomes a source of polluted water and is just not enough to meet the demand of agriculture sector here, the water from it has been discarded by the farmers as they believe that its use could result in contamination of the crop and various diseases to their cattle. According to Kishan Singh Dagar, a farmer of Pratapgarh village, irrigating fields from this canal result in damage to the crops, due to presence of dangerous chemicals. This canal which was considered an ambitious project when it was started way back in 1960’s, has failed to fulfill its target and the department concerned has been mainly responsible for its sorry state at present, says, Mr Rajender Singh Bisla, a former MLA. He said though heavy funds had been released by the government in the past decades for its maintenance, the money appears to have gone down the drain. He said he had taken up the matter with the Chief Minister a few months back and had been even assured of a remedial measure. The canal originates from Agra canal at Okhla barrage in New Delhi and runs right up to Haryana-Rajasthan border in the south-west, covering a distance of about 2,35,000 feet. While it was supposed to carry at least 450 cusecs of water to serve the irrigation needs of farmers in the districts like Faridabad, Gurgaon and Mewat, it is learnt that there was hardly any water found in it near the tailend. According to experts, this was perhaps due to the fact that the share of water released into it was just about 150 cusecs, and that was polluted not only by the industries located in Okhla region of New Delhi, but also falling of around 18 drains carrying waste water into this canal. The matter gets worse when the canal reaches the districts of Faridabad and Gurgaon, when pollutants are openly released into it. There are dozens of unauthorized jhuggi clusters located on its banks in the city, where the residents throw waste, claims K.L Gera, a social activist here. Alleging that lots of money was collected as rent from the jhuggi colonies by some persons on behalf of certain employees, he demanded a probe into the matter. He said the government should also launch an enquiry into the use of funds meant for desilting of the canal, which was perhaps done on paper only. When contacted, the Superintending Engineer, Irrigation, here, Mr R.K. Pahuja, said he had no information of the canal and the Executive Engineer, of his department, Mr S.S.Malik be contacted, but the latter could not be contacted despite several attempts on phone.
	Engineers’ role most important for Games: CM Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 15 Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit stressed here today upon the greater role of engineers in grooming the city for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games to be hosted by India’s Capital in 2010 While meeting a high-level delegation of engineers led by Mr D. K. Gawra, president, Institute of Engineers, the apex body of engineers in the country, she said, “Engineers’ role is the most important for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. They will be the major players in giving a facelift to the Capital, including developing better connectivity, a new sports complex, improved water and power situation and an overall real estate growth.” She said, “More than five lakh fresh engineers passed out from India’s engineering colleges every year. Keeping that in mind, the new Master Plan Delhi 2021 has included engineers in the list of professionals who can operate from residential premises. Delhi needs engineers for its future needs.”
	Walia releases morbidity and healthcare report Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 15 The Delhi Finance and Planning Minister, Dr A. K. Walia, today released a report on “Morbidity, Healthcare and Condition of Aged Persons in Delhi” prepared by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Delhi. The report is based on the National Sample Survey 60th Round conducted during January-June 2004 by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics. Dr Walia disclosed the morbidity rate in Delhi was estimated at 17 per thousand persons as compared to 99 at the national level, 107 in Punjab, 87 in Haryana, 72 in Rajasthan, 108 in U.P. Therefore, the proportion of ailing persons in Delhi is the lowest in Delhi among all states. He added the morbidity in Delhi in the age group of 0-14 years was 18 per thousand population and nine in the age group of 15-29 years, 12 in the age group of 30-44 years, 29 in the age group of 45-59 years and 53 in the age group of 60 years and above. The percentage of persons reported ill in Delhi reduced from 3.1 per cent in 1995-96 to 1.7 per cent during 2004. However, at the national level, the percentage of persons reporting illness increased from 4.1 per cent to 9.9 per cent during the corresponding period. The survey reveals that in 18 per cent of the total outdoor cases, treatment was taken from government hospitals and the average expenditure for each case on treatment was Rs 545. The total number of cases of hospitalisation was estimated at 2.53 lakh. The rate of hospitalisation in case of males is 16 per thousand and in case of females it is 17 per thousand. Out of 2.53 lakh persons hospitalised, 1.19 lakh persons were hospitalised in government hospitals and 1.34 lakh in private hospitals. Therefore, out of the total hospitalised cases in Delhi, about 47 per cent were admitted in public hospitals and 53 per cent in private hospitals. The survey revealed that about 5.5 per cent of the total population in Delhi was in the age group of 60 years and above. The sex ratio among the aged persons was 874 female per 1000 males. The dependency ratio in urban area of Delhi was 8.1 as compared to 9.4 at the national level. Dr Walia said out of 8.30 lakh aged persons in Delhi about 3 per cent (24935) of the total aged persons were living alone 14.45 per cent (1.02 lakhs) with spouse only, 52 per cent (4.31 lakhs) with spouse and children, 27.6 per cent (2.29 lakh) were living without spouse but with children, 2.87 per cent (23850) with other relations. Dr Walia informed the survey also revealed that about 92 per cent of the total boys and 90 per cent of the total girls in the age group of 0-4 years were given immunisation.