J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

J-K Sex Scandal
Framing of charges puts govt in dock
Jammu, March 22
The Congress-led government in Jammu and Kashmir has been pushed into the dock following framing of charges of immoral trafficking against two sitting MLAs and a senior IAS officer who was hurriedly reinstated by the cabinet that hastily met here on Sunday last.

Stranded Kashmiri passengers rest at a bus stand in Jammu on Thursday. Thousands of Kashmiri passengers and hundreds of trucks loaded with essential commodities got stranded due to heavy landslides on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway that remains closed for the 12th day. — Tribune photo by Anand Sharma

Suicide by CRPF man; doc’s body found in hostel
Srinagar, March 22
A constable of the Central Reserve Police Force shot himself dead while the police recovered bodies of two persons, of them a doctor at different places here today. The police has apprehended three militants of the Laskar-e-Toiba here yesterday.

4 killed in floods
Jammu, March 22
Four persons, including two women, were washed away in flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir since yesterday. A beggar also died today due to cold conditions in the Chenani area of Udhampur district, officials said, adding his identity has not been ascertained so far.

J-K Sex Scandal
Framing of charges puts govt in dock
Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 22
The Congress-led government in Jammu and Kashmir has been pushed into the dock following framing of charges of immoral trafficking against two sitting MLAs and a senior IAS officer who was hurriedly reinstated by the cabinet that hastily met here on Sunday last.

The action of reinstating the IAS officer, Mohammad Iqbal Khandey, by the cabinet that met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad just three days before the sessions court of Chandigarh framed charges against him and 13 others, has raised several questions on the present regime's slogan of providing good governance in the state.

Khandey, who was placed under suspension last year when the CBI arrested him in connection with the sex scam that rocked the state, was reinstated and appointed chairman of the Bureau of Public Enterprises on Sunday when the authorities were aware that the court was in the process of framing charges against the accused.

Framing of charges against the two MLAs, G.A. Mir and Raman Mattoo, who were ministers in the previous Mufti-led coalition, has landed the ruling Congress in an embarrassing position at a time when Azad is facing revolt by his main coalition partner, the PDP.

While Mir belongs to the Congress, Mattoo is an Independent but continues supporting the Congress.

When contacted, the PCC chief and education minister Peerzada Sayeed ruled out the resignation of Congress MLA on moral grounds. It is not necessary that he should resign after charges having been framed against him.

Speaker of the assembly Tara Chand said he would examine the issue only after receiving a copy of the judgment.

On the other hand, state BJP chief Ashok Khajuria demanded that the government surviving with support of "tainted persons" should immediately be dismissed by the Governor.

Meanwhile, Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh pointed out that veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani has himself set a convention of politicians not resigning from official positions in case of charges having been framed against them.

He said Advani continued to be Deputy Prime Minister even after being charge-sheeted in the temple case. The BJP at that time claimed that he was innocent till the charges were proved against him, he added.

Suicide by CRPF man; doc’s body found in hostel
Tribune News Service

4 killed in floods