New Delhi, January 30
Endorsing the report of the third National Police Commission that majority of the arrests in the country even for congnizable offences were unnecessary, the Supreme Court has directed the States and Union Territories to strictly follow the law laid down under Section 41 of the Cr.PC for effecting the arrest of the accused.

Upholding the right of an accused to get pre-arrest bail, the court disapproved the 1976 amendment by the Uttar Pradesh government in the Cr.PC, deleting the Section 438 relating to anticipatory bail and directed the state to restore it by brining in an ordinance immediately.

The unprecedented direction was given by Justice Markandey Katju in a concurring but separate verdict in a case against Bangalore-based Hewlet Packard Global Soft managing director Som Mittal for the death of a woman employee. He was sitting with the presiding judge, Justice H.K. Sema, who remained silent about such drastic recommendations.

The woman employee, Pratibha Srikant Murty, was allegedly murdered in 2005 while on her way to office from her residence and Mittal as company’s head was made liable under the provisions of the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act (KSCEA).

He had sought quashing of the charges against him on the ground that since the incident had taken place outside the company’s premises, he could not be held liable for her death after the Karnataka High Court had rejected his petition under the Section 482 of the CrPC, giving it special power of interference in criminal cases. The High Court instead had added another Section of the KSCEA against Mittal, making the charges more strident.

Justice Katju in his order referred to the apex court’s earlier verdict in Joginder Kumar’s case relating to the arrest of an accused and said, “It appears that the police is not at all implementing it. What invariably happens is that whenever an FIR of a cognizable offence is lodged, the police immediately goes to arrest the accused person. This is clear violation of the of the judgement of the apex court.”

The court issued direction to the chief secretaries, home secretaries and law secretaries of all the states and Union Territories to “strictly comply with the judgement of the apex court in Joginder Kumar’s case”.

Regarding deletion of the pre-arrest bail provision by the UP Government through the 1976 amendment, Justice Katju said, “In my opinion the problem will be obviated by restoring the provision for anticipatory bail.”

“I, threfore, make a strong recommendation to the UP government to immediately issue an Ordinance to restore the provision of anticipatory bail by repealing the 1976 Act… the anticipatory bail provision has been deleted while it continues to exist in all other states even those affected by terrorism,” Justice Katju said, reminding the state government that the Allahabad High Court also had issued such directions earlier.

The copy of the judgement was directed to be sent to the chief secretary, home secretary and law secretary of UP as well as the Registrar General of Allahabad High Court to take follow up action.

Though Justice Sema in his separate order found no reason for interference with the High Court order in Mittal’s case, but both the judges agreed in issuing direction to the trial judge to expedite the hearing without it being “influenced” by their as well as the High Court orders.

The court reminded that the Police Commission Report had stated that arrests in 60 per cent cases in the country were “unncessary and unjustiafied”, resulting in overcrowding of jails and heavy expenditure on prisoners.

Chandigarh, January 30
Only the commanding officer (CO) of an accused Army personnel has the authority to convene and try him by a summary court martial (SCM). No other officer, even if the accused is attached under him, can convene an SCM.

Stating this while deciding upon the legal position concerning SCMs a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice S L Bhayana stated that the decision to convene an SCM must be preceded by a reasoned order which itself would be amenable to judicial review.

This would ensure that trials by SCM would automatically be restricted to rare cases where the interest of maintaining a disciplined military force far outweigh the protection of minor civil rights of individuals, the Bench observed.

The Bench was acting upon several petitions where Army personnel who were tried and convicted by various SCMs, had challenged the same. In these cases, one of which was as old as 1992, the accused personnel were tried by officers who were not their commanding officers. While allowing the petitions, the court, however, directed that the Army was free to take action against the petitioners in accordance with law.

An SCM is a one-man court presided over by the commanding officer of a unit and it can award almost any punishment except death and life imprisonment. An SCM has the power to dismiss a person other than an officer and can send him to prison. A large number of SCMs take place in the Army every year.

In its order passed on January 25 the Bench observed that empowering a CO to hold a SCM is not just an empty formality. There was an abiding and umbilical connection between the CO and his regime. The ranks have always looked up to the CO as the father figure who would be concerned with their welfare as with their discipline, the Bench observed.

The Bench also observed that an SCM must be the exception and not the rule and can be convened where exigencies demand an immediate and swift decision without which the situation would be exacerbated with widespread ramifications. 

Mumbai, January 30
The remaining ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were immersed in the Arabian Sea today, exactly 60 years after he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in New Delhi.

The ashes, kept inside an urn, were in the custody of a businessman’s family for decades before they were discovered. More than two years ago, the businessman, Bharat Narayan, who is now based in Dubai, had bequeathed the urn to the Mahatma Gandhi museum in Mumbai. It was then decided to immerse the ashes with due ceremony today when the nation observed the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation.

The ceremony was conducted with due solemnity, complete with a gun salute at the Chowpatty beach. Several descendants of Mahatma Gandhi’s family assembled from around the world to participate in it.

Mahatma’s ashes were immersed by Neelam Parekh, great grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi and grand-daughter of his son Harilal.

During his final years, Mahatma Gandhi was estranged from his son Harilal whose troubled relationship has been chronicled in book and film. Harilal did not even attend his father’s funeral.

The ceremony began with a procession at 8:45 am from Mani Bhavan where the Mahatma Gandhi museum is situated. It reached the Chowpatty beach a short distance away in about half an hour where several hundred people awaited to join in.

At Chowpatty, where union home minister Shivraj Patil, Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna and Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil waited with other dignitaries, the urn was given a 21-gun salute.

For nearly two years, the urn was kept on display at Mani Bhavan. But, Gandhiji’s descendants said they felt uncomfortable with it and wanted the ashes to be immersed.

Reports say, urns containing Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes have been surfacing for several years and a few may be in possession of collectors in different parts of the world.

UNI adds from New Delhi: “My Life, My Words - Remembering Mahatma Gandhi”, a book, which claims to reintroduce the Father of the Nation to the mainstream, was launched here as a tribute to the late leader on his 60th anniversary of his martyrdom.

The coffee table book was launched by the Flag Foundation of India in association with Natraj Publishers.

New Delhi, January 30
It is time for candid confessions by the Congress. Breaking her silence after the party’s dismal performance in the recent Assembly elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said the results were disappointing. She also agreed with reports that the UPA government’s flagship programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, is not being implemented systematically across the states.

While Sonia was circumspect in the open letter she addressed to workers in the latest issue of the party’s mouthpiece, Congress Sandesh, the editorial minced no words in blaming the party’s successive electoral defeats on factionalism, lack of strong state leaders and disregard of grassroots workers.

The Congress’s five successive defeats in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have badly dented the morale of its workers and the party leadership is faced with the daunting task of galvanising the cadres as they prepare for another string of the Assembly poll this year.

Attempting to boost their morale, Sonia told the workers that the recent electoral setbacks “do not mean the defeat of our ideals and principles.” While urging the party to propagate its ideas against the BJP’s divisive agenda, she reminded them that this fight did not end with winning or losing elections.

Well aware of the intense infighting in Congress state units, Sonia Gandhi again urged the cadres to fight the coming elections unitedly.

“In the states where we are in power, Chief Ministers must work in tandem with party presidents. Similarly, it is important for our Chief Ministers to fulfil the promises made in our manifesto and ensure that our workers are heard,” she added.

Referring to the reports about the poor implementation of the NREGA, the Congress president urged party workers to work with NGOs to weed out corruption and mismanagement to ensure that social development measures do not remain only on paper.

Calling for introspection by the party as to why it has been losing elections in the northern belt, the hard-hitting Congress Sandesh unnamed editorial did not hesitate to blame it on organisational weaknesses like the lack of strong leaders. Pointing out that factionalism has also cost the party, the editorial says: “It is the duty of Chief Ministers to ensure that they work in tandem with the party organisation and not as dictators who disregard their party workers and their needs.”

Echoing Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi’s views on party reforms, the editorial says in an effort to give grassroots workers their due, the party should conduct democratic elections at the grassroots level. It also asked the party to reinvent itself to keep pace with the changing times. “We must have the vision to change old ideas and embrace the new ones,” it adds, clearly referring to Rahul Gandhi’s attempts to give the party an image makeover.

Lucknow, January 30
Refusing to get embroiled in a direct confrontation with the BJP in the election campaign CD matter, which directly implicates BJP’s national president Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister Mayawati today decided to hand over the case to the CBI.

Addressing a press conference at her residence this evening Mayawati said following the investigation of the case by the Lucknow police it appeared that “it was possible that senior party leaders were involved”. As her government did not want to be accused of giving the case a political colour she had decided to hand over the matter to the CBI for fresh investigation.

As reports of the investigation in the CD case reaching a conclusive stage, and charge sheets being filed, appeared in a section of the media the BJP kicked up a political row over its president Rajnath Singh being charge sheeted.

Earlier, SSP Lucknow Akhil Kumar had said there were still many gaps in the investigation that needed to be worked upon before the filing of a formal charge sheet. “Further action would be taken based on available evidence”, said the SSP.

He had confirmed that CO Hazratganj was investigating the matter of a FIR filed by UP chief election officer Anuj Kumar Bishnoi on 6 April 2007, against the BJP office bearers and workers.

Earlier, BJP legislative party leader Om Prakash Singh had requested Chief Minister Mayawati not to grant permission to prosecute the national BJP president as the saffron party would view this as an act of “political vendetta”.

Speaking to the media at the BJP headquarters Singh said he wondered why the CD case was being given a political colour by the Mayawati government by implicating Rajnath Singh when he was personally not present at the release of the CD.

New Delhi, January 30
BJP and JD(U) presidents Rajnath Singh and Sharad Yadav, respectively, today promised to visit the neglected Bundelkhand area of Uttar Pradesh to look into problems of farmers.

The two leaders made the assurance to families of the farmers at a dharna, whose debt trapped breadwinners committed suicide for debts as low as 12,000 rupees.

As many as 400 persons from Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Jalaon, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mohbua and Urai in Bundelkhand gathered under the banner of ‘Bundelkhand Bachao Morcha’ (Save Bundelkhand Front) here and raised slogans demanding compensation for such families and waiving off debts of the farmers.

The BJP and JD(U) supported dharna came a day after the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati addressed the Bundelkhand Vikas Haqeeqat Maharally in Jhansi following AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Bundelkhand early this month.

Addressing the dharna outside the 7, Jantar Mantar office of JD(U) here, the BJP president reiterated his demand for a special session of Parliament to take up issues concerning the poor and underprivileged sections of society. He said the NDA would raise the issue both inside and outside Parliament.

Rajnath Singh said when he was agriculture minister, he had proposed the Farmers Income Insurance Scheme to ensure that farmers were protected from financial losses in case of crop failure or crop damage. He said the

finance minister of the Congress-led UPA government had also praised the scheme but it was discarded by the Congress government. Singh said the scheme proposed a guaranteed income for agricultural land and insurance for produce and its value. He expressed the confidence that the implementation of the scheme would put an end to the farmers suicides.

The BJP president said the farmers should be exempted from paying any interest on the loan in the initial year. This, he said would be a relief to them.

Supporting the demands of the ‘Morcha’, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said Bundelkhand must be declared a famine hit area. He said the deteriorating situation in Bundelkhand warrants immediate attention of the nation.

New Delhi, January 30
On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 60th martyrdom day, children of farmers, who committed suicide in Punjab, were in the capital today to give voice to their experiences.

Sixteen-year-old Manpreet used present tense while talking about her father instead of past tense and corrected herself soon enough. She was nine-year-old when her father’s body was recovered from the fields of Govindpura. “My father was indebted with Rs 2,50,000 that he could not pay back,” said Manpreet. “We are extremely helpless. My mother is a daily labourer and it has become difficult for us to survive.”

She has written a letter to the concerned authorities asking for help. “We go to the school empty stomach as there is no food in the house at times,” she writes.

“I know she wants to study and earn us a living but she also misses all pleasures she deserved,” said Paramjeet, Manpreet’s mother. “I still remember my husband Gurjant Singh lying dead in the fields.”

“We want these voices to be heard. So that people know the ground reality in Punjab,” said Manmeet, who is producing a documentary regarding the victims of agrarian crisis in Punjab. “These are some of the selected children from Sangrur district. There are more than thousand victim families.”

Twelve-year-old Jasbir Kaur cooks for her siblings after her mother left the family and most likely is no more. “My father committed suicide after selling the only one-acre land that we had,” said Jasbir.

She sings a song that makes all the neighbours cry. The song in Punjabi talks about a girl calling her mother to talk to her and share experiences. “…What kind of a maternal house would that be where there is no mother.”

Similar is the tale of Sher Mohammad and his sister Salma from Govind Garh village. “My father committed suicide in 1998. He had taken a debt of around Rs 1 lakh,” said Sher Mohammad. “People still come down to the house and bother us asking for money.”

Tahrukh Khan’s wife Mantari Devi committed suicide in 2004 following the financial crunch in the house. Tahrukh’s son Naresh Khan and his other siblings eat what their father earns in the day. “He only has one eye and it’s very difficult for him to work efficiently,” said Naresh.

“One has to look at the larger picture here. The Punjab government does not want to highlight these issues as it does not go well with the prosperous image of the state,” said Manmeet.

“Poor farmers are being forced to take up debts to buy machines and chemicals that are not even healthy,” said Vandana Shiva from Navdanya, the NGO that provided platform to the victim families to talk. “This is nothing less than a genocide.”

Some individuals though have taken initiatives to sponsor the education of these children. One of them is Inderjeet Singh Jaijee, who has started a collective to help the families in the state.

Chennai, January 30
Politically hit by the Congress, which criticised the DMK for going soft on pro-LTTE parties, the embarrassed DMK government today sternly warned those who supported or expressed solidarity to the banned outfits with punishment under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Tamil Nadu law minister Durai Murugan in a suo moto statement in the state Assembly today said under the law, it was illegal to campaign, act or issue hand outs, put up posters or hold demonstrations or rally and fast in support of the banned organisation.

He warned that the supporters of such banned organisations should restrain from such activities.

Murugan’s statement came after the Congress yesterday launched a severe attack on the state government on its failing to curb activities of the pro-LTTE parties, which were openly campaigning for the banned body and could not be pacified even by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s explanations.

With only 95 MLAs in the 117-member Assembly, the DMK needs the support of 36 Congress legislators to remain in power.

The Congress was critical of Karunanidhi, when he penned an elegy on the slain LTTE political wing chief S.P. Thamilselvam on November 4. But its attack was not very sharp till the AICC stated that it would not tolerate any praise of a terrorist organisation, which killed its leader Rajiv Gandhi.

The Tamil Nadu Congress, which was already a disgruntled lot for the DMK not sharing the power with it, remained silent for a few months. But it got the scope when pro-LTTE parties like the Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (Liberation Panthers Party) last week held meetings demanding lifting the ban on the LTTE and even tried to erect a huge cut out of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, an ally of the DMK, demanded that India should lift the ban on the LTTE and appealed to the international community to recognise the Tigers as a democratic movement fighting for the liberation of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

In India, the LTTE was first banned in 1992 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, after its role was established in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and it had been renewed every two years since then.

Thirumavalavan invoked the fundamental rights clauses in the Constitution to argue that taking up the cause of a banned outfit was not an offence and said freedom of speech and expression was in danger since even a Chief Minister was being castigated for writing an ode in memory of Thamilselvam.

All this blew the lid off the boiling pot of the Congress, which had been alleging that Tamil Nadu was becoming a conduit for arms smuggling for the LTTE and demanded a ban on activities of pro-LTTE parties. Realising that things are going out of the hand, Karunanidhi decided to show that he meat what he said about his government’s stand regarding the LTTE.

Hyderabad, January 30
The raging Telangana issue has created rift between the left parties in Andhra Pradesh with CPI and CPI (M) taking divergent stands on the statehood demand.

While CPI (M) is strongly opposed to bifurcation of the state, CPI has thrown its weight behind the Telangana cause on the ground that there was “overwhelming public support” for the creation of a separate state.

“If the government brings up Telangana bill in Parliament or Assembly, we will support it,” the CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan declared at a press conference here yesterday.

When pointed out that CPI (M) was strongly opposed to splitting the state, he shot back “I am not sure about the firmness of their opposition to Telangana.”

Admitting that his party was not generally in favour of smaller states, the case of Telangana was, however, different, as a majority of people in the backward region wanted statehood, the CPI leader argued.

The state CPI (M) secretary B.V. Raghavulu asserted that there was no change in his party’s position to oppose further division of states. “We have already submitted our views to the UPA sub-committee on Telangana (headed by Pranab Mukherjee) and there is no change in our stand,” he said.

Raghavulu took a dig at the CPI and wondered how the communist party, which was in the forefront of movement for formation of linguistic states, could join the demand for bifurcating AP, the first state in the country to be formed on linguistic basis five decades ago. Sustained focus on solving the problems of the poor and addressing the land issues were the best way to tackle the backwardness of regions, he argued.

Both the left parties are opposed to the constitution of a fresh States Re-Organisation Commission (SRC) to examine demands for smaller states.