Chandigarh, May 20
The Haryana government’s policy for releasing acquired land has come under judicial scanner. A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court held that a provision in the policy for release of land after a year of award ‘is patently against Section 48 of the Land Acquisition Act’.

Referring to Clause 1 of the policy dated October 26, 2007, the division bench of Justice M.M. Kumar and Justice Sabina observed that it provides for release of land after a year of the award ‘and only those cases are to be considered by the government where objections under Section 5-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, have been filed by the landowners’.

The Bench added: “The provision for release of land after one year of award is patently against Section 48 of the Act because it provides that no land could be released where possession has been taken.” Elaborating, the judges held that, “It is general practice that on the date of award, possession is also taken by making an entry in the rapat roznamcha in the revenue record. The commissioner and secretary have issued the policy to the town and country planning department, government of Haryana.”

The Bench also wants to know why the government acquires religious institutes, commercial establishments or buildings owned by communities, when the policy says structures in existence prior to the issuance of notification under Section 4 of Act are to be considered for release.

Issuing a notice of motion to the state of Haryana and others, the Bench ruled: “It has been provided by clauses 2, 3 and 4 of the policy that structures, factory, commercial establishment or any religious institution is to be considered for release if the same have been in existence prior to notification issued under Section 4 of the Act.”

“If policies have been framed for releasing such structures, factory, commercial establishment or buildings owned by community, which are in existence before the issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act, then why at the first instance such properties are required to be included in a notification issued under Section 4 of the Act,” the bench added.

“At the time of survey for preparing notification under Section 4 of the Act, why such properties could not be excluded? By doing that, avoidable harassment to the general public could be spared which results into unnecessary visits to the office of the land acquisition collector requiring the need to file objections under Section 5-A of the Act,” the bench further ruled.

Before parting with the orders, the Bench added: “We have already made such observations in a number of cases which come before this court and have apprised M.L. Saggar, Additional Advocate-General, Haryana, about our concern on the issue.” The matter will come up for further hearing on May 22.

Yamunanagar, May 20
The district has witnessed a steep rise in incidents of crimes committed by servants and cases of unlawful use of rented accommodation. However, police verification of tenants and servants is not on the priority list of residents of Yamunanagar and Jagadhri.

The administration claims that it has spread awareness regarding the police verification and notifications for the same are issued on regular intervals under Section 144 of the CrPC.

There is a provision of prosecution of defaulters, but no action has been taken against any defaulter, at least in the recent past.

Sources in the administration and police said generally house owners did not issue rent receipts to tenants and they avoid tenant verification, as they feared that the same could bring them in tax net.

Regarding non-verification of servants, the main reason was the laid-back attitude of residents.

Exercising his power under Section 144 of the CrPC, deputy commissioner Nitin Kumar Yadav today issued orders for verification of tenants and servants within 10 days.

The residents have been asked to provide antecedents of their domestic servants and tenants with photographs to their respective police stations so that the same could be verified with the hometown police of servants and tenants.

The order said there had been reports of crimes against property and persons in the state in the recent past, many of which had been committed by domestic servants and tenants.

In many cases, persons employed as domestic servants were native of other states and their correct addresses and antecedents were neither known to the employer nor to the local police and thus investigations were hampered.

The DC said violators would be prosecuted under Section 188 of the IPC. 

Chandigarh, May 20
Bumper wheat crop this year has not only made Haryana farmers prosperous, but has also made the state exchequer richer by several hundred crores of rupees.

The state mandis had received a record 52.51 lakh metric tonnes of wheat till two days ago. The Haryana Agriculture Marketing Board, which collects 2 per cent of the sale price as market fee, has so far collected more than the double of the market fee it had collected during the wheat season last year. Wheat is still arriving in the mandis.

Last year, the board had collected about Rs 55 crore by way of market fee on wheat. This year, it has already collected about Rs 110 crore so far. The figure is expected to touch Rs 120 crore by the time the wheat season will be over.

Besides, the state also collects 2 per cent cess as the Haryana Rural Development Fund (HRDF) on wheat. This amount will also touch Rs 120 crore this year from wheat alone.

Since the state imposes 4 per cent value added tax (VAT) on certain food grains, including wheat, the state exchequer will be richer by another Rs 240 crore from the bumper wheat crop alone.

This year most of the wheat arriving in the mandis have been purchased by government agencies on behalf of the union government. Therefore, the chances of evasion of market fee, HRDF and VAT have reduced considerably. Moreover, these taxes and levies will come to the state from the centre.

Besides the bumper crop, the state was able to collect more revenue because the centre had increased the minimum support price of wheat by a record Rs 250 per quintal.

The Haryana Agriculture Marketing Board registered an increase of 37.03 per cent in the collection of market fee during the last financial year, which is the highest increase in the past 10 years. The board had registered a negative growth of 3 per cent in 2006-07 in collection of market fee.

Chief administrator of the board Ram Niwas said this had been possible due to better surveillance and tight monitoring.

Hisar, May 20
Scientists and research students of Ch Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, will soon be provided with all educational facilities round the clock on the pattern of developed countries.

To achieve this objective, Nehru Library of the university was being upgraded to a national-level library, vice-chancellor of the university Dr J.C. Katyal said here today.

Addressing a meeting of senior officers and scientists of the university, Katyal said after the library, which was already equipped with the latest collection of reading material pertaining to all subjects of agriculture and applied sciences and video conferencing facilities, is upgraded, state-of-the-art facilities of research and reading would increase in a big way, enabling the scientists to carry out their educational and research activities more efficiently.

Encouraged by the increased wheat production, Katyal asked agricultural scientists to determine their research priorities to increase the production of fruits, vegetables and other foodgrains, including fodder.

A strategy to deal with the new challenges of decreasing soil fertility and scarcity of irrigation water should also be evolved, he added. — UNI 

Indri (Karnal), May 20
In an attempt to prove their political strength to voters of Indri, various parties today apparently “invited” a number of outsiders to attend rallies organised at three different venues.

Today was the last day of canvassing and leaders tried to strike an emotional chord with the voters to gain their sympathy for the bypoll slated for May 22.

Despite a downpour, the three main political contenders managed to pull crowds in their respective rallies.

Though local voters participated in today’s rallies, scores of followers of different parties from other areas were also “motivated” to attend the rallies to make these a success.

While Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda talked about “unprecedented” development activities carried out by him in the state, HJC (BL) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi showed his interest in becoming the Chief Minister of Haryana.

Poll code violated In a blatant violation of the model code of conduct, Chautala today reached the venue of an election rally in the grain market at Biana in a luxury vehicle fitted with a red beacon (See photo). Two more vehicles with red lights atop were spotted at the rally venue in the presence of the police

Though Bhajan Lal was also present at the HJC rally, he spoke for a brief while.

Similarly, while seeking votes for the party candidate, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala equated his father, the late Devi Lal with Lord Rama, stating that he preferred not to accept the office of Prime Minister.

He charged the state government with failure on the power, water and law and order fronts. Interestingly, Chautala totally ignored Bishnoi and his party in his lengthy speech.

Bishnoi said the Karnal incident where HJC (BL) candidate Rakesh Kamboj was cane-charged, was an apt example of lawlessness in the Hooda regime. He echoed Mayawati’s slogan that a non-Jat should be the Chief Minister.

He said the state had seen only Jat chief ministers in the past decade, who had “exploited other communities”.

Incidentally, Dharampal Malik, HJC (BL) candidate from Gohana, is a Jat.

Calling Bhajan Lal a betrayer, Hooda said the former was not contented even though his elder son was “made an LS MP while the younger son was made the Deputy Chief Minister by the party high command”.

Flanked by scores of MLAs, MPs and his ministers, he highlighted various developmental activities carried out under his regime.

Hisar, May 20
Campaigning for the byelection to the Adampur assembly constituency ended today. The campaign carried out in extreme heat wave conditions remained peaceful despite the fact that it is a hotly contested seat.

The last day of the campaign was marked by heavy intermittent showers throughout the day, dousing the heat from the sun as well as the heat generated by the contest.

It was otherwise an issueless and listless campaign with slander and mudslinging emerging as its main features. All main contenders avoided larger issues and sought votes for themselves without explaining why. Three of the main contenders - Sampat Singh (INLD), Ranjit Singh (Congress) and Swami Raghvanand (BJP) - are not listed as voters of the constituency. Former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal (HJC) is the only candidate hailing from the constituency.

There are six candidates with the name Bhajan Lal in the fray, thanks to the ruling party’s desperate bid to waste as many votes of the former Chief Minister as possible by creating confusion in the minds of the voters, most of whom are illiterates.

All senior leaders of different political parties campaigned for their respective candidates. They included Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana and Ajay Chautala. For the CPM, Politburo member Sitaram Yechury and MP Nilotpal Basu came calling.

Interestingly, Hooda’s son Deepender, MP from Rohtak, toured twice while son-in-law Kunal Bhadu camped here throughout the campaign.

Candidates had to import workers from their original constituencies to manage the campaign. For the Congress, they poured in from Rori in Sirsa district. For Sampat Singh, all his party workers from his neighbouring Bhattu Kalan constituency campaigned for him in Adampur too. CPM and BJP workers from outside Adampur also performed duty here.

Meanwhile, apprehending attempts to breach peace by anti-social elements, deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar today banned the plying of various types of vehicles, including “fast-driven two-wheelers” in the Adampur constituency with effect from 5 pm tomorrow till the end of polling the next day to ensure peaceful polling.

Gohana, May 20
The Gohana assembly segment, which had been reverberating with the enormous poll din for the past several weeks, fell quiet with the hectic campaigning coming to an end this evening.

But before it was all over, political stalwarts of Haryana like Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his predecessor and INLD chief commander Om Prakash Chautala made last-ditch attempts to woo the constituency voters.

Despite repeated spells of rain lashing the township today, the show of strength organised by the Congress as well as the INLD in the township remained successful in attracting big and enthusiastic crowds.

Supporters and sympathisers of both parties braved the inclement weather to attend the rallies of their respective leaders. Even the muddy roads and streets of the township covered with a “creamy layer” of sludge failed to deter the devoted political workers and their backers from reaching the rally venues.

However, neither Hooda nor Chautala said anything new to woo the electors. While Hooda sought votes in the name of development, Chautala contested his claims on this very front.

Listing the major achievements of his regime, Hooda asserted that he had taken maximum decisions for the betterment of the downtrodden, farmers, rural as well as urban residents.

“These include waiving of electricity bills worth Rs 1,600 crore, provision for free residential plots to the poor, scholarships for Scheduled Caste children, getting remunerative price for agricultural produce, waiving house tax and much more,” he said.

He pointed out that on the contrary, certain leaders who had remained chief ministers for 10-12 years had not taken any long-term decisions for the welfare of the state residents.

“The whole situation is clear before you; now you have to decide whom to vote for in this election,”Hooda said, adding that victory in this bypoll would establish him as a state leader.

Congress candidate Jagbir Singh Malik, HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana and state education minister Mange Ram Gupta were among the other leaders who addressed the gathering.

On the other hand, Chautala, in his address, accused Hooda of misleading the masses by making false claims. He appealed to the people to vote for his party candidate K.C. Bangar as “he was the best among the options before them”.

Buoyed by the huge turnout at the rally, Chautala even stated that he felt like congratulating the gathering as by coming in large numbers, they had given their verdict on May 20 itself instead of 22.

Gurgaon, May 20
The electoral authorities of Gurgaon division have pleaded for the replacement of Hartron, state-owned electronics development agency, as it has failed to provide electoral photo ID cards. They alleged that it had also failed to put photos of voters on electoral rolls on time.

Sources said thousands of people had not received the ID cards despite being photographed. There were other discrepancies like photo mismatch, wrong names and even misplacement of voters’ photos.

A large number of people had to wait to be photographed as photographers of the private agency hired by Hartron failed to arrive on time.

There had been complaints that records of the number of photographs taken or left were not furnished to the respective district electoral officials.

Sources said 15,000 voters had not got the I-cards so far. Repeated enquiries at Hartron yielded no satisfactory reasons behind this.

Similarly, around 20,000 such cases were reported from Mewat district.

Fed up with this, the authorities concerned in Gurgaon with the approval of the state electoral officer have started collecting passport-size photographs of the voters. But all this has made the task of updating the electoral rolls difficult for the respective district authorities before the deadline of May 31.

Apprising central election observer R.R. Phulia of the issue in the review meeting held here today for the purpose, the electoral authorities of Gurgaon division, comprising Gurgaon, Mewat, Rewari and Mahendergarh, requested him that they would prefer to get the job done at the district level.

Phulia reportedly told them to write about this to the Election Commission either through respective deputy commissioners or the commissioner of Gurgaon division. He also assured his support to them in this, said sources.

Managing director of Hartron Varinder Singh Kundu, however, denied having received any complaint in this regard. When told about specific cases of Gurgaon, he expressed ignorance saying: “I will be in a position to say anything after speaking to my staff,” he said.

He said some problem was reported from Mewat as voters had failed to turn up for getting the photographs clicked at the camps organised for the purpose.

Fatehabad, May 20
Notwithstanding the wide publicity being given to the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) all over the country with effect from April 1, the much-hyped scheme is so far on paper only in the district.

Although the authorities have said the implementation will start within 20 days, going by the pace at which the spadework is being done, this is not likely in the near future.

No job cards have been issued to beneficiaries of the scheme and no bank or post office accounts have been opened so far, which are the prerequisites for the scheme.

The Act guarantees employment for 100 days in a year to households in rural areas. The Act, as it is being publicised, is aimed at providing the right to work to common man. It also says that the government will be bound to provide wages to persons, who are willing to work but are not given any work by the authorities within 15 days of demand of work by them.

People willing to benefit from the scheme are to be employed for some labour work in village on projects taken up by the panchayat.

To ensure transparency in the implementation of the scheme, money will be delivered to the workers through banks or post offices.

The authorities are supposed to issue job cards to persons, who wish to engage in labour work under the scheme. They will be required to take up community works in villages like removal of silt from ponds, afforestation and such other works, but expenditure on purchase of material for the project should not be more than 40 per cent of the total cost of the project. The rest has to be spent on giving remuneration to the workers.

Additional deputy commissioner C.G. Rajnikanthan confirmed that an amount of Rs 1.70 crore had been received by the authorities for the implementation of the NREGA in the district.

He said various panchayats of the district were in the process of identifying works to be taken up under the Act.

After identifying the works, block division and panchayat officers (BDPOs) would prepare the estimates, which would have to be approved from zila parishads before starting the work.

He said there were 240 panchayats in the village and the authorities hoped to generate around four to five projects in each of these villages soon.

Krishan Swaroop, a member of the zila parishad, however, alleged that neither the authorities nor Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) were equipped for the implementation of the programme.

He said though the scheme was very good in spirit as it empowered people with the right to work, the experience of the district, where the scheme had been implemented as a pilot project, showed that the scheme had not been used for sustainable production avenues but on projects, which were of no use to society.

Regarding implementation of the scheme in the district, he admitted that no concrete steps had been taken in this direction so far to his knowledge.

Chandigarh, May 20
The union government has decided to exempt agriculture market committees and state agriculture marketing boards from income tax.

Though the issue had been raised by various states in the past also, the matter was kept pending by the centre. However, this year the centre responded positively to a letter written by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in this regard.

Hooda wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 2 last urging him to exempt the market committees and state agricultural marketing boards from the purview of the Income Tax Act as the money generated by these agencies was spent on development activities such as construction and maintenance of rural roads, creating marketing infrastructure and providing drinking water, electricity and other public utilities in the mandis.

He told Manmohan Singh that the boards and the market committees were non-profit making institutions and their income was utilised for the benefit of farmers. Acting on Hooda’s request, the central government inserted a new clause 26 (AAB) in section 10 of the Income Tax Act to provide tax exemption to the marketing committees and the agricultural marketing boards constituted under the relevant state acts.The Prime Minister conveyed this decision to Hooda vide his letter of May 13.

This amendment will not only address the income tax liability of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, which is to the tune of more than Rs 30 crore for the current year, but also improve the financial health of the agricultural marketing boards and market committees.

Yamunanagar, May 20
Sonia, who had consumed poison along with her husband and daughter on Saturday evening, died yesterday at the PGI, Chandigarh.

Relatives and acquaintances of Sonia blocked the traffic on the Kurukshetra-Saharanpur road by placing her body on the road today evening. They were demanding the arrest of the accused.

Later, they dragged the accused out of their hidings and thrashed them before handing them to the police.

Vehicle movement remained obstructed on the busy road for about an hour.

Family members of Sonia brought the body from Chandigarh to Yamunanagar, but when they came to know that no arrest had been made so far, they got agitated and blocked the traffic.

DSP Ram Chander along with police force reached the spot and made efforts to placate the crowd. However, they refused to budge demanding immediate arrest of the accused.

Later, the police arrested the accused. Sonia along with her husband Rajinder and daughter Somakshi had allegedly consumed poison on Saturday evening.

Rajinder and Somakshi had died within hours of consuming poison, while Sonia died last evening.

Sonia’s brother Ajay had made a complaint to the police that parents and siblings of Rajinder were responsible for their suicide.

The police had booked Rajinder’s father, mother, brother and two sisters under Section 309 and 34 of the IPC.

Kaithal, May 20
A married man of Bhagal village and a girl of Sadakpura village in Guhla subdivision in this district allegedly consumed poison last night.

While the girl died, the man is struggling for his life at a private nursing home in Kaithal where both were admitted after the incident last night.

The man, Satnam, is married and runs a shop at Sadakpur village. He was allegedly having an affair with a girl living in his neighbourhood.

The parents of the girl had reportedly tried a number of times to convince the man and the girl to end their relationship. However, all their attempts failed to separate the lovers.

The lovers decided to commit suicide and consumed poison last night.

Their family members shifted them to a private nursing home here, where the girl died while the man is battling for his life.

It is learnt that the father of the girl has lodged a complaint with the police against the man for instigating his daughter to end her life.

Hisar, May 20
Two motorcycle-borne armed persons allegedly looted Rs 2.18 lakh at gunpoint from a branch of Haryana Gramin Bank at Sorkhi village of Hisar district, the police said today.

After parking the motorcycle outside the bank in start position, the duo entered the bank and ordered the cashier, Hari Dutt, to hand over the cash.

They locked up Dutt, another employee Karambir and a consumer in a room of the bank and escaped with Rs 2.18 lakh.

After receiving information, SHO of the Sadar police station Inder Singh Kundu along with police force reached the spot. — PTI