Jind, September 16
The District Attorney (DA) or the law officer of the government at the district level was nabbed while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 3,000 from a local resident.

The DA identified as Anand Parkash Gupta is perhaps the senior-most officer so far in the district who has been held on the charges of graft.

The police has registered a case under the Corruption Act and arrested the DA. The raid was conducted by the SP of the Vigilance Bureau.

The trap to arrest the DA was laid after Ram Niwas, a resident of Birtana village here, lodged a complaint with the office of the DGP, Haryana.

He had complained that the DA had been allegedly asking for a bribe of Rs 11,000 for getting summons issued in his name for deposing as an eyewitness in a murder case that took place on August 28, 2007.

A person identified as Satish of Kotkalan village had been shot dead by some persons on the Safidon road in the district. Sources said Ram Niwas was present on the spot when the murder took place.

However, according to the complainant, the office of the DA here did not ensure that he was summoned for his deposition in the court in this regard.

He said while two dates notified by the court in this connection had passed without the opportunity to depose, he claimed that the DA allegedly demanded money for getting him deposed in the case, for which next date was fixed on September 28.

He alleged that the accused initially demanded Rs 20,000, but the deal was fixed
at Rs 11,000.

He told the police that he had paid an amount of Rs 2,000 on September 1 and was to pay the second installment of Rs 3,000 today.

The matter was brought to the notice of the DGP, Haryana, recently, who deputed SP, vigilance, Pat Ram to take the necessary action.

The vigilance team assisted by the local police took Gupta into custody as soon as the money was paid to him by the complainant on the court premises.

The powdered currency notes amounting to Rs 3,000 were recovered by the
team. The district development and panchayat officer (DDPO) was the Duty
Magistrate for the raid.

The DA had also been looking after the works of the public prosecutor regarding the cases of corruption in the district for which a separate court was set up.

Karnal, September 16
Crime investigating agencies in Haryana will soon have a reliable data bank on “diatom bloom” in water bodies of the state to investigate deaths due to drowning.

The Haryana science and technology department has sanctioned a project on
morphological and molecular variation in diatom bloom in water bodies in the
state to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Madhuban to prepare the database
by analysing the diatom.

The first of its kind in the country, the diatom data bank will go a long way in aiding police investigations in case of deaths due to drowning.

It will be possible to segregate criminal deaths from suicides or accidental cases.

The investigating agencies have been finding it difficult to find out the cause of the death whenever a body was recovered from a water body and it had no scientific base to come to any conclusion in cases where bodies were recovered after weeks, months or even years.

The diatom was a microscopic unicellular algae that inhabited virtually all aquatic environments and if the diatoms extracted from the bone marrow of the body differed from that of the water body, it would be possible to find out whether the person was dead or alive at the time he submerged, said Dr Vandana Vinayak, who has been handling the project.

The basic principle of diatom test in drowning was based on the inference that diatoms were present in the medium where the possible drowning took place and the inhalation of water caused penetration of diatom into the blood stream.

This vital fact was the key to the investigations as it provided scientific input that the person was dead or alive at the time of drowning.

If a person was thrown into a water body after he was murdered, the diatom report would be conclusive evidence and not only give the cause of death but also its timing, she added.

Yamunanagar, September 16
Various banks in the district have come under the scanner of the district administration for charging more interest rate on loans from self-help groups (SHGs) in violation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.

Besides, the banks have been blamed for not attending to the SHGs properly when approached for the loans.

Interestingly, it has been found that banks --- State Bank of India, State Bank of Punjab and Punjab and Sind Bank --- had charged more interest rate from SHGs at the rate of 12.5 per cent whereas as per the instructions of the RBI, these cannot be charged more than 9.5 per cent.

The fact came to light in a report submitted to additional deputy commissioner Narender Singh by the accounts officers of the district rural development agency (DRDA) and zila parishad after inspecting the records of the banks.

Under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna (SGSY) scheme, BPL families can form self-help groups and get help to start productive activities.

It is a mix of financial help through a subsidy of Rs 1.25 lakh from the government and loans advanced by banks up to Rs 5 lakh.

The report pointed out that after getting complaints of the indifferent attitude of bank officials and charging of higher interest rate on loans from the SHGs, the ADC had deputed the accounts officers of the DRDA and zila parishad to check the records of the banks to find out whether the SHGs were being guided and helped in a proper manner.

The account officers checked 12 banks and found that the attitude of the bankers was pathetic towards the SHGs.

The ADC said there was the utmost need to clear the loan applications of the SHGs.

If the banks found some discrepancies, then it should be mentioned in a separate register, which should be maintained for the SHGs.

Rohtak, September 16
A large number of farmers and farm labourers from various parts of the state today staged a protest demonstration against the alleged forcible acquisition of agricultural land for SEZs by the Haryana government.

The Bhoomi Bachao Kisan-Mazdoor Talmel Committee, Haryana, a newly formed coordination committee of as many as 17 organisations of farmers, peasants and farm-labourers, had given the call for today’s agitation.

The protesters marched from Chhotu Ram Chowk to mini-secretariat, raising slogans against the “pro-industrialist and anti-farmer” policies of the state government.

They submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Haryana Governor, to the local deputy commissioner.

In the memorandum, the farmers’ body has demanded that the Haryana Special Economic Zone Act-2005 be scrapped and a complete ban imposed on the acquisition of agricultural land for SEZs.

“The state government is trying to forcibly acquire even fertile land of farmers belonging to Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Rohtak and Sonepat districts to benefit big industrial houses like Reliance,” said Mahabir Singh Guliya, state convener of the committee.

Anoop Singh, state co-convener of the committee, alleged that the Haryana government was functioning like an agent of SEZ developers.

He pointed out that while the Delhi government had fixed a rate of Rs 75 lakh per acre as compensation for acquired land, Haryana government was giving only Rs 20 to 22 lakh per acre in the NCR, which was much below the prevailing market price.

“On top of it, the farmers are not asked whether they want to sell their land or not. The state government directly issues notices to the farmers to acquire their land,” he maintained.

The union leaders demanded that the notices issued by the Haryana government under Section 4 for acquisition of 174 acres in the Pasaur-Badli area for giving the land to a Reliance SEZ be withdrawn.

The farmer leaders threatened to intensify their agitation in case their demands were not met.

However, the DNA test report did not match with the blood samples of the accused.

The CBI, while referring to the statement of Sarita, said she had alleged that her husband Subhash was arrested by CIA-1, Rohtak, on April 9 in connection with a motorcycle theft case.

On April 10, she was called by the CIA staff where Balraj and Seelak Ram raped her.

Sirsa, September 16
The police today visited the residential area in Chaudhary Devi Lal University in connection with the investigations into allegations of criminal trespass and hurting religious sentiments levelled by Sewa Singh Bajwa, a lecturer in the journalism and mass communication department, against two other teachers of the university.

A police party, led by Ajay Sharma, SHO of the city police station, today went to the university and met both Bajwa as well as Rajesh Malik, a lecturer in the law department, and Baljit Yadav, a lecturer in the food sciences and technology department, against whom Bajwa had levelled the allegations.

The police could not complete its verification into the veracity of Bajwa’s complaint regarding hurting of religious sentiments as in his complaint he had mentioned that his mother was present at the time of incident, but he could not get her statement recorded before the police as, he said, she was out of town.

Sharma has told him to bring his mother for recording her statement as she was the only eyewitness, as alleged in the complaint.

Interestingly, both Bajwa and the two teachers against whom he has levelled the allegations told Sharma that they were willing to aver on oath that their respective stand was correct.

Meanwhile, some other teachers living in the residential area in the university reiterated their allegations against Bajwa regarding inviting unscrupulous youths to his residence, who, they allege, vitiated the atmosphere of the university.

Sanjay Bhadu, one such youth, was arrested by the police for making obscene remarks and outraging the modesty of girl students from the university last week.

“There are over 40 entries in the security register in the name of Sanjay Bhadu in August alone, in which he has declared that he is going to see Bajwa,” said Ajay Sharma, while talking to The Tribune.

Similarly, residents have also raised questions over the entries of another youth, who has also been a frequent visitor to Bajwa’s place.

These youths, the teachers alleged, ogled at girls on the university campus and often passed vulgar remarks on them.

Chandigarh, September 16
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that the legal heirs of accident victims, who die a natural death during the pendency of their claim petition, are entitled to seek compensation.

With this, the high court has deviated from the maxim of “actio personalis moritur persona”, which entails that “a person who suffers a loss on account of personal injuries only has a right to claim compensation for the same.

But, if the said person dies for reasons which are not related to the accident, in that eventuality the legal heirs cannot lay a claim”

In his detailed judgment expected to provide guidelines in compensation cases, Justice Mahesh Grover has ruled: “In a given case of injury, such as 100 per cent disability, in which the life and existence becomes a mere illusion and death a welcome and deserved option, this principle i.e. actio personalis moritur persona, should be deviated from”.

Giving congeal reasons for the observation, Justice Grover has added: “The case of a claimant, who suffers 100 per cent permanent disability, and slips into a vegetative state, and dies before his claim petition can be decided for reasons which cannot be established to be related to the accident, cannot be distinguished from that of a case of a person, who dies in the accident simply because a few breaths separate them from living and the dead, even though metaphorically he has joined the league of the dead.

“The reason for this is that in such cases the injured is reduced from a provide and the benefactor of the family to a perennial liability drawing heavily on its resources - financial and manual.

“If in these circumstances, the injured dies during the pendency of the claim petition, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal ought to determine the compensation, and not to decline to answer the claim petition on the ground that the person has died and the principle of actio personalis moritur persona, defeats the claim.”

The ruling comes on an appeal filed by Palwal resident Kasturi and her four children. They had challenged the order dated May 28, 1988, vide which their application for being impleaded as legal heirs was dismissed.

Justice Grover ruled: “It is held that the approach of the tribunal was erroneous when it dismissed the application of the appellants on the ground that no actionable claim survived after the death of the victim, Om Parkash.”

Setting aside the order, Justice Grover allowed the application for being impleaded as legal heirs.

Remitting the case to the tribunal for decision, the Judge directed the matter be disposed of within six months.

Chandigarh, September 16
Power tariff hike in the state has been stalled at least for the time being. The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission, at its meeting to decide the fate of the tariff hike proposed by the Power Utilities, today decided to seek further clarifications from the utilities before giving its verdict.

Sources said the matter of tariff hike was remanded with majority, meaning thereby that it would be referred back to the utilities.

While HERC chairman Bhaskar Chatterjee and its member T.R. Dhaka favoured a remand, the third member of the commission, Tej Singh Tewatia, rejected it outright on grounds that the utilities had failed to improve their transmission and distribution losses and the supply of power was way below expectations.

Sources said the matter was remanded with a majority in its favour even though there was no provision for the same in the Indian Electricity Act, 2003.

The commission was further asked to clarify its stand since it was not satisfied with the reply of the utilities.

The latter had been given a fortnight to clarify its stand on the poor performance vis-à-vis power supply in the state and the difference of rates of high tension (HT) and low tension (LT) industrial consumers.

While the utilities are upbeat about getting a remand since it will help them buy time, the main opposition party, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), sees it as a vindication of the objections raised by them at the public hearing on the tariff hike in August this year.

Sources in the utilities said the fact that the proposal of a hike had not been shot down by the commission was relief enough for them since it would give them time to reply to the queries raised by the commission.

It was added that in the first instance, it was the commission, which sent them a letter earlier this year to address the gap in revenue by various methods.

Following this, the utilities put before the commission a proposal for a tariff hike, the last one being in 2001.

In the proposal submitted by the utilities, the tariff rates for small domestic consumers had been decreased by 13 paise.

Now, they would have to pay Rs 2.50 per unit for zero to 60 units, Rs 3.65 per unit for 61 to 300 units and Rs 4.55 per unit for above 300 units.

The government justified the hike maintaining that the proposed rates “spared” 17.90 lakh domestic consumers out of a total 34.67 lakh consumers.

Similarly, LT industrial consumers would have to pay Rs 4.35 per unit for zero to 500 units and Rs 4.75 per unit for above 500 units and HT industrial consumers would have to pay Rs 4.75 per unit as per the proposal.

Meanwhile, former finance minister Sampat Singh said the fact that the matter had been remanded indicated that the objections raised by them at the public hearing still stood good.

“With electronic trading on the power exchange, we have been able to supply 850 LUs of power a day. With the 300 MW unit at Yamunanagar expected to be repaired and operational later this week, we will be able to meet the daily demand of 1050 LUs,” he added.