Chandigarh, December 22
When former Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana Chander Mohan aka Chand Mohammad claimed the other day that he was disowned by his family much before his conversion to Islam and subsequent second marriage, he was not far from the truth.

He was "disowned" by his family in the sense that under a family settlement, Chander Mohan's share in the property was transferred in the name of his minor son, Sidharth. It is not known if he did so of his own, or he was "persuaded" by other members of his family to do so. But on record the property was transferred in the name of Sidharth with the consent of Chander Mohan.

In the settlement, signed by all concerned on February 20, 2008, not only Chander Mohan's father, Bhajan Lal, and his mother, Jasma Devi, transferred their elder son's share in their property to their eldest grandson, he (Chander Mohan) himself transferred his property in the name of Sidharth. The settlement was signed just a few days after the death of Chander Mohan's another son Mohit, with whom he was greatly attached.

Nine days after the settlement was signed, Chander Mohan's younger brother, Kuldeep, and Sidharth filed suits before a Hisar court urging it to issue declarations that they were the owners of the property which came to their share in the settlement. The defendants, Bhajan Lal, Jasma Devi and Chander Mohan supported the version of the plaintiffs. In one case, Kuldeep was the defendant and Sidharth the plaintiff as certain property owned by the former was also transferred to the latter. The court issued decrees in favour of the plaintiffs within a month.

One house at Hardwar continues to be in the HUF.

The properties which came to Sidharth (as a nominee of Chander Mohan) included a Panchkula house in Sector 8; two plots in Sector 15-A, Hisar; a shop in Nai Mandi, Adampur; one flat on Aurangzeb Road, Delhi; and agricultural land at different places (all earlier owned by Jasma Devi). He also got an industrial plot in Panchkula which was earlier jointly owned by his father Chander Mohan and uncle Kuldeep and a booth in Adampur earlier owned by Chander Mohan. One house in Model Town, Adampur, owned by SRB Investment Pvt Ltd, 135, Golf Links, New Delhi, and a piece of agricultural land owned by Seth Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Golf Links, New Delhi, were also transferred to Sidharth.

Certain properties owned by Jasma Construction Pvt Ltd, Golf Links, New Delhi, and Jasma Exports Pvt Ltd, Golf Links, New Delhi, were among the properties transferred to Kuldeep.

Only Chander Mohan and his first family can throw light on whether the properties transferred to Sidharth by the former Deputy Chief Minister were a sort of alimony paid by him to his first wife Seema; or the transfer was a precaution against any future claims by anyone against Chander Mohan.

But one thing is definitely indicated by the unusual terms of the family settlement that the family knew about Chander Mohan's determination to marry Anuradha Bali aka Fiza even in 2007. The settlement of February 20, 2008, says it was reached about two months before the date of the signing.

Chandigarh, December 22
Redress of public grievances should be given priority and the Deputy Commissioners should set aside time to meet the public and make themselves available in their offices during this period. While meeting of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda with the DCs passed off “peacefully” with no direct reference to the recent firing in Bhiwani, the Chief Minister asked the DCs to find time for the public.

He, however, stated that the public grievance redress system in the districts should be strengthened and the DCs should lend their ear to the aggrieved parties so that small issues don’t get blown out of proportion to become “big issues”.

Sources said the Chief Minister asked the DCs to adopt a pro-active approach instead of being reactive and take initiative to resolve any situation which can become a crisis. He asked them to “sit down” with the SPs in their districts more often and review the law and order situation. He urged them to tackle “sensitive issues” with restrain. The DCs were also asked to monitor the situation closely.

While the Chief Minister was satisfied with the way the 100 sq yard plot allotment and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was progressing, he pointed out that the delayed pension disbursal in Mewat should be dealt with on priority. The Chief Minister pointed out to the Panipat DC that the complaints regarding the below poverty line (BPL) lists down up in this district should be looked into.

At the meeting essentially held to review the progress in 100 yards plots and NAREGA, the Chief Minister asked the DCs to expedite allotment, possession and registry of plots expedited while development works go on simultaneously.

The Chief Ministe directed all DCs to display boards giving details of beneficiaries of plot allottees in the villages. He said as many as 52,181 plots had already been allotted to the beneficiaries in 1,456 villages.

He said the chief secretary would call meeting of the concerned departments to ensure that optimum benefit of centrally sponsored schemes should be taken up.

Ambala, December 22
The Ambala police will be soon hiring private detectives. Police officials said the services of private detectives are being hired to help the police force in better investigation.

The Ambala police had advertised on December 14 asking candidates interested in working as private detectives for the police to apply for the post. At present, the police here has received more than 50 applications, out of which one is of a woman.

There is no age limit, no qualification or previous experience required for the job. Officials said they were looking for people dedicated to the job and without any criminal record.

The identity of private detectives would be kept secret and only the top brass would be aware of who have been selected. No final figure had been decided.

However, sources said keeping in mind the large area of the district, at least 10 would be appointed. Each would be issued an identity card and they would report direct to the SP.

The private detective would enjoy no authority, officials added. The detective would be an ordinary citizen who knew his area well. Shortage of manpower in the force and the recent terror attacks are being cited as among the reasons for taking such a step.

However, officials said such an idea was floated some time ago and the Ambala police had decided to act upon it now.

Senior officials are confident of the success of this move. They said many cases in the past had been solved with the help of local informers.

However, the time and day had gone when people would give information themselves. Therefore, this move had been planned.

Chandigarh, December 22
The High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Coca Cola India Inc. against the assistant commissioner of income tax, Gurgaon, and other respondents. The petition before Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice LN Mittal had questioned the application of transfer pricing provisions contained in Chapter X of the Income Tax Act 1961 to the petitioner. Directions were also sought for quashing notices under Sections 148 and 92 CA (3) of the Act.

The case of the petitioner was that it was a company incorporated under the laws of United States of America. As such, it was a foreign company under Section 2 (23A) of the Act.

The company had obtained permission under Section 29 (1) (a) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, to operate a branch office in India to render services to the Coca Cola group of companies. As per a service agreement, the petitioner was providing advisory services to Britco to monitor and coordinate the activities of bottlers.

In consideration, the petitioner was receiving fee calculated on the basis of actual cost, plus 5 per cent. The petitioner was assessed under the Act for the assessment year 1998-99 on March 31, 2004.

The assessing officer formed an opinion that income of the petitioner, chargeable to tax for the said year, had escaped assessment within the meaning of Section 147 of the Act. A notice dated March 30, 2005, was issued under Section 148 of the Act, requiring the petitioner to file a return and thereafter, some further information was sought from the petitioner for the purpose of assessment.

Varsity selections

On a petition alleging irregularities in the selection and appointments during the tenure of Dr KC Bhardwaj, vice-chancellor of Sirsa-based Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Jasbir Singh directed the production of relevant record on January 23. It was alleged in the PIL that 25 such appointments were initially made on ad hoc basis for six months, but subsequently extended and ratified by the executive council of the university.

Sirsa/Fatehabad, December 22
There are no takers for PUSA-1121, muchhal variety and other long grain duplicate basmati varieties of paddy in the Sirsa and Fatehabad grain markets due to the availability of large quantity of paddy.

With more than 35 per cent of paddy still lying with farmers, agents of exporters of basmati rice based in Safidon, Tarawari, Panipat, Kaithal and Karnal have almost stopped purchases in these grain markets.

Whatever little purchases are being made, the prices offered are so low that farmers are not inclined to sell their crop on these rates.

Huge availability and low demand has affected the payments badly and exporters, who had purchased large quantities of paddy from these markets, have not been able to clear payments of agents, who in turn have stopped the payments of traders.

The prices of PUSA-1121, muchhal and other long grain varieties have witnessed an unprecedented fall in their prices during the past one month.

“The PUSA-1121 variety, which was being sold at Rs 3,400 a quintal till November end, is being sold for Rs 2,000 per quintal today. Interestingly, this is the maximum price for the best variety of paddy. The inferior ones from this variety have been sold for even lesser rates,” said Gurdial Mehta, a trader from the Sirsa grain market.

The problem is almost similar in the Fatehabad grain market, where PUSA-1121 variety had fetched a price of Rs 3,350 per quintal in November, but today it is difficult to get even Rs 2,000 per quintal.

“It is more due to the large availability of paddy. Over 6 lakh quintals of paddy of these varieties have so far been purchased by the exporters through their agents and four to five lakh bags (2 to 2.5 lakh quintals) of paddy is still lying with the farmers in area coming under the Fatehabad grsain market alone.

“Paddy lying with farmers of Ratia, Tohana and Jakhal area is much more as these are major paddy producing areas of the district,” said Brij Bhushan Midha, a trader from the Fatehabad grain market. The prices of muchhal variety had dipped even further, he added.

The muchhal variety has been fetching a price of Rs 1,250 to Rs 1,400 per quintal in Sirsa and Fatehabad grain markets. Earlier, this variety was sold for Rs 2,250 per quintal till November end.

The price of PUSA-1121 variety has come back to the same level that was in mid-October, when the season had started. The union government had banned the export of all non-basmati varieties, including PUSA-1121 at that time.

However, the price of PUSA-1121 jumped to Rs 2,700 per quintal after its export was allowed, but still the union government categorised it as non-basmati variety. However, the prices touched Rs 3,400 per quintal by the end of November.

The prices fell again as the production of these varieties of paddy in Haryana as well as other paddy producing states was much more than the requirement of exporters, sources said.

Sirsa, December 22
The journalism and mass communication department of Chaudhary Devi Lal University has become the first university department in the state to launch its e-paper. Vice-chancellor of the university K.C. Bhardwaj launched the paper here today.

Chairperson of the department Virender Chauhan said the department had earlier started its own news portal during the last academic session to provide practical knowledge to their students and now the e-paper was a step forward in this direction.

Addressing students in the seminar hall of Tagore Bhawan of the university, Bhardwaj said journalism was a fast changing field and in case the students of journalism were to prepare themselves for the challenges ahead, they have to be prepared in accordance with the modern day needs.

“Every big newspaper has its own news portal and e-paper today. The training received by students while working on these facilities will provide them the much needed confidence before joining the media industry,” Bhardwaj added.

Former director of All-India Radio D.P. Malik, Suresh Verma from Jamia Milia Islamia, registrar R.K. Sehgal, director, public relations, Dilbagh Singh and chairperson of the public administration department of the university Rajbir Dalal were also present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, December 22
In an embarrassing mix up, the state government, today, announced the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry to look into the causes that led to firing in Kharak village of Bhiwani which left two persons dead on December 18.

In just about an hour, the Public Relations Department sent a mail withdrawing it previous press note announcing the appointment of the Commission to be headed by Justice Amar Dutt. The Commission of Inquiry was asked to look into the causes and circumstances leading to the police firing and inquire into the role of any extraneous factors in the incident. It was to submit its report to the state government within a period of three months.

Top functionaries of the government contended that the press note had been withdrawn because no formal orders had been issued by the Home Department, Haryana, on the formation of a Commission and the Public Relations Department had only “jumped the gun”. The officer justified that the press note would be issued once the formal orders of the formation of the Commission were given.

While the home secretary, Krishan Mohan, was not available for comment, sources said talks with the villagers of Kharak were on and the Commission might not be needed if they withdrew their demand for a judicial inquiry into the police firing.

Meanwhile, a magisterial inquiry is already being conducted by the additional deputy commissioner, Bhiwani. She is expected to submit her report in a fortnight.

Karnal, December 22
In a harrowing incident, a six-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in Mukhali village in Indri area here yesterday.

The victim, a student of nursery class, suddenly disappeared while she was playing outside her house and did not return.

Her body wrapped in cloth sheet was recovered from a dry canal near Dhanora and a jute bag was also found near the site. Her body bore injury marks and the police said she was raped before being murdered.

The father of the girl said the victim had been missing since yesterday afternoon and he reported the matter to the police, when she did not return till late evening. The villagers blocked all roads to foil the attempt of culprits to flee.

Karnal SSP A.S. Chawala rushed to the spot with a team of investigating officers. The police and the villagers teamed up to nab the culprit. During the preliminary investigations, the police and the FSL team got vital clues that helped in identifying the possible suspect.

The village has a population of 50 to 60 families and during preliminary investigations it was revealed that one Satish, son of Kanshi Ram, (chowkidar) of the same village was missing.

As the word about suspected involvement of Satish spread, he got nervous and consumed poison.

He was immediately rushed to a hospital, where his condition was stated to be critical.

Chawala said Satish had confessed to have committed the crime at the hospital and a postmortem report of the victim also confirmed that she was raped and murdered.

He said there were reasonable apprehensions that another accomplice of Satish was involved in the crime, who dumped the body of the victim near the dry canal.

Satish, who was admitted to the local Civil Hospital here, was not in a condition to join the investigations, he added.

Gurgaon, December 22
Sapna, a class VI student of a school in Pataudi area of the district, allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree near her house in a dhaani of Pahari village late last night. Her body was found hanging from the tree this morning.

Alleged molestation of the girl by some teacher of her school is being seen as the reason behind the girl’s death. The police has registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC against the teacher and investigations are on.

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner of police Inder Singh Saini told The Tribune this evening that the director of the forensic science laboratory (FSL) had reached the scene of the occurrence. He said the postmortem report and other aspects of the case were being thoroughly examined to reach a definite conclusion in this regard.

A few days ago, the girl’s father, Ram Lal, had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that his daughter was being molested by a teacher of her school. The girl was a student of Happy Child Public School at Pataudi.

The girl’s death raises a pertinent question on the action taken by the police officials concerned even after the registration of a case against the said teacher, who has now been booked on the charge of driving the girl to suicide.

Chandigarh, December 22
The High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Coca Cola India Inc. against the assistant commissioner of income tax, Gurgaon, and other respondents.

The petition before Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice LN Mittal had questioned the application of transfer pricing provisions contained in Chapter X of the Income Tax Act 1961 to the petitioner. Directions were also sought for quashing notices under Sections 148 and 92 CA (3) of the Act.

The case of the petitioner was that it was a company incorporated under the laws of United States of America. As such, it was a foreign company under Section 2 (23A) of the Act.

The company had obtained permission under Section 29 (1) (a) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, to operate a branch office in India to render services to the Coca Cola group of companies. As per a service agreement, the petitioner was providing advisory services to Britco to monitor and coordinate the activities of bottlers.

In consideration, the petitioner was receiving fee calculated on the basis of actual cost, plus 5 per cent. The petitioner was assessed under the Act for the assessment year 1998-99 on March 31, 2004.

Fatehabad, December 22
Nirmal Kumar, a shopkeeper, has been having sleepless nights for the past nine days as he has been getting calls on his mobile from Pakistan numbers.

All these calls have been coming during the unearthly hours of the nights. The man has now informed the police.

Nirmal Kumar, who runs a shop in the local Shadi Ram Wali Gali received a missed call on his mobile on the night intervening December 13 and December 14. The next morning he gave the missed call on that number. The next night he again received the missed call from the same number (+92-3464108785).

The call came at 2.30 in the night. Unaware of the fact from where that call had generated, Nirmal called on that number the next morning. The phone was lifted by some Imran, who said he was speaking from Islamabad.

“He talked to me in rude manner and instead alleged that he have been making missed calls on my mobile,” said Nirmal.

“After that incident, I have been receiving calls from that number as well as another number (+92-3024072608) almost every night and have received at least 8 or 9 calls till now,” he added.

“However, I have not been attending the phone on most of the occasions,” he said. “When I discussed the matter with some friends and the mobile dealer, I was informed that some Jind resident has also been receiving such calls. I am frightened and now keep my mobile switched off during the nights and have informed the police about the calls,” he added. SHO Ajaib Singh said he had received a complaint from Nirmal .