Jhajjar, January 10
The state has emerged as a front-runner in matter of development works. This was claimed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while speaking at Bijli Rally after laying the foundation stone of 1,320 MW thermal power plant in Khanpur Khurd village here today.

He challenged his political opponents for an open debate on the performance of all governments and the achievements of his government during the past nearly four years.

The Chief Minister said waiving loans and pending power bills during the past few years had come as a major relief to thousands of people.

He said it was perhaps for the first time that achievements had been more than what had been promised and this was not going down well with political leaders, who wanted to grab power by hook or crook. Hooda exhorted party workers to start working for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Hooda described the setting up of four power plants as one of the biggest achievements of the present regime in the state.

The state government was striving to set up a 2,800 MW nuclear power plant in Fatehabad district, the Chief Minister said, adding that Haryana would emerge as the energy hub of the country in the near future.

Addressing the rally, AICC treasurer and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Moti Lal Vora expressed happiness over the progress made in Haryana in the direction of power generation during the past four years.

Chief Minister’s son and Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda urged people to support him in the coming elections if they were satisfied with his performance.

Taking a dig at the BJP-INLD alliance, Hooda said the leaders of the two parties had been accusing each other till only a few months ago and the alliance was unholy and opportunistic.

Chandigarh, January 10
The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants the state of Haryana to shun its indifferent attitude towards cases pending before the courts against land acquisition.

A Division Bench of the high court has asked the state to either streamline its functioning in all such matters, or have the chief secretary appear before the court to explain the indifference.

The clarion call to set the house in order, by the Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Jitendra Chauhan, comes on a petition pending adjudication due to the state’s “indifference” since March 2008.

In the petition against the state, the urban estates department director, the land acquisition officer and another respondent, Baljit Singh of Sonepat’s Sector 14 and four others petitioners had challenged the acquisition of their land.

The petitioner had contended that in “similar circumstances other lands had been released, and there was discriminatory exercise of power by the state”.

Taking up the petition, the Bench observed: “Notice was issued on March 11, 2008, and thereafter adjournments had been granted on March 20, May 22, July 23 and September 25.Even now, the reply of the state has not been filed.

“Reply has been filed by the land acquisition collector, who is not connected with the exercise of power by the state for the release of land”.

Coming down heavily on the state, the Bench asserted: “We are unable to appreciate the indifference on the part of the state in putting up defence, in spite of repeated opportunities.

We make it clear that if the state does not take appropriate steps for streamlining its working, we will be constrained to require the presence of the chief secretary, Haryana, to explain to the indifference to this court”.

Before parting with the two-page order, the Bench granted one last adjournment to the state for filing its reply in the matter.

The case will now come up for further hearing before the Bench on January 16. 

Chandigarh, January 10
Haryana has still not made clear its stand on land initially proposed to be acquired by it for developing a fruit and vegetable market, which is now to be set up at Hansi “on alternative land”.

Taking note of the state’s failure to come out with a clear answer to the issue pending adjudication for some five years now, a Division Bench of the high court has asked the secretary in the department of agriculture to file an affidavit.

The state had issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act on February 1, 2004. It was followed by another notification under Section 6 of the Act on September 15, the same year. Aggrieved by the process, Mukul Dev Tayal, a Hisar-based resident, had moved the court for quashing the notifications on the ground that he was not given an opportunity of hearing, which was mandatory under Section 5 of the Act.

During the pendency of the petition, the high court was apprised of a development. It was told that the Haryana Chief Minister had approved the proposal for the development of the market at Hansi on alternative land. The decision was conveyed by the Haryana state agriculture marketing board to HUDA.

Taking up the matter this time, the Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Jitendra Chauhan observed: “The grievance of the petitioner is that in spite of the decision, the state is continuing with the acquisition of land for the purpose for which the site has been earmarked.

The Bench asserted: The matter has been adjourned from time to time in the past five years. State counsel has no instructions about the final stand of the state in the matter.

“We direct the secretary, department of agriculture, to file an affidavit whether the land of the petitioner is still required after alternative land has been earmarked”. The case has now been scheduled to be heard on February 27. Further course of action would depend upon the secretary’s reply. 

Guda (Karnal), January 10
LPG supply in Haryana and adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, which was affected due to strike by oil company officers, will be normal by Monday and the backlog of around 1 lakh LPG cylinders will also be cleared.

The Guda LPG bottling plant of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) here resumed the supplies last evening immediately after the strike by officers was called off and eleven trucks were dispatched to various destinations.

The supplies, which remained suspended for three days, would continue even on Saturday and Sunday and the situation would become normal in the next two days, Ashok Kumar, manager of the bottling plant told The Tribune.

A fleet of 110 trucks supplying LPG cylinders remained idle in spite of the fact that these truckers did not join the strike.

The IOC officers were working overtime to ensure that normal supplies were available at the earliest and there were no complaints of any shortage.

The supply in Guda-Panipat-Jalandhar gas pipeline also resumed this morning, Ashok Kumar said.

Rajesh, a truck driver, said he had been coming to the plant every day as it was not certain when the strike would be called off and returned home without any earnings.

The oil supply situation also eased as fuelling stations started getting the supplies but it would take another two days to resume normal supplies.

The oil shortage could have been more acute but the truckers’ strike proved a blessing in disguise as the existing stocks available with the dealers lasted longer than expected, a dealer on the national highway said.

Had the trucks been on roads, the diesels stocks would have run out of supply on the very first day as the dealers were expecting a cut in prices and had not overstocked diesel and petrol, he added.

Kaithal, January 10
Rajya Sabha member and senior Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Ajay Chautala today announced that his party would implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations if voted to power.

Addressing a press conference here today, he lambasted the Hooda-led government. Earlier, speaking at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the legal cell of the Haryana INLD, Ajay called upon party workers’ cooperation in making “padyatra” being organised by the party from January 14 a huge success.

He said the padyatra would start from Raipur village in Mohindergarh district and culminate at Chandigarh where the party would gherao the state assembly to register its protest against the Congress government which “has failed on every front”.

He said since Makar Sakranti was a symbol of change, the party had chosen this day for the padyatra, which would cover 40 assembly constituencies falling under 11 districts of the state.

He said party workers should try to awake people at grass-roots level about the massive “failure” of the government. It was regrettable that the Hooda-led government was trying to crush voices whenever they were made by any section of society. Police force was being grossly misused in pursuance of the government’s agenda, he alleged.

Ambala, January 10
Special Judge of the CBI court, Haryana, AK Verma today adjourned the hearing on the application of the CBI for the cancellation of the bail of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh till February 14.

One of the witnesses in the Ranjit Singh murder case was produced by the prosecution and was cross-examined by the defense counsel here today. The dera chief remained present in the court for four hours.

The CBI had filed an application in the court a few days ago for the cancellation of the bail of the dera chief alleging that he had not been regularly appearing in the court on scheduled dates. The CBI had also expressed apprehension in the application that being an influential person he could manage the prosecution’s witnesses.

Dera chief counsels - Surya Prakash and SK Garg informed the court that they had received the application today only and they needed some time for its reply. The judge ordered them to file the reply by February 14.

The CBI produced a witness, Raja Ram, in the Ranjit Singh murder case and got his statement recorded. The witness told the court that he had received an anonymous letter on May 8, 2002, in which it was alleged that the dera chief had been sexually exploiting the dera sadhvis. He told the court that dera followers had beaten him up when they came to know about the letter.

Another witness of the CBI could not be produced as the statement of Raja Ram and his cross-examination concluded at around 2 pm.

During the cross-examination, the counsels of the dera chief pleaded that the CBI had falsely implicated the dera chief in this case.

Ranjit Singh, a member of 10-member kitchen cabinet of the dera, was murdered in his native village, Khanpur Kulian, in Kurukshetra district in 2002. The dera chief was charged under Section 120-B (conspiracy) of the IPC in connection with this case while Kishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdil were booked under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC.

Sirsa, January 10
With the date of the proposed congregation of the Dera Sacha Sauda to be organised in Jalalana here on January 12 drawing nearer, Sikh organisations have intensified their pressure for its cancellation.

Sant Baljit Singh Khalsa of the Dadu Sahib Gurdwara today urged the state government to deny permission for holding the congregation if it wanted peace in the area.

In a written note issued here today, Baljit Singh said if the state government could deny permission to a congregation of Sikhs in Ratia (Fatehabad) last year on the plea that it could vitiate peaceful atmosphere in the state, why it had not been ordering the cancellation of the dera congregation?

The note warned that the state government itself would be responsible if any untoward incident happened during the congregation.

Meanwhile, panchayats of some villages met Deputy Commissioner SK Goyal today demanding permission for holding the dera congregation.

“The panchayats informed the DC that the dera had been organising the congregation every year in Jalalana as the village is the birthplace of their second guru,” sources said. They also said the DC was noncommittal.

Meanwhile, members of the Peace Committee - Jagdish Chopra, Surinder Singh Vaidwala, Vikramjit Singh and Surender Bhatia - met SP Subhash Yadav to find out a solution to the issue.

Senior officers of the administration are not willing to comment as to whether the Dera Sacha Sauda will be allowed to hold the congregation. Yadav said the deputy commissioner would take the decision. The DC said he would take the decision after reviewing the situation.