Amritsar, March 7
Recarpeting of roads, especially the Amritsar-Lahore road, has been going on as the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner. However, Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda denied it was violation of the model code of conduct. He said it was an on-going development work which was started six months ago. 

About 50 per cent work of recarpeting of roads had already been completed, while the rest would be finished in six months. He said tenders were called for recarpeting of 400 km road and Rohan and Rajdeep signed the contract to complete the project in a year.

The state government had given Rs 100 crore cheque for the city’s development to MP Navjot Sidhu and Mayor Shawet Malik at Chandigarh in 2007. However, procedural hassles had delayed the project.

The state government has given Rs 100 crore to the MC as part of the Rs 250-crore-master plan for city’s development. Following an earlier announcement by the Chief Minister, the MC started using these funds for the upkeep of internal roads, improving drinking water supply, sewerage and better power supply.

The decision on the master plan for developing Amritsar was taken at a meeting here chaired by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal with local MLAs and MP in October, 2007. However, out of Rs 100 crore, Rs 20 crore would be spent on better drinking water supply which is underway, besides other projects like the elevated road project.

The inner ring road, starting from the Vallah bypass to the Jhabal road along downstream of the UBDC canal will also be laid. The length of the 20-m-wide road will be 12.4 km, which will end traffic snarls.

Another four-lane road was proposed from the railway crossing at Verka towards the DAV International School bypass with an outlay of Rs 5 crore. The third road project envisaged is a four-lane road from Doburji at the entry point of Amritsar city towards Sultanwind village at cost of Rs 5 crore.

Another project was three flyovers across UBDC canal - Taran Wala Bridge, Sultanwind village bridge and Tarn Taran road bridge- with a grant of Rs 80 crore.

The augmentation of Bhandari bridge at a cost of Rs 60 crore will be completed in two years. It was planned to give relief to pedestrians on roads at Crystal chowk and Putlighar chowk with an outlay of Rs 10 crore for two subways.

Chandigarh, March 7
Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu has recommended to the Punjab government to take disciplinary action against BS Sidhu SDM -designate, Tarn Taran, who had failed to report for duty till today morning.

A press note issued by the election office said Sidhu would not be allowed to join and a panel of names for posting SDM Tarn Taran had been sought from the government.

She added that Amritsar Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu had been permitted to retain house till his daughter’s class X examinations were over, but he had been to told not to visit Amritsar during this period.

She added that nine reports of violation of model code of conduct were received today. In response to news items on non-transfer of officials from home district in Mohali the DC Mohali had been asked to send a report.

Also in response to news on hoardings in Patiala having not been removed, the DC had been asked to get these removed and send a report. In response to the news about Hoshiarpur MC, the DC had been asked to take action and send a report. On the complaint of Partap Singh, Chairman, Land Mortgage Bank Sangha village, Mansa, that meters were being distributed by the PSEB and cards issued for’ atta daal’ scheme to people the DC Mansa had been asked to send a report and stop this.

Regarding the transfer of a lecturer in Government School at Amritsar, Secretary, Education has been asked to send a report. On the complaint of panches of Narain Pura village , Abohar tehsil for declaring result sarpanch and constitution of gram panchayat, the Secretary, Rural Development, Panchayats had been asked to take action and report.

In another of complaint Batala City Congress Committee president, MC, Batala, laying foundation stones of works the DC, Gurdaspur, had been asked to report. Similarly, a complaint of the district secretary CPI ML (Liberation) Bathinda to transfer Amarjit Singh from MC, Mansa, had been disposed of appropriately.

Jalandhar, March 7
Though the Punjab government has allotted the 1,320 MW thermal plant at Rajpura to Lanco Infratech, a private company that was the only bidder for this project, it will be a hard job for the state government as well as the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) to convince the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Authority on this issue. While the Punjab Cabinet has approved the project and the private company’s bid, the electricity board will have to get the nod of the regulatory authority in this regard.

Sources said Lanco’s bid to supply power at Rs 3.30 per unit to the state was very high compared to the bids offered by some other private power companies that had got the approval to set up thermal plants in Gujarat, MP, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.

Earlier, the thermal plant at Talwandi Sabo was to supply power at Rs 2.86 per unit at the generating point. However, the Rajpura plant is to supply power at Rs 3.30 per unit, which means it will be 44 paise costlier than the Talwandi Sabo plant. If calculated in monetary terms on per unit basis, the PSEB will have to give about Rs 13,200 crore more in a period of 30 years, which is considered the life span of a thermal plant, to buy power from the Rajpura plant compared to the Talwandi Sabo plant.

Power trade circles say that Tata Power is to give power at Rs 2.26 per unit from its 4,000 MW super thermal plant at Mudra in Gujarat and Relinace’s super thermal plant of 4,000 MW at Sasan in MP is to provide power at Rs 1.19 per unit at the generating point.

When the regulatory authority compares the power supply rates of the Rajpura thermal plant with other thermal plants coming up in the private sector in the country, it would become difficult for it to approve this project. Obviously, the PSEB will also have to answer many questions in this regard.

Moreover, in case the Rajpura project with the power supply rate of Rs 3.30 per unit was approved, this rate would become a benchmark for other thermal plants such as Gidderbaha to be set up in the private sector.

Besides, the key objective of the Electricity Act 2003, which allows the setting up of thermal plants in the private sector, is to promote competition to procure power for the state utitilies. However, in the case of the Rajpura thermal plant, there was no competition among bidders and the price quoted and later approved by the Punjab Cabinet cannot be termed as competitive or lowest.

Jalandhar, March 7
It was incumbent on leader of the House Parkash Singh Badal and Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon to ensure smooth and harmonious proceedings of the Assembly by providing maximum opportunities to opposition MLAs to have their say.

Former Punjab minister Umrao Singh said what happened in the Punjab Assembly a few days ago was unfortunate. The Opposition in the past had never had to boycott the House due to the tough stance adopted by the Treasury benches, said Umrao, who was minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Punjab, in 1972-77 and 1992.

Narrating an incident of 1992, Umrao said opposition MLAs sat in dharna outside the Assembly complex following a fight between some ruling and opposition MLAs in the House. Protesting MLAs sought the resignation of the Chief Minister and others. “I went to the dharna site and handed over my resignation to the protesting MLAs telling them as Parliamentary Affairs Minister, it was my responsibility also to ensure harmonious functioning of the House,” said Umrao. He said protesting MLAs returned my resignation and agreed to come to the House as their ruffled feelings had been smoothened.

He said use of unbecoming language and levelling of allegations should be avoided in the House. In fact, he said by giving proper notice to the member concerned, allegation against him or her could not be levelled in the House. He said in case of an incident of excess against a member of the opposition by a member of the Treasury benches, the leader of the House and the Speaker should try to redress the excess and mollify hurt feelings of the member concerned.

Umrao said some members of the Treasury benches, taking advantage of the absence of Capt Amarinder Singh from the House, had bad-mouthed him. “It was against rules to criticise one not a member of the House,” said Umrao. Amarinder was not a member of the House now. The Speaker should have expunged all that had been said against Amarinder because it was against rules of the House, he said.

Sangrur, March 7
Former Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Bhai Ranjit Singh today appealed to workers of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) to work whole-heartedly for ensuring the victory of SAD (A) candidate Simranjit Singh Mann from the Sangrur Lok Sabha (LS) constituency in the LS elections to be held on May 7.

He was addressing a rally, organised by the SAD (A) as part of the election campaign of Mann, near the New Grain Market, here today.Criticising Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Ranjit said during every tenure of Badal’s regime the Sikh Panth had faced a tough time as in 1978 Nirankaris had killed 13 Sikhs in Amritsar; during the 1997-2002 tenure of Badal, Piara Singh Bhaniarawala and his followers had insulted Guru Granth Sahib; in 2007, Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh presented himself like Guru Gobind Singh and subsequently in May 2007, a Sikh youth from Sangrur, Kanwaljit Singh, had been killed by Dera followers in Sunam.

Simranjit Mann asked people to cast votes with wisdom. He also asked the gathering not to vote in favour of the Congress, the BJP and the SAD as it would further harm Sikhs. Simranjit also said free and fair elections could not be held till the Election Commission sent Central forces to the state. 

He also warned the SAD and its wing Student Organisation of India that if they did anything wrong with his workers in the elections, they would teach them a lesson. 

The rally was addressed among others by general-secretary SAD (A) Jeet Singh Alloarkh, president of the youth wing of the party Barinder Singh Mann, SGPC member Nirmal Singh Gharachon, district president of the Muslim wing of the party Wazir Khan and candidate of the SAD (A) from Chandigarh Bansun Massey.

Nabha, March 7
Senior Congress leader from Haryana and president of the Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress Shamsher Singh Surjewala termed the Akali Dal (Badal) and the Lok Dal as “tiddi dal” (swarm of locusts ) that destroys crop. Addressing farmers in nearby Chhintanwala village, Surjewala said just like the Chautala family, Badals were misleading Punjab and Punjabis.

He said the so-called champion of farmers’ causes, the Badal government had failed miserably in protecting their interest and was now blaming the Congress for their failure. What had Badal, Chautala and Vajpayee done for the kisans and mazdoors when they were in power. In comparison to Rs 50 increase in MSP of wheat during the NDA rule, Rs 450 was increased by the UPA government led by Dr Manmohan Singh.

He exhorted farmers to take on the worst government of all times. He said Punjabis were known for courage. He called upon Congressmen to oppose the state-sponsored terrorism with force and give a befitting reply to the Badal government by voting for Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. 

Appealing to the leaders of the Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress, he wanted them to become the voice of peasantry and down-trodden as he had experienced pain of the community, a majority of which lived in poverty and distress. He said if the Congress was voted to power, interest for farmers would be further reduced by at least 2 per cent.

To apprehension of booth-capturing and hooliganism of former MLA Romesh Singla, Surjewala said Congress workers were brave enough to take on any challenge.

Singla had demanded deployment of central forces for the LS elections. Amloh MLA Sadhu Singh Dharmsot said central scheme funds were being misused to lure people of the state. He alleged that the funds provided under the NAREGA scheme could not be utilised.

Nabha MLA Randeep Singh said Congress workers would put up a united front to ensure victory of the party candidates despite odds. He said the SAD and the NDA would contest elections without agenda and issues. He asked police officers to stay away from politics.

Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress state president Kuljit Nagra and secretary Balwinder Bittu were among the speakers.

Anandpur Sahib, March 7
The Nihangs have decided to organise separate Hola Mohalla celebrations this year. Around 12 Nihang outfits today met here to decide date of Hola Mohalla. Baba Makhan Singh Baba Bakala Wale presided over the meeting.

Baba Nagar Singh from Harian Belan said they would celebrate Hola Mohalla on March 12, instead of March 11, the date declared by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

He alleged the SGPC had wrongly declared March 11 as Hola Mohalla celebrations day. All Nihang roups will start their rally on March 12 from Shaheedi Bagh and march towards Takht Sri Kesgarh gurdwara.

Meanwhile, Takht Sri Kesgarh Jathedar Giani Tarlochan Singh said the SGPC was following ages- old rituals. “SGPC has not altered the dates of Diwali, Guru Nanak Dev’s Aagman Purb nor Hola Mohalla. These three events are being observed per age-old ritual,” he said.

He added this year Purnima (full moon day) and Chetra Vidhi (the first date of indigenous calendar month) fell on same day. Last time, the same phenomena happened in 1976.

“We have not changed any dates. As per Chetra Vidhi last year Hola Mohalla was on March 22, this time it is on March 11 and next year it will be on March 1,” 
he added.

The Jathedar said the SGPC had no reservations over Nihangs celebrating Hola Mohalla on March 12. 

Patiala, March 7
Painting a gloomy fiscal position of the country and predicting that the economic slowdown was going to have a tighter grip on India, at least till the middle of 2010, the Punjab Cooperation Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, has said the downturn’s real “ripple effect” on the economy was yet to be felt.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government was studying the Cooperation Reforms Act 2006, which envisaged more power for elected bodies within the cooperative set-up of the states and which has finally been cleared by the President of India for implementation.

Putting the Act at the centre of its plan to reform the cooperative department, the Punjab government was mulling as to how to effect more decentralisation of cooperative bodies at the grassroots level. “We are examining the Act and the reforms enshrined in it from the point of view of how we can utilise it for the dwindling economy of Punjab,” said Capt Kanwaljit Singh.

Contesting the assertion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that India had hardly been affected by the ongoing economic meltdown, Capt Kanwaljit Singh said, “It is not true that the Indian economy’s growth rate is stable at 7 per cent. In fact, the growth rate has come down to 4 per cent. 

India is yet to feel the heat of the meltdown completely. We will see the lowest ebb towards the middle of 2010. If the contention of the Prime Minister is right, then why there were more than five lakh job layoffs,” asserted the minister while talking to The Tribune.

He said the quantum of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) had crumbled. “The inflow of money is not there. The outflow is greater than the inflow.”

The minister said the Punjab government was in the process of resurrecting the cooperative sector, particularly the ailing sugar mills.

Referring to the ongoing power shortage in the state, the minister said the government was planning to strengthen the PSEB as the unbundling model had already failed in many a state.

Patiala, March 7
The Senior PCMS Association and the Indian Medical Association (IMA), both state bodies of allopathic doctors, today demanded that all rural dispensaries, about 1,200 under the Rural Development Department and under the Panchayati Raj Act, should be transferred to the Health and Family Welfare Department in Punjab with immediate effect.

general secretary of the association DC Sharma and chairman, in-service Doctors Wing of the IMA, Punjab, DS Bhullar said different national health programmes had suffered a jolt after the rural dispensaries were brought under the Rural Development Department some years ago.

At the same, the rural health services had also suffered after the dispensaries were taken out of the control of the state Health Department. The leaders demanded that the state government should abolish the posts of rural health provider, now rural medical officer, and appoint them as regular medical officers in the Health Department through regular appointments by the Punjab Public Service Commission.

Rural health providers are on the warpath since they were appointed under the Rural Development Department by the previous government. The issue will come up for discussion in the state council meeting of the IMA, Punjab, being held in Jalandhar on March 8, added Dr Bhullar.

Sangrur, March 7
As per the information gathered by the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), there are more than 16 lakh young voters between 18 years and 25 years in all 13 Lok Sabha (LS) constituencies of the state. Each LS constituency has one lakh to 1.50 lakh such voters.

Talking to The Tribune yesterday, district president of the party Jatinder Kalra said young voters would certainly play a vital role in the LS elections to decide the fate of candidates of all political parties and independent candidates. This was the reason that all political parties were attracting youth, especially new voters, to cast votes in their favour, he added.

Kalra said the BJP was also trying to associate maximum number of youth with it. The BJP’s Punjab Yuva Morcha was honouring new young voters from 18 years to 25 years by organising district-level Nav Matdata Sammellans (new voters conferences) throughout the state. One such sammellan was being organised on March 8 in Sangrur.

Kalra said at the function at Sangrur about 1,000 new young voters, irrespective of their party affiliations, would be given certificates mentioning that as they were going to become a part of the Indian democratic system, they should exercise their right to franchise without any fear and pressure in the elections.

Chandigarh, March 7
Wheat straw has replaced wood pulp for making quality paper in one of the world’s largest paper mills in Punjab. The new technology has not only opened a new avenue of additional income for farmers, but also given environment and ecology much-needed relief.

Abhishek Industries, a Rs 2500-crore group, has emerged as one of the largest agro-based paper producers in the world with an installed capacity of 1,75,000 tonne per annum. It needs 300 tonne of wheat straw a day for production of its newly launched “Spectra” and “My Choice” brands of copier paper. 

A quick back-of-the-envelop calculation shows that the company infuses around Rs 90 lakh a day into the farm economy that translates into additional income generation for thousands of farmers.

“The usage of wheat straw as raw material for paper production is a win-win situation for Abhishek Industries as well as the farmers of Punjab where wheat straw is available in abundance,” says Rajinder Gupta, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Abhishek Industries.

Sarabjit Singh, a young farmer of Barnala, can now get Rs 30,000 for every tonne of wheat straw sold to the company. This is more than double the value he will otherwise get for selling the waste to a few electricity generators in the region. However, demand from power generators is far less than total waste generated by the farm sector.

Karandeep Singh of Sanghera village, also from Barnala district, has a land holding of 16 acres. Karandeep is hoping that the company will buy his waste wheat straw that will provide additional income to him and he does not have to burn wheat stubbles in violation of government’s directive.

“While farmers get remunerative prices for agro residues, we have been able to successfully overcome the constraints on availability of raw material, primarily wood pulp, faced by the industry. Our presence in the agricultural hub has also helped us save on the transit cost of the raw material,” adds Gupta.

As the demand grows for both new brands of paper, more Sarabjits and Karandeeps will reap the benefits of the new technology.

The total branded paper copier market in India is estimated at 3,50,000 tonne per annum. Abhishek Industries, the flagship of the Trident Group, is targeting a 10-12 per cent market share with a focus on customers in Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The company is also putting in place strategies to increase export markets in the Middle East, African and European markets.

Abhishek Industries has an installed capacity of producing 400 tonne per day or 1,75,000 tonne per annum for paper production of which 22 per cent constitutes production of copier paper. The target is to increase the share of copier paper production to 60 per cent of the total installed capacity.

The company is targeting an export turnover of Rs 100 crore from its paper business. It is a major unbranded bulk supplier in the domestic market to some big chains.

Chandigarh, March 7
Both Punjab and Haryana have been overexploiting fresh water reserves and the situation in Punjab is perceived to be worse than Haryana. Though both states have brought in ordinance to conserve sub-soil water, yet a lot needs to be done for saving water by using water efficiently for agriculture. These are observations of scientists prior to the final recommendation for the National Water Policy, which will be region specific.

Scientists at the Regional Ground Water Summit -2009 here said a region-specific report on Punjab would be available in two/three months. The last report termed 103 out of the 137 water blocks in Punjab dark, meaning more water was pumped out than the replenished.

Sushil Gupta, Regional Director, Central Ground Water Board, said only areas which had brackish water or were in a remote location like Kandi were not exploited; else almost everywhere in Punjab where sub-soil water was okay, water was overdrawn. Gupta clarified there was no way to calculate how long water would last. “Though there is concern about exploitation of water, it will be wrong to say water will last certain time due to over-use as sub-soil water can be replenished”.

In Haryana,the last report says 55 out of the114 water blocks were placed in the dark zones, indicating that the fresh water areas both in Punjab and Haryana were over- exploited.

Dr BM Jha, chairman of the Board, who is also in Chandigarh, stressed on the multi-disciplinary approach to develop and disseminate technology, implement and monitor national policies on sustainable development and management of ground water resources. 

The IT authorities have visited several business houses, including jewellers, property dealers, rice millers, restaurants, textile mills and other trading houses in the city and surrounding areas. 

Chandigarh, March 7
“Living amidst realities of life but on his own terms, highly acclaimed Sikh scholar Sirdar Kapur Singh formulated a religious outlook that extended far beyond the times,” observed Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor of Tamil Nadu and former Chief Minister of Punjab. He was speaking at a national seminar and book release ceremony organised here today to mark the birth centenary of S. Kapur Singh.

Maintaining a tradition of excellence in the realms of administration, academics, literature, philosophical, socio-religious, political and myriad traits, Kapur Singh emerged stronger despite being in the thick of controversies, said Barnala, paying a befitting tribute to him.

Sharing his association with the great Sikh scholar, Barnala felt that he was at the epitome of self esteem when he chose to leave his aristocrat service of an ICS officer. But the community failed to recognise his contribution, he added.

Barnala lauded Hardarshan International Memorial Trust that had organised this seminar, and Punjabi scholar Jaiteg Singh Anant who authored two books, “Sirdar” and “Panchnad” on legendary Kapur Singh.

Releasing the books, Tarlochan Singh MP, while tracing the 500-year-old history of Sikhs, lauded their commendable courage to fight injustice. The MP said the Sikh community had been dogged by several controversies which had an adverse impact on it. 

Bhai Ashok Singh Bagrian, Jagdish Singh, Tarlochan Dopalpuri, Manmohan Daun, Prof Avtar Singh and others who spoke on the occasion. Shiromani Sahitkar Dr Darshan Singh Asht conducted the seminar. Jaiteg Singh said the year 2009 had been dedicated to S Kapur Singh and similar functions would be held in India and abroad. 

Chandigarh, March 7
In a complaint sent to the Punjab Governor, RTI activist and Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate HC Arora has laid bare the “royal” working style of the state information commissioners in Punjab.

In his communication to the Governor, Arora has pointed out that the eight information commissioners did not hold sittings/court every day. As a result pendency in the Commission was increasing every year.

“During the week from March 2 to March 6, state information commissioner PK Verma held court on two dates for four hours; RK Gupta, on one date for two hours; Surinder Singh on two dates total four hours; PK Grover on two dates total four hours; Kulbir Singh on two dates total four hours; Kulbir Singh on two dates total four hours; PPS Gill on one date for two hours; Ravi Singh on two dates total six hours. These were held either in the court room or the chambers,” said Arora.

Urging the Governor to initiate action against the acting chief information commissioner PK Verma under Section 17 of the RTI Act for not holding court on all working days and “mismanagement” by not ensuring daily sittings, Arora added that these commissioners were getting salary and allowances at par with the judges of the High Courts for all 30 days in a month but worked much less. “They don’t have any administrative work unlike the judges of the High Courts. Still, they are not holding court on all working days,” he pointed out.

When contacted, PK Verma said the Punjab information commission was the best commission in the country and the eight commissioners were holding 16 sessions in the five-day week. “We have only two court rooms and these remain occupied throughout the week,” he said.

Arora’s letter, however, points out that the annual report of the functioning of the commission for October 2005 to December 2006, placed on the table of Punjab Legislative Assembly last year, had revealed that all commissioners had been provided with chambers, in addition to three court rooms. “Thus, they can very well hold their sittings in their chambers,” he said.

However, Verma added that the reason that no division bench work had been done for the past nine months was because there was no chief information commissioner (CIC) since Rajan Kashyap retired.

“I am only the acting CIC for administrative purposes and do not hold any of his judicial powers. I cannot constitute a division bench,” he said.

He said disposal of cases in the commission was as high as 85 per cent. “This is probably the best in India. To bring it to 100 per cent I would need to carry out some reforms. I do not have the requisite powers to make policy changes,” said Verma.

Patiala, March 7
The fragrance of flowers is fast spreading in the vast lush-green Punjab countryside as the state is witnessing a phenomenal growth in its area under cultivation of fresh flowers during the past one year.

At present, floriculture is being practised on around 1,600 hectares of Punjab land as compared to around 800 hectares during last year, informed the Patiala Divisional Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir. “In Patiala district alone, the area under floriculture has increased by more than 100 hectares during the past one year,” said Bir after inspecting a two-day state-level Flowers and Vegetable Exhibition organised by the Punjab Horticulture Department here.

According to Dr Baldev Singh, Director, Horticulture, Punjab, farmers were getting more inclined towards floriculture for good profits. “Punjab is exporting nearly 400 quintals of flower seeds to different countries. Similarly, the state is producing 89,000 quintals of fresh flowers at the commercial level. To encourage floriculture in the state, two flower seed nurseries are working overtime at Patiala and Doraha where seeds of ornamental flowers are being produced,” said Dr Baldev.

Bir explained how cultivation of flowers and vegetables could be a profitable and viable venture for farmers. “Farmers should come out of the traditional paddy-wheat crop cycle. They can earn anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh by growing flowers and vegetables. All they need is to adopt a new technology and the proper utilisation of Internet for marketing of their produce across the globe. Farmers can exchange views and benefit each other this way,” said Bir.

Chandigarh, March 7
Taking a serious note of the Punwire (Punjab Wireless Systems Limited) case file going missing from the records, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the court registrar-general to hold an inquiry into the matter.

Describing it as a “pernicious” incident, a Division Bench comprising Justice MM Kumar and Justice HS Bhalla has passed on directions for fixing “responsibility” for the original file going missing as has set March-end as the deadline for the probe.

According to information, the Punwire matter involves an amount of Rs 15 crore.

Notably, the vanishing of a file from the High Court records could have serious consequences as original documents in most of the cases, even in serious matters, are attached along with the petitions.

The missing file fact came to the Bench’s notice during the hearing of an appeal filed by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Limited against Punwire.

It transpires from the appeal that a company petition, originally filed by Punwire in October 2000, has vanished. It was returned after the Registry raised “some objections”. But, the returned petition was not collected for quite some time. It was re-filed in January 2002, after removing the objections.

The appellant corporation was, however, of the view that the petition had become time-barred.

During the hearing, counsel for the official liquidator, Puneet Kansal, told the court that the original file had got lost after re-filing. He claimed the file could not be seen after inspection of record on July 15, 2002, by Punwire.

Taking note of the contention, the Bench asserted: “Before we part with this order, we wish to deal with the contention raised by Puneet Kansal that the original file has disappeared. The irregularity in the misplacement of original file has to be dealt with sternly.”

At this stage, counsel for the corporation, Sham Lal Sharma, informed the court that the CBI was conducting a separate probe into the case and the file might have been taken by the investigating agency.