New Delhi, February 22
Haryana’s demand for a separate high court in the existing building at Chandigarh has received a fillip with Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan categorically stating that it could be “anywhere” and that every state had the constitutional right to have its own high court.

The Chief Justice made it clear he was not averse to the idea of Haryana having its own high court and “the building does not matter, it can be anywhere.”

He was talking to the media at a party organised by Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Jain in honour of Attorney-General Goolam E Vahanvati. Haryana’s Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was present at the function too.

The assertion is significant as Haryana has been demanding a separate high court and that too at Chandigarh in the existing Punjab and Haryana High Court building. The CJI, for the first time, has commented on the location of the high court.

Hooda reiterated his stand by saying: “It is our legitimate right to have a separate high court for Haryana.”

The Chief Minister said he wanted the high court to be located at Chandigarh as the city was Haryana’s capital too. “Once the decision to carve out a separate high court is taken, funds will be released immediately for the upgradation of infrastructure,” he said. “The only question is of jurisdiction, but we are confident very soon all issues will be settled and Haryana will have its separate high court.”

Hooda has all along been saying Chandigarh is the capital of both Punjab and Haryana and same laws hold good for both states. Only recently, Hooda had asserted they had “full right” over the union territory. If Punjab was ready to pull out of Chandigarh, they would have no problem in establishing their high court at some other place in Haryana, he had argued.

Hooda believes Haryana needs adequate representation in the apex court as so far not a single judge from the state has been elevated to the same ever since the state was established in 1966.

As of now, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has 46 judges. If Haryana has its way, judges from the state could be shifted from the existing High Court to the newly carved out one. The move is expected to increase the state’s representation in the judiciary. It will also bring down the pendency of cases, particularly in Haryana, as approximately 70 per cent of the litigation is from Punjab.

Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Jain does not see any problem in the co-existence of two high courts at the same place. Hosting the function to honour the Attorney-General, Jain remarked: “If two Chief Ministers, two Speakers and two Governors can stay side by side in the same city, I see no harm in having two high courts at the same place”.

Haryana’s former Advocate-General, Jain said a substantial number of advocates from Haryana had been crusading for a separate high court in Chandigarh.

Ambala, February 22
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), Haryana, at an emergency meeting at Gurdwara Manji Sahib here today, condemned the beheading of two Sikhs at Peshawar in Pakistan by the Taliban and dumping their bodies in Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh there.

Spokesman for the party Sant Singh Kandhari said the incident indicated that the Sikh community was being tortured there. He said that the Taliban had been demanding Rs 5 crore from the Sikh community there as jajiya (religious tax).

He said the Centre should take up this matter with Pakistan immediately and lodge a strong protest.

He said the government should send an Indian delegation under the chairmanship of SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar to Peshawar to get first-hand information about the atrocities being committed on the Sikh community.

Senior leaders of the party, including Sukhdev Singh Gobindgarh, Ajit Singh Sonda, Amarjit Singh Sidhu, Harpal Singh Rippy, Amrik Singh Barnala and Manjit Singh Babbu, were present at the meeting.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Takkar) also organised a meeting on this issue and condemned the incident. President of the party Kartar Singh Takkar urged the Prime Minister to take up this matter with the President of Pakistan.

Sirsa, February 22
The police has arrested a Sikh, who allegedly thrashed a sewadar and tried to create a ruckus in Dera Sacha Sauda, when dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was addressing the weekly “majlis” on Sunday.

The police has booked him under Sections 323 and 506 of the IPC on a complaint of the sewadar, Nachhattar Singh.

The accused, a construction worker, reportedly wanted to attract the attention of the dera chief by some action, but was overpowered by sewadars managing the order during the “majlis.”

The accused, Ram Singh, was later handed over to the police by the sewadar, who alleged that the accused threatened him with dire consequences.

Ram Singh told reporters in the Sadar police station that an influential functionary of the dera was not paying his labour charges worth over Rs 1 lakh.

He maintained that he had gone to the dera to recover his money, but was “captured, beaten up and handed over” to the police.

Nachhatar Singh has alleged in his complaint that Ram Singh thrashed him and threatened to kill him, when he was on his duty in the pandal. Dera spokesperson Pawan Insan said the accused had manhandled a sewadar and also threatened him. He said if the accused had a financial dispute with a person residing in the colony set up in the vicinity of the dera, their management had nothing to do with it.

Faridabad, February 22
The land mafia in collusion with politicians and their cahoots has been making organised attempts to grab forest land worth hundreds of crores.

Senior officers of the Faridabad Municipal Corporation resisting the dubious designs of the mafia find themselves in the cross-fire with elected representatives of the people and their acolytes allegedly siding with the mafia by stoking public sentiments against the officers. The politicians and their henchmen have trained their guns on these personnel as the civic body has launched a demolition campaign against illegal constructions, especially farmshouses and commercial structures on forest land.

In the past about two months, the authorities have demolished more than 12 farmshouses that had come up in the Aravali range, that is strictly part of forest land.

The authorites, a few days ago, demolished a boundary wall in Ankhir village on about 30 acres, once part of the Aravali hills. The offender is said to be a land mafia don, also indulging in illegal mining activity.

The civic authorities demolished similar illegal structures in Mewla Maharjpur, Sarai Khwaja, Anangpur and Lakarpur vilages.The village falls along the Delhi-Surajkund stretch starting from Ankhir village.

Influential leaders of the ruling party and their cahoots are allegedly giving tacit support to the land mafia that is playing havoc with environment.

In Ankhir village, the local autorities have an obligation not to allow illegal construction on forest land as a case on the matter is pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Also, any construction on forest land is prohibited under Sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Prevention Act, 1900.These sections clearly prohibit non-forestry activity in forest area.

The Commissioner of the Faridabad Municipal Corporation, Mehtab Singh Sehrawat, has cautioned the culprits to immediately dismantle all illegal construction , failing which strict action would be initiated against them.

He has warned that heavy fine will be imposed on them by the civic body to recover the cost of dismantling these structures.

The civic authorities have the support of environmentalists and law-abiding residents.

New Delhi, February 22
A Delhi court today granted interim bail to Haryana legislator Abhay Singh Chautala in a disproportionate assets case.

Special CBI Judge PS Teji allowed the interim bail plea of Chautala, an Indian National Lok Dal MLA, till March 4 on a personal and surety bond of Rs 1 lakh each.

Chautala appeared before the court after a bailable warrant was issued against him on February 15.

Meanwhile, the court extended interim bail of Haryana MLA Ajay Chautala and co-accused Chetram, Om Prakash, Abhimanyu Singh, Rajender Kumar and Netram till March 4. The court posted the matter for hearing to March 4.

It had on February 2 issued summons against Abhey Chautala and his brother Ajay and others after taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case. Ajay and other co-accused were granted interim bail after they appeared before the court on February 15.

The CBI had on December 24 filed a chargesheet against the two sons of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. According to the chargesheet against Ajay, the CBI claimed he was in possession of assets to the tune of Rs 27.74 crore , 339 per cent more than his income Rs 8.17 crore during 1993-2006.

The second chargesheet was filed against Abhey alleging his assets were 522 per cent more than his income of Rs 22.89 crore as per ITrecords during the check period 2000-2005.

The agency claimed to have found Rs 119.69 crore worth of assets. — PTI

Fatehabad, February 22
Had the authorities acted in time on the complaint of Kitabo’s husband, four innocent lives could have been saved.

The victim Kitabo, wife of land labourer Mohinder, had jumped into a canal on Saturday with her three minor daughters. Mohinder has alleged in his complaint to the police that their employer, Ram Narain Bishnoi, had an evil eye on his wife and had tried to rape her.

He has also alleged that he had given a complaint in this regard to the DC’s office on February 17, but no action was taken against Bishnoi, who then thrashed and humiliated him, driving her wife to take the extreme step.

The letter reached the police today after shuttling between various sections of the DC office for five days. Interestingly, the office of the DC is situated on the first floor and that of the SP on the third floor of the same building of the mini-secretariat. Admitting the lapse, CG Rajini Kaanthan, DC, said he was on leave in the morning on February 17 and was in Rohtak in connection with the pre-marriage bash of the Chief Minister’s son.

“The noting on the matter shows that my office superintendent marked the letter to the complaints and inquiries section, where it was kept pending by the assistant for unknown reasons,” Kaanthan explained.

The DC said this was a serious lapse as complaints on sexual exploitation and criminal intimidation should have been sent to the police straight away.

“In normal practice, I immediately mark complaints to the SHOs or DSPs and in complaints of serious nature to the SP,” claimed the DC, adding he would get the matter probed by the SDM and stern action would be initiated against the erring officials.The police has still not been able to recover the bodies of Kitabo and her eldest daughter Santosh. The bodies of Som Murti and Jyoti were recovered yesterday. The police, meanwhile, arrested Bishnoi and his three accomplices for abetting suicide.

Karnal, February 22
Primary school dropouts and those who do not have the privilege to go to school have a reason to cheer. Bridge courses for duration of three to nine months are being organised for these students under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to make up for the loss of studies up to class VIII.

The courses will start from the current academic session.

The children, who left the studies after attending primary classes, will now be eligible to get admission in the class in which they would have been in the normal course had their studies not been interrupted after completing the bridge course.

For instance, if a student left the studies in class IV and wants to resume it after three years, he will be admitted to class VII and not required to pass classes V and VI, said Suraj Prakash Chawla, project coordinator, SSA, Karnal.

A large number of dropouts were shy of going to school after three or four years as they felt embarrassed to sit with their juniors and were deprived of opportunity to continue the education, he added.

The bridge course was a component of inclusive education for all children up to the age of 14 years under the SSA and if such innovative programmes were not introduced, the basic objective of universalisation of elementary education would be defeated.

The bridge courses would also provide an opportunity to those who have never seen the doors of the school and they would now be able to get admission any class matching their age.

According to a rough estimate, there are at least 20,000 to 25,000 dropouts in the state who will be able to get education through formal schooling after completing the bridge course.

However, it will not be easy to implement the scheme due to acute shortage of regular teachers in elementary schools, as about 16,000 posts of JBT and C&V teachers are lying vacant in the government schools in the state and unless recruitment of teachers are done at a large scale, the scheme will be grounded before take off.

Hisar, February 22
State government veterinarians have threatened to “take action” if their demands are not met by March 14.

The veterinarians met here today under the aegis of the Haryana State Veterinary Association (HSVA) to discuss the situation following the government’s failure to restore parity between their pay scales and those of the Haryana Civil Medical Service (HCMS).

Rajbir Singh Chahal, president of the HSVA, said though the fifth and the sixth pay panels had recommended similar scales for veterinarians and doctors, but the state anomalies committee had disturbed the parity by granting three assured career promotions (ACPs) to doctors while denying the same to veterinarians last year.

Chahal said all other subordinate employees and officers of the government were allowed three general or specific ACPs except veterinarians who had been given two ACPS with the second ACP restricted to only 20 per cent of cadre posts.

This was the reason why veterinarians stagnated in the same pay scale for two decades or more.

He demanded that veterinarians be granted three specific ACPs after five, 10 and 15 years of service without any restriction as was the case with doctors.

The HSVA chief said the Centre as well as neighbouring Punjab and Himachal Pradesh had allowed their veterinarians grade pay of Rs 5,400 in pay band 3.

However, Haryana had not extended this benefit to its veterinarians.

He said the basic qualification for MBBS and veterinary courses was the same and so was the course duration. Both veterinarians and doctors performed similar duties and therefore merited similar treatment in all aspects.

Chahal said the HSVA leaders had met the Chief Minister, the Animal Husbandry Minister and senior bureaucrats several times. The CM had assured to accept their demand for total parity but had failed to implement his promises.

He said there was no option left for them but to resort to direct action if their demands were not met by March 14.

Gurgaon, February 22
The millennium city now has the state’s first-ever gas-insulated power substation, which will be dedicated to the people by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here tomorrow. During his visit, the CM will inaugurate development projects worth Rs 71.30 crore and lay the foundation stone of a 220 kV substation at Sector 20 here.

Stating this here today, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria said the Chief Minister would also inaugurate a water-treatment plant at Basai village in the district.

The Chief Minister will inaugurate a 66 kV substation in Sector 43 here, which is the first gas-insulated substation in Haryana. It has cost Rs 23.19 crore and has been set up on 1.04 acres.

The gas-insulated substation requires less area as compared to ordinary substations. The residential and commercial areas of Sectors 43, 53, 54 and 57 will be benefited by this substation.

The CM will inaugurate another 66 kV substation in Sector 15 (part II), which has been set up at a cost of Rs 10.70 crore on 4.25 acres. This would cater to the power consumers of Sectors 15-I and 15-II, Patel Nagar, the Civil Lines, Khandsa Road, P&T Colony, Mother Dairy, Bar Malt, Vijay Ratan Vihar and Sector 31.

Another 220 kV substation, costing Rs 28.66 crore, would also be inaugurated by the Chief Minister in Sector 56, which has been set up on 10.74 acres. The residents of Sectors 43, 65, 54, 55, 56, 57, 28, DLF (Phase IV) and Gwalpahari would be benefited by this substation.

Hooda will also lay the foundation stone of another 220 kV substation in Sector 20 here, which has been set up on 9.71 acres at a cost of Rs 94 crore and will cater to the power consumers of Sectors 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and commercial and industrial areas of the HSIIDC.

Narwana, February 22
After being allegedly thrashed by her husband and in-laws, 28-year-old Rekha Mittal, never thought that the police too would be unjust and “shelter” the offenders.

Her appeals to the authorities for a safety cover and arrest of the offenders have failed to move the officials, with just one arrest despite a case under various Sections slapped against five members of the family of the accused about 13 days back. Rekha, a resident of Gandhi Nagar in Jind, married Gurbachan of Narwana in November 2008. In her complaint, she has alleged that her husband and other members of his family beat her black and blue on February 8 for not meeting their demand for a car. She was rescued by her maternal uncle who brought her to her parents’ house. According to the complainant, she suffered injuries and was hospitalised.

“Though the police has arrested her husband after registering a case under Section 323, 498-A, 406 and 506 of the IPC, her mother-in-law, father in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law remain Scot free,” says Krishan Kumar, Rekha’s maternal uncle.

He says the police officials have been delaying the arrest of the four accused. “Rekha lost her father in an accident 15 years ago. She and her family are being threatened by unknown persons who demand that the case be withdrawn,” he alleges.

“My widowed mother has already spent Rs 75,000 towards dowry. My in-laws are trying to dispose of the dowry items in an indiscriminate manner,” Rekha has said in her complaint, a copy of which has been sent to the National Commission for Women.

The SSP could not be contacted despite several attempts. Doc gets threat letter

Fatehabad: A local doctor received a threat letter in which the sender has threatened him of dire consequences for ransom. The letter came by ordinary post on Saturday. The police has booked a case of criminal intimidation.The pediatrician is a witness to a murder case and the accused earlier employed with the doctor, is at present in the Hisar jail.

Karnal, February 22
The elections to the recently upgraded Karnal Municipal Corporation may not be held along with other municipal bodies in the state in April as the process of inclusion of 14 surrounding villages in the corporation area is not likely to be completed before the elections.

With the inclusion of 14 villages, the boundaries of the KMC will extend from Haveli to Madhuban on the GT Road; the entire delimitation process for carving out new wards will start afresh and is unlikely to be completed before the commencement of the elections for urban local bodies.

The district administration has already sent its proposal for inclusion of 14 villages, but it is yet to be approved by the government and as a consequence, the relevant notification has not been issued. Karnal Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat said the elections to the KMC would be held only after the codal and legal formalities were completed. Unless the government issued the notification regarding the expanded limits of the KMC, the process of carving out new wards, reservation and preparation of voters’ list could not be initiated, he maintained.