Karnal, April 28
Taking a serious view of non-payment of enhanced compensation amounting to Rs 387 crore to people whose land was acquired for carving out Sectors 32 and 33 of HUDA, Additional District Judge, Karnal, Rajneesh Bansal today ordered the attachment of vehicles of 15 officers, including the chief administrator of HUDA, the Deputy Commissioner and the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Karnal and the chairmen of the Karnal Improvement Trust and the municipal council.

The ADJ also attached five buses of the Haryana Roadways and directed that the orders be implemented by April 30 and all vehicles be impounded and produced in the court.

The government had issued notice for land measuring 801 acres, including 155 in the Karnal kasba, 302 acres in Phusgarh and 304 acres in Khera villages on January 2, 2002, and compensation at the rate of Rs 4 lakh per acre was paid on December 21, 2004, but the people whose land was acquired were not satisfied by the compensation amount.

Subsequently, 152 cases were filed in the court of the Additional District Judge and the court order enhancement of relief at Rs 439 per sq yard and the total enhanced compensation worked out at Rs 387 crore.

The land owners applied for payment of additional compensation but even after sufficient lapse of time, the payment was not made.

The matter came up in the court of ADJ Rajneesh Bansal who ordered attachment of official vehicles of the chief administrator of HUDA, the DC, the ADC, the SDM, the City Magistrate, the revenue officer, the district transport officer, the DDPO, the GM, Haryana Roadways, the Excise and Taxation Department, the Improvement Trust and the municipal council.

The court also named the vehicles by their registration numbers and directed that the orders be complied with by April 30.

Rohtak, April 28
The district witnessed blockades over inadequate power and water supply during the past 24 hours.

Residents of Bhagwatipur village here blocked traffic on highway no 71 connecting Rohtak and Jind, 15 km from here, yesterday to protest against the poor supply of power in the village for the past few days. The blockade was lifted at 9 am today.

Though the officials of the district administration and the police reached the spot, a verbal duel led to a clash. The mob pelted official vehicles with stones. An Assistant Sub-Inspector was also injured in the clash.

The police had to retreat and the issue was resolved this morning when the officials of the power department assured of a proper supply.

In another such incident, residents of Mayna village blocked the Rohtak-Jhajjar road in protest against inadequate power supply. They alleged that they had not been getting enough water supply due to frequent power cuts.

In yet another incident, traffic movement was blocked near Samain village here where villagers blocked National Highway 10, 35 km from here. The villagers claimed that they were forced to block the road after the police allegedly harassed a village youth in connection with a murder case.

They claimed that the youth was innocent and their certification was overlooked by the police. The protest was lifted after about half an hour on the intervention of the officials concerned.

Residents of Kamla Nagar Colony here also blocked the Rohtak-Jhajjar road here today protesting against the apathy of the local administration in tracing and fishing out the body of a teenaged student, who had drowned in the local Jawaharlal Nehru Canal here yesterday.

The victim identified as Ankit (14) had got accidentally drowned into the canal. While a team of divers has been requisitioned by the authorities, the body is yet to be traced.

Chandigarh, April 28
Haryana favoured DLF in land acquisition, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today heard. As a bunch of petitions against land acquisition in Gurgaon filed by renowned artist and Padma Shri awardee Anjolie Ela Menon and others came up for hearing, counsel said the government opted for a de- tour to spare the DLF farm.

The petitions saw Haryana virtually receive a rap on its knuckles for its failure to produce the record in Menon’s matter. Advocate Deepinder Singh Patwalia said the land was being acquired without application of mind. Rather, the colonisers given licences were being left out of the land acquisition process, even though no construction had been raised. But in his client’s case, change of land use was given way back in 1994 and a two-storeyed building had been constructed. Yet, the area was not even shown for the purpose of exemption.

The Bench, in a lighter vein, asked whether the buildings were underground, to which Patwalia said for Haryana Urban Development Authority apparently yes.

As the Bench took up Menon’s case, Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jitendra Chauhan virtually pulled up the state for not placing the record before it. Speaking for the Bench, Justice Kumar asked the state counsel why the record had not been produced. “We keep telling you to keep the record ready for perusal, particularly in cases where emergency provisions are evoked to acquire land,” Justice Kumar observed in the open court.

As the state counsel sought a couple of days to produce the record, Justice Kumar directed her to furnish the record the following day. “The day you start catering to the needs of the common man, we will come to your rescue,” Justice Kumar remarked, adding the common man was the causality in the process.

Representing Menon, senior advocate-cum-Punjab’s Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal said the written statement filed by the state mentioned no reasons. Mattewal has all along been saying Haryana and respondents claimed great urgency and resorted to emergency provisions to avoid giving the petitioners and the public a viable right to object. nts, rather, moved with undue haste, which suggested undisclosed agendas and was violative of the principle of transparency and the due process inherent in the law. Moreover, the planned road acquisition “completely ignored destruction of heritage art and artists’ and writers’ homes constructed decades ago. Otherwise also, the proposed land acquisition order has already been stayed in a related writ petition. Painting a grim picture of “ecological degradation” in Gurgaon on a legal canvas, Menon had earlier asserted the state of Haryana and other authorities concerned had “failed to apply their minds”.

She is before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, along with “celebrated” author Primila Lewis, against the “illegal” acquisition of her 19 kanals and four marlas in Ghatta village in Gurgaon district.

The purported public purpose behind the move is construction of sector roads for the proposed Sector 58.

Her counsel Anand Chhibbar and Avi Singh has said: “The part of the proposed Sector 58 east of Ghatta bundh of the Master Plan, if implemented, would be in violation of environmental laws and result in destruction of forest land and a seasonal jheel essential to the ecology of the sensitive and protected Aravallis, and the replenishment of the already depleted aquifers in the area.”

The case will come up for hearing tomorrow.

Chandigarh: Haryana received yet another rap on its knuckles for complete “non-application of mind” in a land acquisition matter.

Quashing notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act and declaration under Sector 6 for a chunk of land in Gurgaon’s Sector 3, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ruled: “We are of the view that these petitions deserve to be allowed”.

The Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jitendra Chauhan added: “A perusal of the record shows that there is no application of mind highlighting that the urgency of establishing a grid station in Sector 2-3 at Gurgaon was of such a nature that the land was required immediately and there was no time to hold an inquiry under Section 5-A of the Act”. The petitioners, Onkari and others, had earlier challenged the notification dated March 3, 2003 issued under Section 4 read with Section 17 (1) of the Act, and subsequent proceedings. Claiming to be the owners of 10 biswas in Gurgaon, one of the petitioners had asserted colonisers, including Ansals, established a colony “Palam Vihar”.

Their land also formed a part of the abadi of Palam Vihar. In an attempt to substantiate their contentions, the petitioners also placed on record a site plan showing their land was surrounded on two sides by flats made by the Ansals. The notification for acquiring land was issued by the state for public purpose of developing and utilizing land for Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam for setting up grid station in Sector 2-3 at Gurgaon. As the land was urgently required, the provisions of sub section (1) of Section 17 of the Act were invoked and the requirement of filing objections under Section 5 A of the Act was dispensed with. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 28
The Congress today decided not to contest the forthcoming municipal elections on the party symbol. It also decided to constitute committees to identify the “best among Congress men in the fray” who could be backed by the party cadres.

This was decided at the general body of the party here, even as former minister Birender Singh urged the members to reconsider the decision on not fighting the elections on the party symbol. He said if the party apprehended a contest from ‘rebel’ Congress men, strict action should be initiated against them. At the not-so-well-attended meeting, CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the Congress would fight with all its strength to defeat “divisive” forces. On his recommendation, the party decided to authorise block and district presidents to recommend “strong” candidates to be backed by the party.

Congress state unit president Phool Chand Mullana warned the party workers against the laxity shown in failing to counter the strike call of the Opposition yesterday. “The INLD workers were all over the place, urging traders to shut establishments. Congress workers were nowhere to be found. At least you should have kept your establishments open. In this election, we expect you to be in the field to support the candidates,” he said. Public Health Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, urged his partymenmen to ensure candidates with the Congress ideology came forward to contest the municipal elections. Education and Helath Minister Geeta Bhukkal prodded the workers to give the municipal elections their best shot while condemning the Mirchpur incident.

The meeting began with the general body condeming the Mirchpur incident and obituary references. Sitting MLAs, barring a few, were conspicuous by their absence.

The Independents supporting the government were present full strength. Just before the meeting, the party realised that their presence on the dais could stir a hornet’s nest.The Independents made a hurried exit. 

Public Health Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala was most scathing in his tirade against the Opposition. He alleged that the Mirchpur incident where a man and his disabled daughter were killed and houses of several Dalit families torched, was a “conspiracy of the Opposition”, aimed at ripping the social fabric of the state. 

Panipat, April 28
Following repeated failure of the authorities to get encroachments on prime government land (worth over Rs 24 crore) at the Samalkha grain market removed, the Haryana Lokayukta has finally stepped in.

In a six-paged notice, it has asked the Haryana State Agriculture and Marketing Board (HSAMB) to clarify when the encroachments had occurred, the officials responsible for checking encroachments and those who had failed to take action against the encroachers.

In August last year a Tribune report had highlighted the failure of the officials concerned to remove the encroachments. It had said strong resistance by politically well-connected occupants was the reason why the officials had failed in their endeavour.

Official records show the marketing board came up at the new grain market in Samalkha under a special World Bank scheme. Plots were allotted to commission agents, a total of 6562.65 square yards of land meant for roads and sewage was encroached upon by them. The latter constructed shops on the encroached land.

The market price of the land was calculated at Rs 24.11 crore. Though a number of complaints were filed with senior authorities, no action was initiated against the encroachers. Under pressure from various quarters, the local market committee passed a resolution in which it decided that the encroached land would be registered in the name of those occupying it, if they paid the market price.

This move was thwarted as the land meant for roads and sewage could not be allotted to commission agents as per the rules. A report prepared by the market committee says out of a total of 151 shops in the grain market, 109 exist on government land.

Activist PP Kappor, used the Right to Information Act to force the authorities to initiate action in this regard.

Chandigarh, April 28
Classes in the open with trees, fallen leaves and ants for company, government schools in the state seem to have taken the eco-fad rather seriously.

That probably explains why desks and benches are yet to reach schools despite being one of the priority programmes of the Congress government in the last term.

Education has always been the government’s priority or so is usually harped upon whenever an occasion arises. No one, however, can explain why students continue to be seated on the naked floor in the school compounds.

Often durries are spread out in the corridors or classrooms. However, senior classes in some schools are fortunate enough to have proper seating arrangements.

At the primary school in Khuda Kalan, due to paucity of teachers, two or three classes are clubbed together and conducted in the school corridor collectively. Little children, their hands soiled in the mud they bring to the corridor with their shoes, sit unmindful of the health hazard.

At government high school in Tepla, classes, if at all held, are conducted in the open. only Class X is the privileged one to have furniture in the rooms.

A teacher explains: “The number of desks is insufficient in our school. Given their limited number, we have decided that Class X should be made as comfortable as possible since they are a board class.”

At the middle school in Kishanpura, children brave the scorching sun to attend classes whenever they are held. Getting a place under the shade of a tree is a luxury that only a few can enjoy.

On the contrary, Radaur school faces a problem of plenty with desks dumped in a room. Students are seated on durries and classes are held inside rooms. “The government supplied inferior quality desks. Most of them in junior classes are broken because the table, instead of being of wood, is of some cardboard-like material. All these desks are low, unsuitable for the higher classes where children are taller. It is pointless making the children uncomfortable just because we want to use these desks,” remarks a teacher.

The dearth of desks, at times has a fallout on the children’s studies.

“A teacher from Bada Gaon says: “We teach them geometry but how can they learn angles and circles if they draw them with copy on their lap.We try to manage and seat them wherever the task can be made easier.”Teachers say that non-availability of desks is one big reason for the disinterest in government schools. “In this age, even in village families have enough to eat and drink.

“They don’t want their children to sit on dusty floors, play with mud and come home soiled.

“The government should do something as basic as providing desks before announcing ambitious programmes, especially since they have the money,” they maintain.With schools nearly a month into the new academic session, these basic necessities still seem a distant dream.

What the last five years have not seen, the next year or the year after may. Hope sustains life, even education.

— To be concluded 

Sirsa, April 28
Several new allegations have come to the fore against the teachers accused of sexual harassment of a student of the Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) Department of Chaudhary Devi Lal University as inquiries into the case are progressing.

Two separate authorities are inquiring the matter.

A committee appointed by the university that held its meeting on Sunday is yet to submit its report. “The inquiry is complete but the committee members have sought two days’ time to write their report,” said the Vice-Chancellor, Dr KS Khokhar.

Sadhna Mittal, protection officer under the Domestic Violence Act, is also probing the matter on the directions of Deputy Commissioner Yudhbir Singh Khyalia and has sought details of internal assessment of various students awarded by the “tainted” teachers. Some students had complained to the Deputy Commissioner that the “tainted” teachers were using the internal assessment of the students as tool to “sexually exploit” girls.

The statements of some girls, including the complainant, recorded before the PO, level serious allegations on the general conduct of one of the two “tainted” teachers. For instance, he is alleged to have told a girl, when she entered the media lab of the department, “your eyes look very beautiful without glasses.” At another instance, he is alleged to have commented on the fitting of a girl’s dress.

“You are getting fairer by the day,” is another comment attributed to the teacher accused to have sexually harassed his student on April 6 by telling her that she will have to “fulfil the desires of her guide” if she wanted to get her dissertation completed in time and get through her final examinations.

At yet another instance, he is alleged to have differentiated between modern and western by telling that the top Shefali (name changed) is wearing is modern, “but if she makes it sleeveless, it becomes western”.

Several present and past students of the department confide that the teacher is in the habit of making “double-meaning” statements in classroom and making “obscene” remarks on girl students.

However, some other students and former students of the department have vouched for the innocence of the two teachers in their statements recorded before Sadhna Mittal.

These include a girl, who was present during the alleged sexual harassment of the complainant.

They have maintained that the conduct as well as teaching methods of the two teachers have always been nice and have claimed that the complainant is an “ill-tempered” girl and has levelled false allegations against her teachers.

Fatehabad, April 28
Shaking a leg with girl students of their college at a farewell party has landed two lecturers of Government College for Women, Bhodia Khera (Fatehabad), in the soup.

Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan has asked ADC Ashok Meena to inquire into the matter after an ex-serviceman from the village complained that the teachers were drunk and did not behave decently with the girls while dancing.

The incident allegedly occurred on March 10, but the DC ordered a probe only after the explanation offered by college principal PN Vats on the incident failed to satisfy him.

“Complainant Mohinder Singh showed me photographs to substantiate his allegations,” said the DC when contacted. “Action will be taken if the teachers are found guilty by the inquiry conducted by the ADC,” he added.

Sirsa, April 28
The police has arrested three more persons for allegedly attacking zila parishad member Ram Singh Beniwal in Kagdana village here on March 18. A total of nine persons have been arrested in the case so far.

The accused identified as Vikram Singh, Navneet and Karamjit have been arrested from Shahpuria village.

A police spokesperson said Vikram Singh, the main accused in the case, had been remanded in a day’s police custody by a local court, while the other two accused had been sent in judicial custody.

Beniwal, Congress leader and zila parishad member, was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons by some unidentified persons. The accused had fled the spot after throwing chilly powder in his eyes. Beniwal had suffered several fractures.

Congress leaders had alleged that the attack was politically motivated as Beniwal had worked for Congress nominee Bharat Singh Beniwal in Ellenabad bypoll. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also visited Kagdana to know his well-being on April 4 and had assured that the miscreants, who attacked Beniwal, would be brought to the book soon.

Sirsa, April 28
The police today booked three persons in connection with the alleged rape of a differently abled minor girl in Rangari village here.

The accused, however, have been booked under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC.

A police spokesperson said Jagdish, Raju and Fakira had been booked on the complaint of the victim’s father.

Samples of the victim’s swabs have been sent for forensic examinations to confirm whether it is a case of rape or not.

The victim, a special child aged 15, was allegedly dragged into a shop and raped by three persons after administering alcohol to her.