Bangalore, May 30
Thirty people, including 15 women and 10 children, were charred to death and 25 others injured when a Karnataka roadways bus overturned and burst into flames near Challakere area in Chitradurga district of Karnataka early this morning.

The mishap site is around 40 km from Bangalore. Karnataka Transport Minister R Ashok told reporters that the driver's “negligence” could have caused the accident that took place at 2.30 am. The driver of the Bangalore-bound North-Eastern Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (NEKSRTC) bus had reportedly dozed off as a result of which the bus hit a barricade. The vehicle then overturned and its diesel tank caught fire, engulfing the entire vehicle. While four passengers managed to jump out of the bus, 25 others were rescued and admitted to hospitals in Challakere. Three of the injured were in a serious condition and have been shifted to a government hospital in Chitradurga.

Nine bodies have been identified so far. The police are planning to conduct DNA tests as many bodies have been charred beyond recognition. Messages have been sent to the relatives of victims in Surapur in Gulbarga district from where the bus had took off.

The state road transport corporation has announced a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh for next of kin of the deceased. Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa has also announced Rs one lakh compensation for the families of the dead and Rs 25,000 for those injured. The overcrowded bus was carrying mostly poor labourers.

“We will look into the matter and see what went wrong” the CM said. Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy, who is also in charge of Chitradurga district, rushed to the accident site and visited the hospitals.

Drivers, Siddaswamy and Shetty, and conductor Nandagowda escaped from the accident site. Efforts are on to nab them, police said. 

Midnapore, May 30
Amidst allegations that the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) played a role in Jnaneswari Express derailment, the Maoist-backed organisation today denied any involvement in the incident and charged the CPM with “hatching the plot.”

“We have no intention to target trains and we condemn and mourn such a colossal loss of civilian lives,” PCPA convener, Asit Mahato told PTI over telephone.

A day after the state police claimed to have identified two persons of the PCPA recently released on bail having a hand in the derailment of the train’s 13 coaches, Mahato said: “Politically motivated statements are being issued to separate us from the masses.”

“We will take out a procession in the Jangalmahal to mourn the dead in the train disaster. We strongly condemn such acts which take lives of common, innocent men and we express deep shock,” Mahato said.

Countering police’s claim, the PCPA leader named four CPM district and local leaders and alleged that the under their leadership, the Left party has opened camps in the last 15 days at Burjoli, Kolla, Patri and Dahimara villages close to Sardiha where the express train derailed.

“The four CPM leaders conspired to create panic by triggering a train mishap and the objective is to malign us and take us away from the people in Jangalmahal by creating a bad name for us,” Mahato alleged.

The PCPA leader claimed that “CPM had plans to politically isolate Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee so that she is forced to resign under directive of the UPA government after the train mishap.”

”We strongly protest against such a conspiracy by the CPM which led to such a heinous crime,” Mahato said.

Mamata had said yesterday that there was “a political conspiracy” in the derailment of the Jnaneswari Express. — PTI

New Delhi, May 30
Major changes in CRPF’s operational strategies are underway following the recent setback against Naxals, especially in Dantewada where it lost over 75 personnel. The post of CRPF Inspector General of Police (Operations) is likely to be created in every state where the force is deployed for anti-Naxal operations, official sources said.

The most crucial states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh may be the first to get the new IGP, who would exclusively oversee operations and will not do any administrative work.

Such a set-up currently exists in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir. The sources said a need was felt to have a specialised person heading the anti-Naxal operations in each states besides the one at the headquarters. The Home Ministry will have to create the additional posts before the names are finalised, sources said.

Shuffling of certain officers is likely to take place soon, sources said. Also on the anvil is a process for greater coordination between the central and state police forces, a need for which was also mentioned by E N Rammohan, the former BSF chief who led a one-man enquiry into the Dantewada massacre.

Sources said fresh strategies are being planned out and efforts are on to understand and replicate the successes achieved by security forces in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.

The forces there have been able to regain control of most areas from Naxals. Emphasis is also being given to proper training. While earlier, all battalions inducted in Naxal areas post-August 2009 were been given training by the army, sources said those who were posted earlier could also be given the same now at the counter-insurgency and jungle warfare schools of the force and the Army. — PTI

New Delhi/Raipur, May 30
The CRPF has constituted a Court of Inquiry (CoI) against three of its officers and a retired Inspector General, shunted out of Chhattisgarh following a report on the Dantewada massacre by Naxals, to look into the “specific acts of omission and commission” by them.”

“The Court of Inquiry will go into the specific roles of the three officers and would be completed by June 30,” CRPF Director General (DG) Vikram Srivastava told PTI.

The CoI will be headed by Additional Director General at the force headquarters DC Dey and will comprise an IGP and a Commandant rank officer.

The four officers in the dock are the then DIG (CRPF) Dantewada, Nalin Prabhat, then Commandant of the 62nd battalion AK Bisht, Inspector Sanjeev Bangre and IG Ramesh Chandra, who retired from service on April 30.

On May 21, Prabhat and the two other officers were shunted out of Chhattisgarh for their alleged lapses after government considered the E Rammohan Committee report, which was constituted by Home Minister P Chidambaram to go into the reasons of the April 6 Dantewada Naxal attack that left 75 CRPF and one state police personnel dead.

After they were shunted out, Prabhat was sent to Chandigarh as DIG, a charge he was already holding, Bisht moved to a training centre at Aradi in Orissa and Bangre was shifted to Anantnag in Kashmir.

The removal of Prabhat came as a surprise in the CRPF ranks as he was considered among the best officers in para-military forces and has been decorated with President’s Police Medal, Police Medal for Meritorious Service and Police Medal for Gallantry. He was considered as best operational officer during his tenure as the DIG in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir.

The CoI has sought records and other documents which were a crucial part of the earlier probe by former BSF (DG) EN Rammohan.

The inquiry will also go into the order and flow of communication between the Special sector headquarters of the CRPF located at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and these officers.

The Special sector of the CRPF is headed by a Special Director General rank officer who is responsible for anti-Naxal operations undertaken by various Central para-military forces like the CRPF, the ITBP and the BSF and their coordination with different state police forces. — PTI

Jaipur, May 30
The death of a Dalit in Assembly Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat’s office last year has come under the scanner of Rajasthan High Court here.

Following a petition moved by the son of the deceased, the high court has asked the state government to explain why the case should not be handed over to the CBI.

The single bench of Justice NK Jain yesterday issued notices in this regard to the state Principal Secretary (Home), DGP, SP (Sikar) and SHO of Srimadhopur police station. Srimadhopur in Sikar district is the Assembly constituency of Shekhawat.

The deceased, Raghunath, from Nangal Bhim village of the district had died in the presence of Shekhawat at his office in the state Assembly premises on May 15 last year.

While the Assembly doctor stated that Raghunath had died of cardiac attack, his family members protested that an autopsy of the body was not carried out to ascertain the exact cause of his death.

Later, it came to light that Raghunath was a key witness in a misappropriation case against three PHED officials Subhash, Banwari Lal and Shiv Pal. As per the petition filed in the court by Raghunath’s son Balram, the three officials, who were close to Shekhawat, were “pressurising his father” not to depose against them.

New Delhi, May 30
India and the US would hold their first strategic dialogue next week, covering the entire gamut of bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues of common concern, in what is seen as a clear attempt by President Barack Obama to dispel the public perception that his administration is not as warm towards New Delhi as the previous George Bush-led regime was.

The tone for the dialogue was set by President Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh themselves when they discussed its agenda during their telephonic conversation on Friday.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna will lead the Indian team at the June 3 dialogue while the American side will be headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Indian delegation will also include Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.

India is keen for the dialogue to go beyond symbolism and tackle thorny issues such as sharing confessions made by terror suspect David Coleman Headley as part of counter-terrorism cooperation, pressure on Pakistan to bring to law the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, growing US relationship with Islamabad due to the worsening security situation in Afghanistan and removing more Indian establishments from the controversial US entities list.

On the other hand, Washington will look for assurances that India is on track to open its vast market in power plants to US firms, narrowing differences over trade and climate change, as well as getting New Delhi's support to push for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

The talks will focus on five key areas - strategic cooperation, energy, climate change, education/ development, trade and agriculture - and also include deeper cooperation on security and intelligence.

The dialogue is also expected to lay the groundwork for President Obama’s visit to India likely to take place in November.

The two sides will be particularly keen to look at ways to further step up cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism, which will involve sharing of intelligence besides the US help to upgrade India's internal security mechanisms like forensic training and coastal security.

The basis for the dialogue will be the joint statement issued after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's talks with Obama in Washington in November that outlines the roadmap for future of the relationship. 

Hyderabad, May 30
The power struggle in Andhra Pradesh Congress has reached a crescendo with restless and ambitious MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy raising a banner of revolt against the high command.

After lying low for a few months, the CM-aspirant is back with a vengeance to prove his point. He has stunned the high command by defying its directive to put off his controversial tour of Telangana region. His attempt to go ahead with the trip, ostensibly to console families of those who died of shock or committed suicide following sudden death of former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, triggered large-scale violence in the region on Friday.

The dramatic developments caused deep embarrassment to the party on two counts: First, the open defiance exposed internal bickering.

Second, they revived old wounds in Telangana region which is witnessing an agitation for separate state.

According to Congress sources, disciplinary action against Jagan is imminent. Ironically, the 37-year-old industrialist-turned-politician was the near-unanimous choice of party men for the chief minister’s post

about eight months ago following the death of his charismatic father YSR in a helicopter crash.

Since then, the fall from grace has been swift for the young MP. Those who pitched for his anointment as Chief Minister are now demanding his expulsion from the party.

Jagan, a strong votary of integrated Andhra Pradesh, has become a persona non grata in the eyes of Telangana Congress leaders who are strongly supporting the statehood cause. So much so that 11 Congress

MPs from the region had petitioned to the party high command demanding that Jagan’s Telangana tour be stopped forthwith.

The anti-Jagan camp has now raised its pitch following reports that the high command is unhappy with the MP’s rebellious streak and is contemplating action against him.

“Jagan has crossed the Lakshman Rekha and must face action. No individual is above the party,” the MP from Siddipet S Satyanarayana said after a meeting of the party MPs from Telangana region. The meeting demanded Jagan’s expulsion for defying the party’s directive and trying to play with Telangana sentiments.

Shimla, May 30
Shubham, the 20-year-old son of Shimla district BJP president Sher Singh, was stabbed to death near the cemetery in Kanhlog locality 
this evening.

The blood-soaked body of the deceased with stab wounds was found on the road. According to Superintendent of Police RM Sharma, the deceased was attacked by three boys with whom he had picked up quarrel over wrong overtaking yesterday.

Today, when he was moving in the locality along with his friend, he spotted the boys at a dhaba. They had an argument over yesterday’s events which turned into an altercation with one of the boys stabbing Shubham repeatedly. Meanwhile, his friend fled the scene to save himself.

The victim died on the spot. The three accused have been identified as Vikram, Rohan Bhandari and Dany. The police later arrested Rohan and another accused. The search is on for the third.

Vikram, the main accused, has a criminal background and was found to be involved in a few other cases too.

A case of murder has been registered and the body has been sent for a post-mortem examination to the local IGMC hospital.

Guwahati, May 30
The authorities of the Royal Manas wildlife area of Bhutan bordering the Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam has evinced interest for trans-boundary conservation of tiger, thanks to a unique web-based geographical information system (GIS) software called “MANTRIS” developed by Aaranyak, a prominent scientific and industrial research organisation here.

MANTRIS - Manas Tiger Reserve Information System -is basically GIS software that reveals information about the Manas Tiger Reserve at click of the mouse. MANTRIS is the first-of-its-kind information software that will be of immense help for park managers and other stakeholders. It is all set to revolutionise tiger conservation efforts. It can be the basic platform for habitat linkages within the Manas Tiger Reserve and other key habitats of the Bhutan Biological Conservation Complex as well as the North Bank Landscape.

Royal Manas Park manager, Tenzing Wangchuk, who was present while Aaranyak dedicated MANTRIS for the Manas Tiger Reserve a couple of days back, said such GIS-based software could be of immense help for trans-boundary wildlife conservation efforts between Bhutan and Assam as animals’ movements were not bounded by geographical boundaries.

“MANTRIS contains detail information about the much celebrated Manas Tiger Reserve and will be of much help to forest officials, park mangers. It is designed for the entire Manas Tiger Reserve area that extends from the Sankosh river in the west to Dhansiri river in the east along the India-Bhutan border. The Manas Tiger Reserve comprises of 18 ranges covering a total area of over 2,800 sq km,” said Bibhuti P Lahkar of Aaranyak and team leader of the project.

MANTRIS contains detail information on almost all aspects of the picturesque tiger reserve, including administrative centres, forest boundary, land use pattern, drainage, forest villages, NGO locations, roads network, ride line, elephant points, golden langur points, digital elevation model (topographic model) of tiger reserve.

The whole project was financially supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund that focuses on conservation of bio-diversity hotspots. MANTRIS has been developed after two years of extensive fieldwork and research.

New Delhi, May 30
Peeved at Pakistan's often-repeated allegation that it is being deprived of its share of common waters, India today said such charges were aimed at diverting the attention of their people from their own inefficient use of the vital resource.

On the eve of the bilateral talks on water here, India asserted that it has never deprived Pakistan of its share of water, not even during wars and had no intention to do so ever. “India has no intention of taking away water which may be rightfully theirs...We have demonstrated this even in the past. When relations were at nadir, when we were at war, we did not use water as a weapon to deprive them of their share,” Water Resources Minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal, said.

On Pakistan's charge that India was “stealing” water, he said, “They are diverting the attention of their people from their own inefficient use of water...We have seen this in case of the Baglihar power project.” His statement comes in the backdrop of Pakistan's threat to move the World Bank for arbitration over the Kishenganga power project in Jammu and Kashmir, which it alleges violates the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, as water would be diverted. Pakistan is said to have appointed two arbitrators to contest its case, though it is yet to formally approach the World Bank.

Pakistan is also objecting to construction of two other hydel power projects --the Uri-II and the Chutak -- in Jammu and Kashmir. The 44 MW Chutak project is being constructed in Kargil district of the Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh province and would harness the hydropower potential of the Suru river. Pakistan claims that the construction of the Chutak project would block 35,000-feet per acre water.

India maintains that there is no violation of the treaty and is expected to demonstrate this at the meeting. Under the Indus Water Treaty, Pakistan has exclusive right over three of the common rivers -- the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab -- while India has exclusive right over the Sutlej, the Ravi and the Beas. — PTI

Hyderabad, May 30
In his last days, the matinee idol of Telugu cinema and popular Chief Minister NT Rama Rao was a sad man. Anguished and humiliated after being dethroned by his son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu, he never could come to terms with the ‘betrayal’.

Now, 14 years after his death, his tormentor has turned his worshipper. Naidu, who earned the tag “back-stabber” for unseating his father-in-law in a midnight political coup, is now in the forefront of a campaign demanding conferment of the Bharat Ratna on NTR posthumously.

“NTR was a towering personality who left an indelible mark on films and politics alike. He fought for Telugu pride and his contribution in the uplift of the poor is unparalleled in the state,” said Naidu, who took over the reins of the party from NTR in August 1995. Married to NTR’s younger daughter N Bhuvaneshwari, Naidu claims himself to be a true inheritor of NTR’s political legacy.

“NTR was a true legend in his lifetime. We are fortunate to have inherited the values and ideals with which he founded the party. We will strive to carry forward his ideals,” Naidu told an annual general meeting of the TDP here, coinciding with NTR’s birth anniversary.

Naidu made an emotional and strong pitch for conferring the nation’s highest civilian honour on the TDP founder. “We will make vigorous efforts to see that the Central government bestows this honour on our great leader,” he told the gathering.

Ironically, Naidu was not known to have made any efforts to get the Bharat Ratna for NTR during NDA’s regime of which he was a crucial ally. Naidu had served as the AP Chief Minister from 1995 to 2004, a period that saw him play a key role in national politics and in shaping the contours of central coalitions. 

New Delhi, May 30
It was some time towards the end of 2006. Afzal Guru, the death row convict in the Parliament attack case, had just sent in his mercy petition to the then President APJ Abdul Kalam. There was a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for which a few journalists had turned up. The function was followed by the customary high tea when reporters got an opportunity to approach President Kalam.

“Sir, when will you decide on Afzal’s mercy plea,” they asked. “Within 24 hours of the file reaching me,” pat came the President’s reply.

Apparently, he had forwarded the petition to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for its comments and was awaiting its response which generally tilts the scales when the President takes the final call on such issues.

But Kalam waited in vain for the file till July 25, 2007, when he demitted office, leaving the onerous responsibility for his successor, Pratibha Devisingh Patil. Patil will be completing three years in office in less than two months and there is still no sign of the file finding its way back anytime soon to the Raisina Hills, which holds the Presidential Palace.

The judiciary, often blamed for taking decades to dispose of cases, worked overtime to adjudicate the case. The entire proceedings from the trial court to the apex court took just three years and two months.

Afzal was sentenced for his close links with the five heavily armed Pakistani terrorists who had carried out the attack. Eight security personnel and a gardener were killed and 16 persons, 13 of them security men, were injured in the Parliament attack on December 13, 2001. All terrorists were shot dead in the encounter that ensued.

The courts have ruled that Afzal, himself a Pak-trained terrorist who had earlier surrendered to the security forces at the instance of his family, was part of the conspiracy to wage a war against the country in the form of the attack on Parliament when the Winter Session was on. He had helped the terrorists procure ammunition for assembling bombs, besides getting them cell phones and arranging them accommodation. He also remained in touch with the terrorists even minutes before the attack.

If the President were to take a decision right now on Afzal, she would have to sidestep 21 others, including the three responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi a decade earlier - in May, 1991. In all, about 30 mercy petitions are pending with the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which has referred them to the MHA. In order to liquidate the pending list of such pleas, Home Minister P Chidambaram reportedly wants to clear at least one case every month. At this rate, the turn of Afzal is likely to come only two years down the line.

The Congress government headed by Sheila Dikshit in Delhi has suggested to the MHA that the law and order implications should be assessed before taking a decision on the mercy petition.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is on record, expressing himself against forcing Afzal to jump the queue. But the convict in question does not agree with this view. From his prison cell, he has recently sent across an application to the SC seeking an early decision on his clemency petition as he feels hitting the gallows will be less painful than dying slowly in the solitary confinement.

New Delhi, May 30
The government may be unwittingly entitling condemned prisoners, including Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, to a lesser life sentence by delaying decisions on their mercy pleas, Supreme Court rulings suggest.

The apex court has repeatedly held that excessive delay in executing the death penalty, leaving the condemned prisoner to suffer a "dehumanising effect" of "facing the agony of alternating between hope and despair" renders the capital punishment too inhuman to be inflicted, thus entitling the prisoner to the lesser sentence of life term.

The court rulings assume significance in view of the fact that Guru, who was sent to the gallows by a trial court in December, 2002, recently moved the apex court seeking an early decision on his mercy plea.

"It seems to us that the extremely excessive delay in the disposal of the case of the appellant (a condemned prisoner) will by itself be sufficient for imposing a lesser sentence of imprisonment for life," ruled the apex court in 1971 on an appeal by West Bengal native Vivian Rodricks. Rodricks was awarded capital punishment in 1964 for a murder committed in 1962.

"It is now January, 1971, and the appellant has been for more than six years under the fear of the sentence of death. This must have caused him unimaginable mental agony," said the apex court.

"In our opinion, it will be inhuman to make him suffer till the government decides his mercy petition. We consider that this now is a fit case for awarding the sentence of imprisonment for life," the Bench ruled.

In 1982, while hearing an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government against an Allahabad High Court judgment acquitting a convict who had been awarded the death sentence by a trial court for killing three people in December, 1972, the Supreme Court refused to impose the death penalty on him due to excessive delay.

"The occurrence took place some time in December, 1972, and more than eight years have elapsed since. The present appeal has been pending for five years. We feel that although the murders committed by the convict were extremely gruesome, brutal and dastardly, yet the extreme penalty of death is not called for in the circumstances of this particular case," said the apex court, awarding life term to the convict identified as Sahai.

Earlier, the apex court had virtually set a maximum limit of two to four years for executing the death penalty awarded to condemned prisoners. In case of a delay beyond this limit, the court converted the death penalty to life sentence.

In 1983, the Supreme Court relaxed the two-year norm for executing death sentences. It, however, upheld the principle that excessive delay in executing the death sentence entitled the condemned prisoner to lesser sentence.

"The prolonged anguish of alternating hope and despair, the agony of uncertainty, the consequences of such suffering on the mental, emotional and physical integrity and health of the individual can render the decision to execute the sentence of death an inhuman and degrading punishment in the circumstances of a given case," the apex court said in the Sher Singh versus Punjab case. — IANS

New Delhi, May 30
The Centre today extended by a month the deadline for grant of permission to new medical colleges offering undergraduate courses.

The relaxation also applies to colleges that have sought renewal of permission to run UG courses and are already approved under Section 10 A of the Medical Council of India Act of 1956.

The new deadline is July 15 instead of June 15 this year, the Health Ministry today said, adding that the extension was an “exception” for the academic year 2010-2011 following a proposal in this respect by the Board of Governors that replaced the MCI leadership on May 15.

The board — that took over after the MCI was dissolved through an ordinance earlier this month — sought more time from the government to properly evaluate 87 proposals it received for grant of new permissions and extensions of old ones. The erstwhile MCI was monitoring the aforesaid proposals when it was wound up following its chief Ketan Desai’s arrest for corruption. Now, the board wants to ensure the credibility of applicants to avoid further loss of face of the government. In a letter to the Health Ministry, the board said it had assumed charge of the MCI on May 24 and had not had sufficient time to evaluate the 87 proposals received from the council through the ministry.

Agreeing to extend the deadline, the government today clarified that for postgraduate courses in broad medical specialty, the last date for grant of permission for the academic year 2010-11 had ended on March 31 this year and no further extension was possible.

“However, for postgraduate medical courses in super-specialty, the deadline for grant of permission will be July 15 for the current academic year,” the ministry added.

Shortly before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached Vigyan Bhavan last Monday for his press conference, the security agencies went into a tizzy as word went around that Nehru-Gandhi scion and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi wished to attend the meet. The organisers were faced with a real dilemma: where should they seat him. Should he be given a place in the row earmarked for the ministers and PMO officials who had been invited for the press meet? Or should he be seated with the AICC media department representatives since Rahul Gandhi is neither a minister nor an official? Even as this furious debate was going on, security agencies got word that Rahul Gandhi was not planning to come for the presser but had merely been enquiring about the time of the press conference as he wanted to watch it live on television.

Chandigarh, May 30
About five years after a Major General was convicted by a general court martial (GCM) for his alleged involvement in the Tehelka scandal, the Armed Forces Tribunal has dismissed his petition challenging his trial. The GCM had in March 2005 found Maj Gen PSK Choudhary guilty on three charges of accepting gratification and professional impropriety and sentenced him to one-year rigorous imprisonment. He was posted as Additional Director General (Weapons and Equipment) at Army Headquarters when a sting operation, carried out by news portal Tehelka.com in 2001, had caught senior officers, bureaucrats and politicians on tape demanding and accepting bribes from portal’s staffers posing as arms dealers.

Besides Maj Gen Choudhary, a Brigadier and a Colonel were also convicted and awarded varying sentences by separate GCMs for their involvement in the same case. Administrative action was also taken against some other officers. Choudhary had contended that the GCM, which commenced on May 26, 2004, did not have the jurisdiction to try him as three years had elapsed since the date he was placed under suspension and hence the trial had become time barred. He contended that the date to consider for calculating the period of limitation should be when he was summoned by the Defence Secretary for a written statement.

Though the GCM had then accepted his plea, the court’s convening authority did not confirm it and ordered that the court re-assemble in August 2004. The Army, on the other hand, contended that the date that was to be considered when the alleged offence came to the knowledge of the competent authority was when the court of inquiry proceedings were placed before the GOC-in-C, Western Command. The action taken in March was on the basis of prima facie and not definite information.

The Tribunal observed that the Tehelka expose was prima facie report and, therefore, the Army acted promptly and placed the incumbent under suspension. But it not mean that the Army had acquired actionable information or knowledge.

Stating that actionable information could only be acquired after the authorities had probed the matter, the Tribunal ruled that in this case such information was acquired in June 2001 after the court of inquiry proceedings were duly completed. Hence, the period of limitation could not be counted from the date of the suspension, the Tribunal ruled. 

Guwahati, May 30
Film Forum of Manipur (FFM) has filed a case in the Gauhati High Court, seeking its intervention to ensure that digital/video feature film are allowed to participate in the feature film section of the Indian panorama.

The FFM counsel Y Nimolchand informed that though low budget digital films are allowed to take part in the non-feature film category, they are not allowed in the feature film category. “This is very discouraging for feature filmmakers, who can’t afford to make celluloid feature films due to lack of resources,” he said.

As per the Indian panorama rules, digital feature films have to be converted to ‘proper film format’ (celluloid) before sending them for competition in the feature film category. “If digital films can be allowed to participate in the competition in non-feature film category, why not in feature film category? We find it discriminatory and want it to go,” the FFM counsel said, adding that the petition filed by the FFM in the HC will be beneficial for the cause of all the digital feature filmmakers across the country.

He said the FFM has appealed to filmmakers from other states to join hands in the efforts to facilitate screening of their products in the feature film category of India Panorama, which has been dominated by big budget flicks.

The petition seeks directives to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for allowing digital feature films to compete in the feature film section.

A large number of digital feature films are produced in Manipur every year and the FFM chairman W Lalitkumar said quality of those would improve a lot if they were allowed to participate at a proper forum. He said 63 Manipuri digital feature films were made in 2009 alone.