Ludhiana, August 8
Excise and Taxation Department of Punjab has busted a scam of bogus billing involving more than Rs 10,000 crore, due to which the state exchequer has suffered a net loss of Rs 400 crore as VAT revenue. If the loss is calculated after imposition of penalty at the rate of 200 per cent according to the law, then the loss of revenue comes to Rs 1,200 crore.

Officials of the State Excise and Taxation Department are working overtime to nab the culprits notwithstanding the political pressure. According to official sources, the network of this scam is spread over Ludhiana, Batala, Bathinda, Jalandhar, with Mandi Gobindgarh described as the ‘hub’ of the scam. The bogus billing worth about Rs 7,000 crore has been detected from steel city (Mandi Gobindgarh) alone.

Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Punjab, A Venu Prasad claimed that the department was continuing the investigations without any pressure. Enquiries made by The Tribune have revealed that the fictitious bank accounts were opened and all transactions were fictitious and there was no movement of goods, as claimed through the bogus billing. “Everything looks to be in proper order, except that the movement of the goods was not there,” said an official of the department on condition of anonymity.

The modus operandi has shown that the traders involved small time dealers and those who were not at all in the business of steel or other items. They even opened accounts on the name of drivers, drug addicts and auto-rickshaw drivers and made them small payments. After making use of ITC (Input Tax Credit), the accounts were closed and the so-called firms were also shut. This clandestine business of bogus billing had been going on since 2005, when VAT was introduced in the state.

According to Venu Prasad, iron and steel was converted into cotton, wood and marble. Registration of 25 firms under VAT had been cancelled and further action was in progress. Notice’s for recovery of VAT had been issued to a large number of firms and there was a lot of panic among the steel traders and others involved in the racket. The officials said even some of the bigwigs of the steel industry were allegedly involved in the racket.

The police has registered 13 FIRs against the defaulters U/S 420, 467 and 471 read with 120B of the IPC. The alleged defaulters have taken exception to the charge of 120B of the IPC. Minister for Jails and Tourism Hira Singh Gabria allegedly tried to pressurise the officials to withdraw this charge.

The Tribune has learnt that the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister have given a ‘go ahead’ to the officials and asked them to proceed in this racket without any fear. The Tribune reporter also talked to one of the alleged gangster of the racket, who disclosed that he was getting Rs 10 to Rs 20 as ‘Dalali’ (commission) for selling the bogus bills. He would collect the bills and sell the same to another party and get his commission, he added.

The department has now started issuing recovery notices to the alleged defaulters and recovered Rs 10 crore so far. The defaulters were finding it difficult to return the money to the department. “The defaulters will have to pay the tax and there is no choice with them. The denial of payment will result in their prosecution,” the officials of the department maintained.

Moga, August 8
Despite being provided with a hotline power connection by the erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), now Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), on the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court, the district courts at Moga continue to reel under power cuts affecting the court work.

Perturbed over the violation of the high court directions and an order of a local court, the District Bar Association has filed a contempt of court case against the officials of the PSPCL (erstwhile PSEB), which will come up for hearing in a local court on Monday.

The court has already summoned the chairmen of PSPCL and local executive engineer/assistant executive engineer. As per the details available, a local court issued orders to the PSEB on March 4, 2006, to supply continuous power supply to the court complex through a hotline and during the period of power cuts the power supply should not be affected by isolating other loads on urban feeders, but these orders have hardly been followed by the power supply officials during these years.

It may be mentioned that in the chief justice’s conference held on August 14 and 15, 2009, a resolution was also unanimously passed to take up the matter of regular power supply in the courts across the country with all the state governments.

The resolution reads as, “the chief justices of high courts shall take up the matter with the governments on the aspect of supply of electricity to subordinate courts during working hours and to impress upon the state governments to ensure that no power cuts be allowed during court hours and generator sets as back-up supply for electricity be installed in the court complexes.”

However, in the past one month, on more than 25 occasions, the power supply was cut-off to the Moga District Courts during the working hours, thereby badly affecting the work. Under such situations, one could see judges sitting up to 7 pm in the courts waiting for resumption of power for typing the court orders on computers, as it’s mandatory to provide copy of orders to the parties concerned on the same day. Most of the court work nowadays is done on computers.

President of the District Bar Association Nasib Bawa told The Tribune that sometimes power disruption is witnessed daily for three to four times a day. “Despite getting the hotline connection, we face routine cuts. At times, we have to wait for the power to return in the middle of discussions and other related work in sweating summers,” he said.

He said this matter was brought into the notice of senior functionaries, but to no avail. “Therefore, we have been forced to file a contempt of court case against power authorities,” he said.

Amritsar, August 8
There seems to be no scope of any compromise between DSGMC chief Parmjit Singh Sarna and senior Supreme Court advocate HS Phoolka as both the warring sides are sticking to their respective stances.

Meanwhile, Phoolka has asserted that he has not received a single penny from the DSGMC or any other organisation for fighting of cases of victims of 1984 riots.

“Sarna brothers have shown in the records submitted to Akal Takht that an amount of Rs 15.14 lakh was paid as fee of advocates, etc between 2000 and 2010. They have shown that they had spent an amount of Rs 84 lakh on salaries of the committee employees. A list of such employees has also been furnished by them to Akal Takht. I have not received a single penny. There is no scope of any settlement with Sarna brothers now. I had extended a genuine offer. Now, I am going to pursue the case at Akal Takht,” said Phoolka.

On the other hand, while Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh has said that he or any of the five Sikh high priests had no objections if the Sarna brothers and Phoolka resolved their ongoing differences amicably, the chances of a compromise between the two sides seem to be dim as both sides were sticking to their respective positions.

For the DSGMC, one of its senior leaders said the ball was in the court of Akal Takht and that any decision of Akal Takht would be acceptable to its leadership.

Parmjit Singh Sarna alleged that the basic reason behind the episode was that the DSGMC had stopped giving any of its cases to Phoolka after 2006.

“We have no dispute with Phoolka. The DSGMC had even passed a resolution in his favour at its meeting on May 5. The entire controversy was sparked by him. I wonder what made him wait for 26 years in the case of Kamal Nath? The DSGMC had paid an amount of Rs 99.98 lakh. Out of this, an amount of Rs 84 lakh was paid as fee of advocates, staff, stamp papers and on photocopies etc. The remaining money was paid on recommendation of Phoolka,” said Sarna.

Ludhiana, August 8
The state government will not take any action against fake pension beneficiaries but panchayats that embezzled funds of the Social Security Department will not be spared at any cost.

This was stated by Principal Secretary (Social Security) TR Sarangal today. He was in the city to distribute prothetics among physically challenged at a function organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad.

Sarangal said it was difficult to recover pension from fake beneficiaries, as they were spread in different parts of the state and after wasting a lot of time and efforts, the state government machinery would recover only Rs 250 from each one of them. “This does not sound to be a practical idea,” he said.

Though the government does not intend to punish any fake beneficiary, it suffered a loss of Rs 20 millions every month on account of paying pensions to those who were not genuine.

He said after scrutinising pension records, the government was now releasing a Budget of Rs 43 crore every month instead of the earlier Rs 45 crore. “The scrutiny has helped the state exchequer as number of beneficiaries has come down from nearly 19 lakh to 18 lakh,”said Sarangal.

The Principal Secretary said the state government was all set to get panchayats booked, which fleeced the government by embezzling funds released for the social welfare. “We have already issued directions for the registration of cases against panchayats, which caused a loss of crores of rupees to the state exchequer.

Fazilka, August 8
Panic spread in the town, as dead fish were found in the canal-based drinking water supply pond here, near Sacred Heart Convent School locality. Nearby residents noticed the dead fish floating in the water and informed the MC authorities.

Drinking water is being supplied from this pond to the residents of the town. Despite the fact that the water passes through different filtration stages, impurities can often be seen floating in the tank.

The residents are of the opinion that the pond water might have turned poisonous due to presence of the dead fish. They have demanded that the MC authorities should immediately take water samples from the pond and discontinue the drinking water supply from this tank.

The condition of the areas around the canal-based drinking water project scheme is allegedly unhygienic and there is no boundary wall around it. MC water supply in charge Sham Lal ruled out any possibility of poisonous water in the pond and added that the dead fish might have flown along with canal water supplied to the pond.

Amritsar, August 8
The Amritsar district administration and the district Red Cross Society have been providing shelter to scores of homeless people under their ambitious scheme, Rain Basera.

The scheme has proved a boon for those who were found to have been sleeping on footpaths and roadsides during checking by the administration and Red Cross Society officials in the dead of night.

The Red Cross Society-run “Karam Singh Di Ward” has virtually proved to be a temporary home for more than 800 homeless persons during the past six months. They have either been rehabilitated or have been sent to their homes.

“Most of them are from Uttarakhand, Rajashtan, Bihar and Jharkhand and some of them were either disabled or mentally ill persons. They were picked up from roadsides and were brought here by teams of the Red Cross. Besides shelter, they were also provided with medicines and food,” said Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu.

He said the Rain Basera has received 33 new inmates, while 80 of about 800 homeless people brought here during the past six months were still at the place.

Red Cross volunteers, it was learnt, used to bring about 100-125 homeless persons every fortnight till three months ago, but now their average number has registered a decline. Red Cross sources said the reason in their decline was that most of the homeless people had either got rehabilitated or had returned to their native places in other states.

Chandigarh, August 8
Vijay Divas celebrations every year do not make up for the loss Preeti Sharma suffered in the country’s battle for honour at Kargil.

Five years have lapsed since her husband Naik Vipin Kumar laid down his life during Operation Rakshak; the country has still not honoured his sacrifice.

For the Gurdaspur resident, the distance between both the ends has only widened, with the government failing to keep its promise of getting her a job.

As her husband’s death in the combat brings to life untold miseries, Preeti Sharma, alias Santosh Kumari, has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court. She is seeking directions to the state of Punjab and other authorities for issuing her the promised letter of appointment as senior assistant within the education department at Gurdaspur.

Taking a judicial note of her plight, Justice Ajai Lamba has not only issued notice to the state of Punjab, but also directed the Secretary in the Education Department to file an affidavit on the circumstances under which the services rendered to the country by a late soldier were not being respected and regarded.

In her petition through counsel Kapil Kakkar and Hema Kakkar, Preeti has asked for appointment on the basis of recommendations made by the state’s high-powered committee at its meeting held on November 1, 2007.

Kapil Kakkar has asserted that the recommendations were made “in view of policy instructions dated August 19, 1999, for providing appointments of “honour and gratitude” to the dependents of war heroes.

In fact, the high-powered committee “recommended the cases of 19 persons, including the petitioner for appointments in departments. The name of the petitioner, possessing the qualification of 10+2, was initially recommended for the post of senior assistant in the Punjab Forest Department at Pathankot.

“Despite the recommendations, the petitioner and other similarly situated persons were not given appointments in the departments to which their names were recommended”.

Kakkar added the cases were reconsidered on July 3, 2008. But Preeti’s name was not included, as her case “was not returned after consideration by the Forest Department. At its meeting held on January 14, 2009, the committee recommended the petitioner’s name for appointment in the Education Department.

In response, the Secretary, Education Department, on June 25, 2009, wrote to the Director, Public Instructions, asking him to appoint the petitioner “as recommended by the committee as an honour and gratitude to the martyr”.

Kakkar concluded the action of the respondents was not only illegal and arbitrary, but also unjust, unfair and was unsustainable in the eyes of law.

Chandigarh, August 8
Punjab human rights organisations, led by the Khalra Mission Committee, today claimed to have unearthed 231 more cases of fake encounters that they claimed had occurred during the period of militancy in the state.

Addressing a press conference here, representatives of the Khalra Mission, Punjab Human Rights Sangathan, and Movement against State Repression, including Justice Ajit Singh Bains (retd), Inderjit Sing Jaijee, Baljit Kaur and Dalbir Singh, claimed that this list of 231 persons, who were killed in fake encounters, was separate from the list compiled by human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. The activist had himself been eliminated in a fake encounter.

Giving details, representatives of human rights organisations said they had got affidavits to support their claims of the new cases of fake encounters unearthed by them. They said they would take legal advise on the issue before approaching courts.

Meanwhile, the organisations said Akal Takth should take a notice of the killings. They said police officials responsible for the fake encounters should face a social boycott and declared ‘tankhaiya’.

Fatehgarh Sahib, August 8
Fatehgarh Sahib Deputy Commissioner Yashvir Mahajan today said the Sirhind Choe would be widened for proper channelling of water during the rainy season. The process of widening the choe would begin soon and some agricultural and private land would be purchased for the purpose.

The Deputy Commissioner said 15 kanals and nine marlas of private land would be acquired for that purpose at Harnamdaspura village and a detailed proposal in that regard had already been sent to the Punjab Government.

He pointed out that Punjab Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal had endorsed the project during his visit in Fatehgarh Sahib on Friday. The Chief Secretary had assured to provide all possible help to the district administration in that regard, he said.

The administration and a large number of people in Sirhind and adjoining villages faced trouble in view of incessant rains a few days ago as the natural flow of water got disrupted due to non-desilting of the choe for the past many years that had led to narrowing of the choe area.

Now the state government has decided to adopt a pro-active approach to deal with the fury of water next time.

The DC also informed that the Chief Secretary visited the Aaam Khas Bagh and took stock of the renovation process there. The ancient buildings in the bagh area were being preserved by undertaking restoration work.

Anandpur Sahib, August 8
Nine hundred cops have been deployed for the 10-day “savan” fair to be held at Naina Devi shrine from August 10. The area has been divided into nine sectors for administrative and policing purposes. Each sector will be headed by a sector magistrate and a gazetted police officer.

Among the police teams will be 200 women constables to help women pilgrims and maintain law and orders. A large number of police personnel will remain deployed in plain clothes to keep an eye on the activities of anti-social elements.

Special teams have been deputed at junctions like Ghawandal, Matri Bhawan and Kohni Mod to guide and help the pilgrims. Police and mela officer control rooms have also been set up.

Deputy Commissioner, Bilaspur, Anindita Gupta said the Ropar police and the administration had also been asked to lend a helping hand, whenever needed.

“We have six ambulances and one mobile dispensary. Besides this, we have tied up with the Ropar administration, which has provided us with one ambulance at Kolan Wala Toba. Arrangements have also been made at the Anandpur Sahib Civil Hospital to meet any eventuality,” Gupta added.

For the second consecutive year, five-day disaster management training was imparted to all stakeholders of mela, including temple staff, shopkeepers, policemen and others.

Pilgrims will be sent in batches of 200 to 300 persons each. For pilgrims’ help, four announcement booths have been set up.

Kharar, August 8
The Drainage Department has started clearing wild growth from the bed of Jayanti Ki Rao rivulet in Kharar so as to ensure free flow of water in case of heavy rains.

While the work of clearing the rivulet bed of the wild growth is in full swing, the department is silent over the concrete structures erected on rivulet bed. Also a blind eye has been turned to the hutments of scrap dealers that have come up on the rivulet bed.

A large area of the rivulet’s bed has concrete structures, wherein the landholders have fenced their landholdings. The land of rivulets does not belong to the Drainage Department, it is the property of private people.

During the onset of monsoon, everyone occupying any portion of the rivulet is directed to vacate it. Despite this, scrap dealers in the area continue to stay put there.

Drainage department officials said after Jayanti Ki Rao was channelised 15 years ago, there had been little possibility of water finding its way towards Kharar beyond the Thaska regulator. Around a month ago, the department issued notices to 15 persons having occupied areas in Patiala Ki Rao, but no notice was issued for those occupying land in Jayanti Ki Rao.

When contacted, SDO Daljit Pal Singh Bedi said the area was being cleared on the orders of the Deputy Commissioner, Mohali. “We are clearing the area that has a creek running through it. Cement structures on the rivulet bed could hamper the flow of water only in case of an eventuality like damage to the regulator. Still not taking any chances, we have decided to issue notices to the people asking them to remove concrete structures,” Bedi added.

Ferozepur, August 8
In a bizarre incident, Bohad Singh, a resident of this town, axed his wife and daughter to death last night and later committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance.

While his wife Chindo and daughter Nisha died on the spot, Anju, also daughter of the accused, suffered multiple injuries and is battling for her life in Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot.

Sources said after killing his wife and daughter, Bohad Singh fled the spot and later committed suicide. His body was found lying in a local grain market today. The sources added that Chindo, along with her daughters, used to work as a domestic help. Bohad lost his temper when his wife and daughters refused to give him money to buy liquor and he axed them to death while they were sleeping.

When Sonu and Sewa, sons of the accused, came to know about the incident, they took the injured to a hospital where Chindo and Nisha were declared brought dead while Anju was referred to a Faridkot hospital. A case had been registered.