New Delhi, November 23
Expressing its inclination to transfer the trial relating to the Mirchpur violence against Dalits from Hisar to Chandigarh, the Supreme Court today sought a report from the trial court on complaints of witnesses being threatened.

“We are indicating to you that it will be appropriate if the case is transferred to Chandigarh,” a Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly told senior counsel PN Misra and Haryana’s Additional Advocate-General Manjit Singh Dalal. “Let it go to Chandigarh. At least the victims and witnesses will feel secure. Not that we are casting any aspersions on the trial court at Hisar.” But the atmosphere did not seem to be conducive to a fair trial at Hisar, the Bench remarked during arguments.

“We have seen the judicial system crumbling during terrorism” in Punjab, the Bench noted, asking the state counsel: “What is the purpose of this prosecution. Why don’t you say right now that the accused will be acquitted? Why don’t you transfer the cases?” The Bench made the observations after senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the victims, informed the court that two advocates, Veena Sharma and Rajat Khalsan, had filed an affidavit detailing the threats and the hostile atmosphere.

The court asked the state counsel to consult the state government on the suggestion for transferring the trial to Chandigarh, even as Misra contended that adequate police protection had been provided to the victims. Colin said the victims were not getting work even under government schemes and false cases were being filed against them on the complaints of molestation lodged by women from the families of the perpetrators of the April 21 violence.

False cases were being filed against social workers who wanted to help the victims. The state government had not paid adequate compensation to those whose houses were destroyed or ransacked.

The Bench reprimanded the state for not setting up a human rights commission, despite the fact that a directive had been issued in this direction way back in 1993. “What is happening in this country? You don’t find a suitable person to constitute the state HRC? Layers of the Constitution are being torn one after the other,” the court observed. At least 150 people had fled to Delhi following the attack on Dalits in Mirchpur. A man and his daughter were killed in the violence.

Chandigarh, November 23
A large number of rice millers in Haryana are seriously considering not accepting government paddy next year for milling. They find the custom rice milling (CRM) for government agencies a losing proposition.

Last year, many millers suffered huge losses as they could not deliver the rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in time due to various reasons, leading to imposition of heavy hoarding charges on them.

The millers say the delay in the delivery of rice was triggered by reasons beyond their control. There was a severe shortage of space in the FCI godowns due to which the corporation staff did not accept rice from them. Moreover, the FCI did not post its technical staff in sufficient strength because of which samples of their rice could not be cleared in time.

To add to their woes, many government agencies failed to deliver gunny bags (bardana) to the millers in time. As per the contract between the millers and the agencies, gunny bags are to be supplied by the agencies to the millers to lift paddy from mandis and these bags are to be used for delivering rice to the agencies. The millers cannot use their own bags and claim expenses from the agencies later on.

A Kurukshetra-based miller told TNS that he had a contract with Confed for CRM. The agency was to supply gunny bags during the procurement of paddy in October-November. The rice was to be delivered by March 31, 2010. The agency gave bags to the miller only in June 2010, that too on the intervention of the Director, Food and Supplies, who is also MD, Confed.

The miller rued that despite that holding charges were imposed on him for no fault of his. His representation against the holding charges is till date pending with the agency. This year the millers are facing another problem, excess crop damage due to heavy rains. General Secretary of the Haryana Rice Millers Assocation Jewel Singla says pin-point damage in rice is not less than 5 per cent, while the FCI accepts this damage only up to 3 per cent. This damage, he claims, does not affect the nutritious value of the grain. The FCI, he says, must relax this norm.

Singla says the FCI should collect samples from all over the state and go for test milling to find out the truth. If relaxation is not given, Singla says, the millers would have to incur at least Rs 150 per quintal of rice to make it acceptable to the FCI. He points out that a miller gets only Rs 15 per quintal as milling charges, which have not been revised for years. The recent exemption of VAT on paddy husk, rice bran and “naku (broken rice of a very small size”) in Punjab has further added to the woes of the Haryana millers who find themselves unable to meet the competition from their Punjab compatriots.

Faridabad, November 23
Employees of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) have joined hands to intensify their agitation to press for the registration of a criminal case against a councillor, Kamal Yadav, for allegedly manhandling two of their colleagues, including a Junior Engineer.

The employees are also demanding the quashing of an FIR against the two officials registered on a complaint of Kamal Yadav, who represents ward No. 35. The employees allege that the councillor and his men beat up the two employees, who were on duty, and later framed them in a false case.

The employees, who launched an agitation yesterday under the aegis of the Nagar Palika Sangh, Haryana, today continued with their dharna at the MCF headquarters here.

The president of the Engineers’ Association of the MCF, Dharam Singh, asserted that the agitating employees would not relent until their demand was met. The agitating employees had already met the Commissioner of the MCF, Mahtab Singh, regarding their demands. It had become difficult for the employees to discharge their duties in the face of “undemocratic behaviour” on the part of politicians, he added.

The employees alleged that the councillor misbehaved at the instance of Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sharda Rathore, who represents the Ballabgarh Assembly constituency in this distrcit. Kamal Yadav’s ward falls in the Ballabgarh constituency.

The employees alleged that two of their colleagues were beaten up by Kamal Yadav and his men near the Aazi Colony in Ballabgarh on November 18. According to them, the police did not entertain a complaint of the officials and refused to register a case. On the contrary, the two were booked, a measure to pre-empt action against the councillor, they added.

According to Dharam Singh, as per the complaint of Kamal Yadav to the police, he was kidnapped and manhandled by the two officials.

The councillor also submitted a written complaint to the Commissioner, MCF, alleging that the two officials were in the habit of demanding graft. According to the Commissioner, the complaint has been forwarded to the Joint Commissioner, Ballabgarh Zone.

Chandigarh, November 23
More than a year after internationally renowned artist and Padma Shri awardee Anjolie Ela Menon first painted a grim picture of “ecological degradation” in Gurgaon in a petition against the acquisition of her land, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that the nature of the land belonging to her shall not be changed.

The Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Augustine George Masih also issued notice of motion to the state of Haryana and other respondents for December 8.

Menon moved the High Court against the state, the Land Acquisition Collector and the Haryana Urban Development Authority for quashing notification under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act dated May 31 for acquiring her land in Ghatta village in Gurgaon district. The purported public purpose behind the move was construction of sector roads for proposed Sector 58.

In the petition being argued by senior advocate Manmohan Lal Sarin, she also threw a challenge to the notification dated June 2, 2009, issued under Section 4 of the Act. It has been contended on her behalf that the petitioner’s right under Section 5-A of the Act has been completely circumvented.

Another Bench, which earlier heard the petition, had questioned the state on the issue of dispensing with the inquiry under Section 5-A of the Land Acquisition Act. The right to file objection under Section 5-A is considered valuable and the governments are not given a free hand to dispense with it.

Menon, along with “celebrated” author Primila Lewis, had initially sought the court’s intervention for directions to the respondents against the “illegal” acquisition, while claiming that she had 19 kanals and 4 marlas in Ghatta village.

Menon has all along been asserting that the “acquisition is for the proposed development that is clearly violative of several environmental laws and directions of the Supreme Court and additionally is apparently detrimental to the sensitive ecological balance and water table of this region since it forms a catchment area of the Aravalli mountains….

“In these circumstances, even after a full appreciation of the responses provided, it is submitted that not only the entire acquisition process is flawed, but the public purpose for which it is being acquired is patently illegal, violative of constitutional rights, premised on wrongful assumptions, based on inaccurate surveys and unequivocally arbitrary.”

Sirsa, November 23
The Chaudhary Devi Lal University authorities here has issued guidelines for teachers and students to ensure that incidents of gender harassment do not recur on its campus.

The guidelines are based on the suggestions of a committee comprising three senior teachers of the university who were entrusted with the task by the university Executive Council (EC) at its meeting held on May 15.

The council had met to discuss the inquiry report into allegations of sexual harassment by a student of Journalism and Mass Communication Department, suspended a teacher and charge-sheeted another for the misdemeanour.

The executive council also decided to charge-sheet the chairperson of the department for inept handling of the case.

As per the guidelines, the teachers supervising projects and dissertations will hold discussions with students only during office hours.

The students, in turn, will have to maintain a record of their visits to the office of the supervisor, which would be signed by the teacher.

If a girl student is to remain in her department after office hour, she would have to seek the permission of the chairperson. If a student/ faculty member feels that she is being sexually harassed, she will have to report the matter to the chairperson within two days of the incident.

Otherwise, it shall be presumed that the complaint is biased.A common room facility especially for girl students has been recommended. “The girl students may be advised to wear normal dress in the departments,”read the guidelines, without elaborating what “normal” means.

The committee has suggested deployment of at least one security person in each teaching block to avoid entry of outsiders and constitution of department disciplinary committees for regular monitoring of the students.

Madhuban, November 23
Haryana Blue won the overall championship at the three-day Haryana Police Games that concluded here today, bagging 15 of the 18 trophies in individual and team events. Haryana Red trailed way behind in the second position with three trophies. Haryana Blue won in the athletics (men and women), boxing (men andwomen),football, gymnastic, hockey, judo, kabaddi, swimming, volleyball, weightlifting (men and women), wrestling (free style) and wrestling (G/R) events while Haryana Red bagged the trophies for basketball, handball andshooting.

Constable Rajesh Kumar of the IRB (Haryana Blue) was adjudged the best athlete in the men’s section while Constable Rina of Ambala, also of Haryana Blue, was declared the best athlete in the women’s section.

Head constable Anita of the Railway Police was adjudged the best player of the year and awarded JC Vachher Trophy.

The highlight of the day was a new record set by Constable Kavita in the 10 km walk with a timing of 1:09:54 while Anita of Haryana Yellow was placed second. Haryana Blue dominated the judo competitions on the final day, lifting the trophy with 28 points. But it lost to Haryana Red (65-66) in the basketball finals.In weight-lifting (105 Kg), Romesh and Radhey Shyam bagged the first and second positions while in the 105 plus category, Gulshan was the winner and and Jagjit the runner-up.

In the 200 mts race, (men) Kuldeep (HB) and Sanjeev (HY) won the first and second positions and in pole vault Ram Pal and Suresh, (both HB) won the first and second positions.

In the 1500 mts race (men) both the winner and the runner-up were namesake, Rajesh, both from Haryana Blue. In the women’s 1500 mts race, Mamta and Mohini of Haryana Blue came first and second, respectively. In the women’s 200 mts race, Naresh Kumari and Anita (Haryana Green) bagged the top positions.

In the 85 kg category (wrestling), Karen Singh (Haryana Blue) won the first position while Kulvinder Singh (Haryana Green) and Bhupinder (Haryana Blue)

bagged the second and third positions. In the 94 kg category, Raj Kumar (Haryana Green) and Ravinder (Haryana Blue) won the gold and the silver. In athletics, Usha of Faridabad (Haryana Yellow) won three gold in MLH, triple jump and long jump. In MLH, Usha of Faridabad (Haryana Yellow) and Monika of Gurgaon

(Haryana Blue), won the first and second positions, while Usha (Haryana Yellow) won the gold in triple jump. Anita, also of Haryana Yellow, won the silver. In long jump, Usha and Savita of Haryana Yellow were placed first and second, respectively.

In men’s athletic section, Manoj kumar (HB) Sanjeev (HY) Anil (HG) bagged the first, second and third position, while in the 10,000 mts race, Sandeep (HB) won the gold while Ravi (HG) and Rampal (HG) won the silver and bronze.

In triple jump, Dinesh (HB), Anil (HG) and Amit (HB) won the gold, silver and bronze while in 400 MLH Rajneesh (HB) won the gold and Kuldeep (HB)

and Rajan (HY) bagged the silver and bronze. In 300, MSC, Rajesh (HB) got the gold while Rakesh (HY) and Sat Pal (HB) won the silver and the bronze.

In swimming, Parminder (HB) and Ajay (HB) won the first and second position in 100 mts free style. Naresh (HB) and Anil (HR) won the first and second positions, respectively, in 200 mt free style.Amarkant (HR) and Kanwaljit (HB) won the first and second positions in the 200 mts backstroke while Puneet Rana (HB) and Rahul (HR) won the gold and silver in 200 mts breast stroke. Rahul and Amarkant (both HR) made a clean sweep in the 50 mts backstroke, winning the first and second positions, while Ajay and Jagdish (both

Haryana Blue) won the gold and silver in the 50 mts free style. Ajay (HB) and Parminder (HB) won the gold and silver in the 800 mts free style while in 4 x 100 Madley relay, Haryana Red bagged the first position while Haryana Blue was in the second place.

In the individual 400 mts, Madley Jagdish(HR), and Ashiq Khan(HY) were first and second. In the 4 X 200 mts free style relay, Haryana Blue, Haryana green and Haryana Red won the first, second and third positions while in the 70 mts butterfly, Kanwaljit (HB), Pradeep (HY) and Rajinder (HB) won the top three positions.

Madhuban, November 23
DGP RS Dalal today inaugurated the Haryana Police Museum, depicting the achievements of the state police.

Dalal said the museum would provide a chance to know the history of the police as it was devoted to the history of the Haryana police and India’s First War of Independence of 1857.

“A museum is said to be a peep into the history, a flight into the past, a confluence of knowledge, education and entertainment and a dialogue with the collection of objects and artifacts kept there,” Director HPA Sudhir Chaudhry said.

Spread over two floors, the museum has a special section on India’s First War of Independence. Various dimensions of Indian renaissance have been mirrored in this section. A statue of Rani Laxmi Bai on horseback and photographs of the light and sound show that was put up by the Haryana Police Academy to commemorate the 150th anniversary of 1857 War of Independence have also been displayed in the museum. The rest of the museum is devoted to the history of the Haryana police - its profile and organisational structure, its stars and heroes, the high and low points and its hour of triumphs and tribulations.

Jind, November 23
A marriage function at the Buddha Baba locality here last night ended in a sour note, with the bride refusing to accompany the groom after the ceremony. The marriage party was left with no option but to return without the bride.

The girl maintained that her family had not secured her consent for the marriage and refused to accept the ceremony solemnising the marriage.

Intervention by the police could be of no help to the groom and the baraat returned without the bride.

This is, perhaps, the first case of its kind in the state. The bride reportedly told the mediators that she had neither seen or met the groom prior to the marriage, nor had any information about his age. Claiming that there was an age difference of 13 years, she said she could not accept him as her husband. She said it was a kind of forced marriage.

The girl is reportedly aged 19 and the boy 32.

The girl demanded that the marriage be annulled, much to the shock of the marriage party.

The groom’s family waited nervously outside a neighbour’s house as the bride’s family tried to reason out with her.

When all persuasion failed to make the bride change her mind, the baraat left without her.The groom from Bharan village in Rohtak district expressed anguish over the humiliation, saying that had the girl turned down the proposal earlier, it would have saved him and his family from the embarrassment it had to undergo now.

Chandigarh, November 23
Officials of the investigation wing of the Income Tax Department today conducted search operations on 20 premises of two major groups of Karnal and Gurgaon engaged in the business of exporting processed food.

Senior IT official said the investigations were on till the filing of the report.

Over 100 department personnel, drawn from the Delhi and Chandigarh offices, searched the seven premises, including units, offices and residential premises, of Karnal-based Best Food Pvt Ltd and more than 12 premises of Gurgaon-based Amira foods Ltd. Best Food (P) Limited is a three-star house engaged in the export of processed food. Amira Foods is one of the largest exporters of long-grain rice.

Rohtak, November 23
The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(UHBVN) energised the second unmanned 33 kV sub-station here today. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs 2.50 crore.

Giving details, an official spokesman said the nigam had made a provision for controlling the substation from a remote location with the help of computers. The remote-control hardware and software had been placed at the substation

The real-time data of each feeder and transformer would be available to the controlling authorityto for preventive action if and when electrical parameters exceed the safety levels, thus minimising damage to the costly equipment.

The state's first unmanned 33 kV sub-station was set up at Bal Bhawan, Rohtak, last year.

The nigam has erected a 2.5 km-long line to connect the second unmanned substation with the 132 kV substation at Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

A 10 MVA transformer has been installed here to meet the power requirement of consumers.

There is a provision for supplying power through four 11 kv feeders- at Sector 14, Dev Colony, Officers’ Colony and Delhi Road.

It would benefit 2,500 consumers in Sector 14, Dev Colony, Officers’ Colony, Vinay Nagar, Raja Garden, Nirmal Nagar, Central School, Circuit House and the DIG’s Office.

In the event of any interruption in power supply, the staff posted at the Model Town substation will be available round the clock to ensure prompt restoration of supply.

Chandigarh, November 23
In what is being seen in political circles as an attempt to regain ground in the politically important district of Jind, the Haryana Congress today admitted two former MLAs, one of the Indian National Lok Dal and the other of the BSP, into its fold.

Bhag Singh Chhattar, who had defeated heavyweight Congress leader Birender Singh from Uchana in 2000 on the INLD ticket and earned the reputation of being a “giant killer”, joined the Congress in the presence of party chief Phool Chand Mullana and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the party headquarters today.

Ram Bhaj, who had won on the HVP ticket in 1996 and remained a minister in the INLD Cabinet in 1999, also joined the Congress. He had contested the last election from Narwana on the BSP ticket.

Introducing them to the media, PWD Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said their support to the Congress would go a long way in strengthening the party in Jind district, where it had lost all five seats in the last Assembly elections. Surjewala said Ram Bhaj was a prominent Dalit leader of the Jind-Kaithal belt.

The two former MLAs said they had decided to join the Congress after watching the functioning of Hooda for the past six years, during which they found him to be a “well-meaning politician with no malice towards anyone”. They said Hooda never discriminated against any section of society. Ram Bhaj described Hooda as a “politician saint”. They said they had joined the Congress unconditionally.

Both Hooda and Mullana assured the new entrants that they would be given due respect in the Congress.

Later, Hooda told newsmen that Chhattar had been admitted to the Congress with the consent of Birender Singh (whom the former had defeated in 2000).

Pehowa, November 23
DAV Public School, Jind, bagged the best team prize and the running trophy in the inter-district English debate competition hosted by DAV Centenary Public School here.

The host team participated in the debate, but Principal NC Bindal decided that the home team would be out of the recknoning for prizes in order to ensure a sense of fair play.

Participants from 10 schools from Karnal, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Cheeka, Asandh, Pundri and Kurukshetra, besides Pehowa, debated with verve on whether there should be a “sports quota in medical and engineering colleges”.

They quoted Lord Wellington, cited examples of Kumble and Srinath to buttress the point that sportsmen need not be dumb and needed an opportunity to become engineers and doctors.

The opponents of the motion argued equally fiercely that sporstsmen, if they are any good, should concentrate on what they are good at.

The jury comprising Dr AK Singh, chairman of the Information and Technology Department of Kurukshetra University, and Dr Ram Niwas, Professor in the Department of English, had a tough time in deciding the winner. While they gave the thumbs up to the team from Jind, the best debater’s prize went to Yamunanagar.

Sirsa, November 23
Women labourers, who were returning to their homes after picking cotton, were shocked to find a badly mutilated body of a four-year-old girl lying on the fields late last evening.

The body was without clothes and had deep wounds on the head, neck and chest, and appeared to have been eaten by animals.

The women brought the matter to the notice of landowner Bhajan Singh, who reported it to the police.

The girl was later identified as Anjali, daughter of a migrant woman, Sheela Devi, who had lodged a missing report of her daughter with the police two days ago.

However, Sheela is not traceable since yesterday.

Her neighbours told the police that she lived with her daughter in a rented one-room accommodation after some dispute with her husband.

They said the woman was very upset after Anjali went missing and thought that she might have gone somewhere in search of her daughter.

However, her sudden disappearance from the scene has deepened the mystery behind the murder.

The police said a case under Sections 302 and 201 (murder and causing disappearance of evidence) had been registered against unidentified persons.

It said the body had been handed over to relatives of the girl, who lived in the nearby slums.

Sonepat, November 23
Four motorcycle-borne armed gangsters on Tuesday looted Rs 15 lakh from the Bari branch of Punjab National Bank at gunpoint and sped away towards the Rajpura minor without being offered any resistance. Interestingly, there was no security guard in the branch at the time of the incident.

The gangsters reached the bank around 3 pm on two motorcycles and after entering the building, one of the gangsters asked the cashier to hand over the money at gunpoint. The other three threatened Branch Manager RN Goyal, the Deputy Manager and a clerk at gunpoint and escaped with the booty.

The police recorded the statements of bank officials. — OC