Tribune Impact
HC to decide fate of ‘extortionist’ cop
Probe indicts him for detaining a chemist illegally
Moga, November 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court will decide the fate of Inspector Satnam Singh, former person in charge of the CIA Staff, Moga, who in a judicial inquiry has been found guilty of illegally detaining a chemist, Apaar Singh, at a local police station.

Rural development dept suspends whistleblower
Chandigarh, November 23
The Department of Rural Development and Panchayats has suspended its most celebrated assistant project officer working in the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Bathinda, allegedly for his having pointed out serious irregularities in the running of distance education centres of Punjab Technical University (PTU) in Bathinda.

‘JAGO PUNJAB YATRA’
Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s nephew to address rally today
Jalandhar, November 23
After a gap of about four decades, Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s kin will revive connection with politics in  the state. The martyr’s nephew, Abhey Singh Sandhu, will address the first rally as part of “Jago Punjab Yatra” being organised by Manpreet Singh Badal in Faridkot tomorrow. Prof Jagmohan Singh, another close relative of the martyr, is also supportive of “Jago Punjab Yatra” launched by Manpreet.

Amritsar, November 23
An inextricable connection between politics and crime can apparently be gauged from the fact that Gurjinder Singh, alias Vicky, a proclaimed offender, was recently spotted moving freely with leaders of the ruling party.

The occasion was a political function on November 11, which was “forcibly” captured by Agriculture Minister and SAD MLA Sucha Singh Langah’s group, whereas it was originally meant for estranged SAD leader Manpreet Singh Badal, on the Jalandhar-Wagah bypass, near here.

Vicky was a SAD councillor in the previous term here and at present, this position is being held by his mother.

Despite being held guilty of drug trafficking by the special court, Amritsar, and the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejecting his bail vide orders dated August 27 and September 29 last, Vicky openly shared the dais with SAD leaders, in the Park Avenue Welfare Society complex. The dais was in the news because it was “forcibly” taken into possession by SAD leader Sucha Singh Langah and his men.

Apprehending trouble, police force was deployed at the spot, but it apparently could not identify Vicky who was present on the dais along with other SAD leaders.

Amritsar DC AS Chahal said: “I am not aware of the fact as I had joined at later stages. But this is a serious lapse which calls for immediate attention. I will get the status of the report verified.

Sucha Singh Langah, the convener of the SAD disciplinary committee, RS Brahmpura and Bikramjit Majithia could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

On July 30, the Amritsar police had intercepted a car (PB-25-C-6789) with a councillor sticker on its front and back windshield, on the Tarn Taran road and had arrested its occupants, Balbir Singh, alias Maru, and Rajesh Kumar, alias Jaishi, with 1 kg of heroin. An FIR had been registered against the accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985, the same day.

During interrogation, Balbir Singh disclosed that the car belonged to Vicky and that they had been carrying the contraband at his behest.

In his statement, Balbir Singh recorded that 30 gm of heroin had been delivered to Vicky.

Later, the matter was put before the Punjab and Haryana High Court which stated that “according to the discloser, Balbir Singh, the car belonged to Vicky and he was carrying the said heroin at his (Vicky) behest’… No ground for the grant of anticipatory bail is made out”.

Patiala, November 23
With the Congress all set to put up a massive show of strength on November 26 during the visit of PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh to his hometown in Patiala, Akali activists are also working overtime to ensure that the visit of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal here on November 29 is a huge success.

The SAD rank and file is busy ensuring that meetings and programmes to be attended by their president are not only well organised but also outclass the Capt’s road show. In order to draw a strategy for Sukhbir’s visit, the party’s state general secretary Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra convened a meeting with the senior Akali leadership of Patiala at Gurdwara Dukhnivaran Sahib on Monday evening.

The meeting was, among others, attended by chairman of the district planning committee Surjit Singh Rakhra and Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli. During the meeting, preparations for Sukhbir’s visit were reviewed.

Chandumajra said Sukhbir would be meeting SAD leaders from various constituencies of the district. According to the senior Akali leaders, Chandumajra and Rakhra also met Sukhbir in Fatehgarh Sahib today to discuss the arrangements to be put in place for latter’s visit to Patiala. He is expected to address a rally on November 29.

Moga, November 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court will decide the fate of Inspector Satnam Singh, former person in charge of the CIA Staff, Moga, who in a judicial inquiry has been found guilty of illegally detaining a chemist, Apaar Singh, at a local police station.

The Tribune in its news item, ‘A cop or an extortionist’, published in these columns on February 5 had exposed the nefarious design of the police to extort money from local chemists by threatening them to slap cases against them under the NDPS Act. Satnam Singh was suspended and a departmental inquiry was initiated, which was in progress, against him. The court of Justice Zora Singh has accepted the judicial inquiry report and fixed November 25 as the date of hearing.

A warrant officer of the HC had rescued Apaar Singh, alias Bittu, who was inhumanly tortured, from the clutches of the local police on September 23, 2009.

He was detained by the CIA Staff when he went there on September 21 to enquire about his brothers, running a drug store, who were picked up by the police for allegedly possessing psychotropic drugs without valid papers.

Family members of the three brothers filed a habeas corpus writ petition in the high court, in which it was alleged that the police had demanded Rs 50,000 from them to release the three persons. The HC ordered a judicial probe into the incident.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Karunesh Kumar Kakkar, who conducted the judicial probe, in his report submitted to the HC had written, “I am of the opinion that prima facie, Apaar Singhwas found to be in illegal custody of Inspector Satnam Singh, in charge, CIA Staff, Moga.” 

Chandigarh, November 23
The Department of Rural Development and Panchayats has suspended its most celebrated assistant project officer working in the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Bathinda, allegedly for his having pointed out serious irregularities in the running of distance education centres of Punjab Technical University (PTU) in Bathinda.

The whistleblower, Sadhu Ram Khusla, who had been working with the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Bathinda, since 1974, has received 38 commendation certificates for his services but his department recently suspended him on the basis of a complaint lodged by those whose racket he had unearthed.

The DRDA is an autonomous body set up by the Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and funded by the GoI as well as the state government. The DRDA had been running distance education centres of PTU since 2001.

However, when Khusla took over as the nodal officer in 2007 he pointed out several financial discrepancies in functioning in some of the DRDA centres. “I wrote to the ADC, Bathinda, about the scam who then wrote to PTU. Instead of taking action on what I had unearthed PTU officials let off the culprits charging them half of what was due to be recovered from them,” said Khusla.

“Even after fining them, PTU did not cancel the centres. Instead PTU took these centres from out of the purview of the DRDA and under its own wing. This was done to ensure that I did not keep watch on what was going on,” alleged Khusla.

With a view to getting back at Khusla, those running these centres then complained against him levelling graft allegations against him. “First an inquiry was conducted by the district revenue officer, Bathinda, into these allegations. The DRO’s report found the complaint frivolous and recommended action against the complainants for filing a wrong affidavit and fabricating evidence,” said Khusla, adding that no action was taken against the complainants.

Not satisfied with the inquiry report and alleging bias the same complaint was sent to the Divisional Commissioner, Faridkot, for an “independent inquiry”. The inquiry was marked to the then Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, who also found nothing against Khusla.

The complaint was sent now to the Punjab Vigilance Bureau. “The VB inquiry officer was Des Raj who is the DSP, Vigilance, in Bathinda. He had an old-standing grudge against me as he had been indicted in a magistrate’s inquiry by the PNDT cell in Bathinda for which I was working for many years. He could not find any truth in the allegations of corruption levelled against me but he wrote in his report that I had been negligent in handling the PTU centres,” said Khusla.

The Principal Secretary, Rural Bodies and Development, suspended Khusla on October 21 following the receipt of the VB’s report. “Before issuing my suspension orders neither any opportunity has been given to me to present my case nor any explanation has been called. It is learnt that the orders of my suspension came from Minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura,” said Khusla.

Another copy of the VB report was submitted to the Personnel Department which marked yet another inquiry into the matter by the Commissioner, Faridkot division. “I have filed my reply in that case along with the relevant documents and the final outcome is awaited,” said Khusla.

When contacted, the Financial Commissioner, Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, Jagpal Singh Sandhu said Khusla had been suspended following a VB report. “This is the routine procedure. Khusla has following his suspension made a representation to me which is being examined after which appropriate action will be taken,” he said.

Jalandhar, November 23
After a gap of about four decades, Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s kin will revive connection with politics in 
the state. The martyr’s nephew, Abhey Singh Sandhu, will address the first rally as part of “Jago Punjab Yatra” being organised by Manpreet Singh Badal in Faridkot tomorrow. Prof Jagmohan Singh, another close relative of the martyr, is also supportive of “Jago Punjab Yatra” launched by Manpreet.

Abhey’s father Kulbir Singh was elected to the state Assembly from Ferozepur in 1962. “Our family quit the political arena in 1970s in the state”, said Abhey, who shifted from Faridabad to Chandigarh in 1997 to start his own manufacturing unit. Abhey’s father, who died about 25 years ago, remained in jail at Multan and Lahore from 1939 to 1946 in connection with the freedom movement.

“After consulting all my colleagues, relations and friends, I have jumped into the political arena to fulfil the dream of Shaheed Bhagat Singh,” said Abhey Sandhu. “I believe that Manpreet is a right person to lead a second freedom movement to liberate the state and the country from corrupt politicians, corruption, poverty, drugs and other evils”, he added.

There was immediate need to throw corrupt politicians and bureaucrats from the political system in the state and the country. “To achieve this, there was a need to start the second freedom struggle”, he said.

“Some politicians have been virtually looting the country. Making them irrelevant in the existing political system is one of the biggest challenges. I hope the movement launched by Manpreet from Punjab will eventually catch the attention of people in other states and will become a national phenomenon”, said 54-year-old Abhey.

“We will urge educated sections of society to come forward to free the state and the country from the clutches of corruption and poverty,” he added. “All intelligentsia will be prepared to support Manpreet if he remains sincere to Punjab. It is good that he has decided to go back to people to hear from them that what are problems faced by them. I believe that after listening from people, Manpreet will enlarge his agenda to deal with various problems confronting the state ”, said Prof Jagmohan Singh, who is a son of the martyr’s sister.

Chandigarh, November 23
The Punjab Government has modified the model of administration perhaps to ensure better governance in the state in the absence of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who will fly to New York to accompany his wife Surinder Kaur for the follow-up of her anti-cancer treatment.

Even though the reign of the state administration is automatically vested in Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal in the absence of the CM, since he is also expected to go overseas shortly, the government has taken an unprecedented decision to divide the state into five administrative zones.

In the absence of the CM and his deputy, BJP’s senior most member in the Vidhan Sabha, Manoranjan Kalia, should in the normal course of things be de facto in charge of affairs. But owing to difference between the SAD and the BJP over the areas of preferred development, the CM has appointed his five most-trusted bureaucrats as caretakers of the state’s administration.

Apparently there is nothing wrong to ensure proper governance in the absence of the CM, but the move is being seen as an unprecedented attempt to remote control the state from the capital, thereby undermining the importance of the administrative machinery in the 20 districts of the state.

As is natural, state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh has come out with a hard-hitting statement against the move.

The government had yesterday announced that the administrative control of the state has been divided into “five clusters of districts with the Chief Minister’s Office and the Deputy Chief Minister’s Office heads made in charge of these clusters”.

The five bureaucrats in charge of all five clusters, besides DS Guru are, Special Principal Secretary to the CM Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and KJS Cheema, Special Principal Secretary to the Deputy CM Vishvajeet Khanna and Additional Principal Secretary to the CM Gagandeep Singh Brar.

Amarinder has said that the decision will practically seeks to do away with the standard laid down procedures of governance and clearly aims atdirect interference from the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister through their chosen officers. This will simply mean subverting the administrative procedures.

He said earlier, this government had given charge of police stations to MLAs leaving the SSPs, the DIGs and zonal IGs redundant. Now after having chosen the DCs positioned in districts, the government practically makes them to report directly to the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister by assigning the clusters to chosen officers in their secretariats.

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira too has condemned what he calls, “further centralisation of powers with the Badals ”.

Chandigarh, November 23
A study conducted by the Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF), Ghaziabad reveals that during the period April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, there were at least 5,060 cases where penalty was prima facie imposable due to delay in providing information. However, all the Information Commissioners taken together imposed penalty only in 97 cases, thereby causing a huge revenue loss of Rs 9.50 crore to the state exchequer.

According to an interim report prepared by the PCRF and analysed by H.C. Arora, the state president of the RTI Activists Federation Punjab and a Member of the RTI Awards Committee, as many as 6408 orders passed by the various Information Commissioners during the above period were analysed by PCRF.

Punjab’s Chief RTI Commissioner, RI Singh, who deals with cases of the Personnel Department as well as the Police, did not impose penalty even in one of the 357 cases of inordinate delay dealt with by him during the one-year period.

He was followed by PK Verma, who dealt with 711 such cases, imposed penalty only in 2 cases; RK Gupta imposed penalty only in 2 out of 460 such cases; Ravi Singh, who is the target of RTI activists for alleged “misbehaviour”, however, tops the list having imposed penalty atleast in 60 such cases; Jaspal Kaur also did not impose penalty in any case out of only 24 cases which she dealt with during the period of one year.

Some Information Commissioners in Punjab were not issuing show cause notice by recording that “the information has now been provided”. Such illegal method for dropping the show cause notices has been adopted in atleast 52 cases analysed by the PCRF; Rupan Deol Bajaj leads the list of such Information Commissioners by dropping atleast 32 show cause notices on this flimsy ground; Kulbir Singh follows by dropping penalty for similar reasons in at least nine cases.

The analysis of orders further shows that a new method has been adopted of late, by some Information Commissioners; they just record in the Order that “the PIO has apologised” and dropped the proposal to impose penalty. This illegal practice has been followed in at least 10 cases. Surinder Singh, Information Commissioner, tops the list with extending such benevolence in at least 5 cases; Rupan Deop Bajaj dropped penalty proceedings by observing that “the PIO has promised that he shall never do it again”.

Lt Gen PK Grover and Ravi Singh also let off 2 PIOs on the flimsy ground that “the PIO is not aware of the provisions of the RTI Act. An interesting method of dropping proposal for imposing penalty is to issue a show cause notice initially to the PIO, thereafter, to close the case without passing any order of penalty.This practice has been adopted in at least 279 cases. Ravi Singh tops this list with 52 cases, and is closely followed by Lt Gen PK Grover (43 cases); RK Gupta (27 cases);Kulbir Singh (24 Cases); and Rupan Deol Bajaj in 21 cases.

Jalandhar, November 23
The Punjab Government has decided to discontinue the Combined Entrance Test (CET) and instead hold admissions to its engineering colleges on the basis of the state merit of students in the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE).

Confirming this in a press note, Vice- Chancellor of Punjab Technical University Rajneesh Arora said the new admission policy would decrease the physical, mental and financial burden on students. “The multiplicity of tests leads to a lot of harassment to students, which is avoidable by making admissions on AIEEE merit as has been adopted by a large number of universities”, he said.

The CBSE will conduct the AIEEE on April 24, 2011, the details of which he said should be got from www.aieee.nic.in. He advised the students interested in taking admission to the BTech course in Punjab colleges to apply for the AIEEE test.

The decision comes in the wake of fewer number of candidates vis-a-vis seats in colleges. Admission to the course till last year was done on the basis of the CET. 

Bathinda, November 23
Carrying her 22-day-old child who was born a week after her soldier husband Jaskaran Singh of 10 Sikh Light Infantry, sacrificed his life in an ambush laid by terrorists in the Uri sector of Kashmir, Kamalpreet Kaur today condemned the rehabilitation policy for ultras that was yesterday approved by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

“Why should my husband have laid his life leaving behind myself, two children and his aged parents if the government has to play politics on the issue of terrorism”, she cried.

Kamalpreet was, specially invited to the veterans rally organised by the Army here this morning. Maj Gen Sanjeev Anand presented a gift packet to her. “What purpose will the gift serve”, sobbed 26 years old Kamalpreet, who has not yet come out of the shock of death of her husband.

Living in the Maiserkhana village near Talwandi Sabo, she is not sure how to bring up her two children and the elderly parents of her husband. “No financial help has so far come from the Punjab government or the Army. The government appears more interested in rehabilitating terrorists who have caused bloodbath in the valley,” she said.

She recalled that Jaskaran had come home on 20 days leave and returned on duty on September 28. The message about his death came as a bolt from the blue within 24 days on October 22, when she was an expectant mother. She bore a boy about a week after Jaskaran’s death.

Kamalpreet said the family did not have any source of income or landed property. She was married to Jaskaran four years ago, and their elder daughter was 2 years old.

An elderly war widow, Jagir Kaur, proudly displayed the Vir Chakra that her husband Sepoy Hazura Singh was given posthumously for exemplary bravery during the Indo-Pakistan conflict in 1948.

She has shifted to Kotshameer in the Bathinda district from Kot-Fatta, where she has been given 60 bighas of agricultural land in recognition of her husband’s bravery.

Amritsar, November 23
Confusion prevails over observing Guru Teg Bahadur’s Martyrdom Day as a section of the Sikh community is observing it tomorrow while the Akal Takht Jathedar has announced that it will be observed on December 10.

Some SGPC gurdwaras like the one at Baba Bakala are observing the event tomorrow. SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar himself inaugurated a hockey tournament held to mark the occasion at Baba Bakala today. Gurdwara manager Sulakhan Singh said Makkar also opened a parking lot and toilets which had come up at a cost of Rs 22 lakh. He said the bhog of the akhand path being held on the occasion would take place tomorrow, followed by kirtan darbar. He said he had no information about the announcement regarding observing the event on December 10. Similarly, DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said they would be observing the event tomorrow. “A nagar kirtan procession will be held in Delhi tomorrow and kirtan darbar will be organised at different gurdwaras,” he added.

Akal Takht Jathedar Gurbachan Singh said though he had made the announcement, it was not a hukamnama. “If a section of the community has made arrangements for observing the event tomorrow, it can go ahead with it. There is no harm even if the Martyrdom Day is observed tomorrow, though a majority will observe it on December 10,” he added. While Makkar could not be contacted for his comments, SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh declined to comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, the Dal Khalsa has criticised the decision of the Akal Takht Jathedar to change the date of the Martyrdom Day from November 24 to December 10.

A fortnight ago Giani Gurbachan Singh had made an announcement to put off the date from November 24 to December 10 in view of a mere two-day gap between it and Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary. However, Delhi gurdwaras under the DSGMC had made it clear that they would be observing the event on November 24, alleging that they were not taken into confidence while taking the decision.

Chandigarh, November 23
The Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) today gave a list of suspected travel agents who it claims were responsible for the “trapping” of Punjabi youths in Libya to the office of the Protector of Emigrants here. LBP vice-president Avtar Singh Mullanpuri, who accompanied relatives of youths who are at present trapped in Libya, claimed that the youngsters landing in Libya found themselves duped and defrauded.

He said the youths had been sent on fake or forged agreements with companies in which they were supposed to work. The relatives said the passports of the youths had been taken away and now they were being threatened with dire consequences if they made any complaint.

Mullanpuri said some travel agents were still in the process of sending more boys to Libya. He said his party had submitted a list of 53 youths who were stranded in Libya. He demanded that lawful action should be initiated against the travel agents responsible for sending the boys abroad. — TNS

Fatehgarh Sahib, November 23
Former deputy speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Bir Devinder yesterday said a cancer hospital should be set up in Punjab in view of the large number of cancer cases in the Malwa region of Punjab.

He said Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Capt Amarinder Singh and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should donate Rs 5.5 crore to set up the hospital.

“It is a matter of shame that hundreds of people are travelling from Bathinda to Bikaner in Rajasthan to get medicine for cancer as the water in Malwa region is not potable,” said Bir Devinder.

He said it would cost nearly Rs 1,000 crore to set up a cancer hospital and he would collect the rest of the amount from the NRIs.

Patiala, November 23
Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Punjabi University, in collaboration with Association of Asia Scholars, (AAS), New Delhi, organised a panel discussion on “Security Environment in South Asia: Emerging Trends”, here yesterday. The session was chaired by an eminent economist, academician and Director General Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, Dr. Sucha Singh Gill, whereas Director, Asia Scholarship Foundation, Bangok, Thailand Al Salvador was the guest of honour.

Dr. Gill spoke on the strengths and weaknesses, the countries of South Asia have inherited. His focus was to underline the political, social, cultural and economic developments taking place at the local and regional levels to understand the security environment of the region. He also stressed on the need to change the mindset of the political class of the region to refrain from using military force to deal with domestic problems of their respective countries. The discussion highlighted the security paradigms that are prevalent in South Asia and accounted for various emerging trends contributing to the security environment in the region.

Former Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Vijay Oberoi (retd) spelt out the geo-politics of South Asia in a historical contex and linked it to the contemporary situation. He also focused on the threats the region is facing.

Chandigarh, November 23
The increasing trend of roping in more and more relatives in dowry demand cases has not escaped the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s notice. Justice Nirmaljit Kaur minced no words while saying that complainants more often than not were levelling inflated and exaggerated allegations in such matters.

Justice Nirmaljit Kaur asserted: Lately, a tendency has developed to rope in all the relations in dowry cases in order to browbeat and pressurise the immediate family of the husband. Accordingly, sometimes inflated and exaggerated allegations are made.

The assertion came after a bunch of petitions for quashing the impugned First Information Report dated October 9, 2008, for subjecting a married woman to cruelty and another offence under Sections 406/498-A of the IPC registered at a City police station, Rajpura, Patiala district. Directions were also sought for quashing “all other subsequent proceedings”.

The petition against the state of Punjab was filed by Balak Ram, 69, and his wife Kamla Devi, following a complaint by daughter-in-law Anita Rani. Her marriage with Naresh Kumar was solemnised way back in 1992

Seeking the quashing of the FIR, counsel for the petitioners submitted they had got nothing to do with the matrimonial life of the complainant for the last about 17 years and the FIR was an abuse of the process of law.

It was further stated the complainant left for Rajpura to visit her parental house on November 10, 2007; and did not bother to call and enquire about the two children residing with their father.

Taking up the matter, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur asserted: “In the present case, the FIR was lodged after 17 years of the marriage. There is no allegation qua the demand of dowry. The allegations against the father-in-law and mother-in-law are vague and not specific. However, the allegation of beating is only qua the husband with the specific allegation of use of violence by him against her”.

In her detailed order, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur added: “The present petition qua the petitioners, that is the mother-in-law and father-in-law of the complainant is allowed and FIR number 239 dated October 9, 2008, under Sections 406/498-A of IPC registered at Police Station City Rajpura, Patiala district and all other subsequent proceedings arising out thereto are, hereby, quashed, whereas, plea filed by the husband of the complainant is dismissed as being devoid of merit.