Chandigarh, December 20
Fixing a four-month deadline for Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker to decide MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi’s plea against “defection” by five members from his Haryana Janhit Congress, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ruled that judicial intervention in the matter was justified.

Justice Ajay Tewari ruled: “It can be concluded that the substantive right of the petitioner - Kuldeep Bishnoi - to have his lis (dispute) decided is being defeated by the procedural facet of extension of time to file replies by respondent MLAs.

“Consequently, this court is of the considered opinion that judicial intervention is at present justified even during the trial of the petitions, filed by the petitioner, and issues a direction to the respondent Speaker to decide the petitions within a fixed time frame”.

Allowing the petition, Justice Tewari said the Speaker was directed to “finally decide the petitions” in accordance with law within four months of receiving the order’s certified copy.

Bishnoi did not press the allegations of mala fide initially levelled against the Speaker. The directions came after the case saw many twists and turns. Pending adjudication before Justice Permod Kohli, the case was referred to the other Bench after an apparent attempt was made to influence the administration of justice. Miffed over the “misbehaviour” by the defected MLAs, Justice Kohli, in fact, refused to further hear the petition filed by Haryana Janhit Congress president-cum-MLA Bishnoi. The matter was, subsequently, placed before Justice Tewari. The “defecting” MLAs -Satpal Sangwan, Vinod Bhyana, Narender Singh, Zile Ram and Dharam Singh - had joined Congress in November 2009.

Justice Tewari ruled: “The Speaker gave as many as six opportunities to respondent MLAs to file replies over a period of about eight and half months. “The Speaker even after the filing of the present writ petition on April 21, 2009, wherein the prayer was for speedy decision, kept granting further time to the respondents, the MLAs. As far as the petitioner is concerned, this was an indefinite postponement of his claim”.

Justice Tewari added: “Counsel for the respondents have urged that at an interim stage, there is no review jurisdiction available to the courts…. I put it to senior advocate representing the MLAs whether such absolute immunity would extend to a case where a Speaker does not enter into an adjudication for an entire term of the Vidhan Sabha and he conceded that in such an extreme situation, intercession of court could not be impermissible, but went on to assert that the present is not such an extreme case….

“All discussion on the powers of/immunity from judicial review is subject to two basic principles- firstly that justice must not only be done but must be seen to have been done and secondly that no person, howsoever high, in this case Speaker, notwithstanding that he enjoys a very high status and position of great respect and esteem in the parliamentary traditions and is the embodiment of propriety and impartiality-can be above the law.

Chandigarh, December 20
All eyes are on Speaker Harmohinder Singh Chatha again. The Congress and the “errant” MLAs, so far taking it easy, have come under pressure following the High Court directions.

The Congress government in the state, however, faces no immediate threat owing to the support from seven Independents.

While the Congress may pretend to be indifferent for now, the direction from the court has boosted the morale of the Opposition. The parties maintain that this could well be the beginning of the end for the defecting MLAs who could lose their membership of the assembly.

The HJC chief, Kuldeep Bishnoi, is particularly elated. “I hope the Speaker will decide the case fairly as the MLAs deserve nothing short of disqualification,” he said.

“The party indulged in large-scale horse-trading to come into power in Rajasthan and repeated the same in Haryana. This should be a lesson for the party to refrain from such activities,” he added.

The INLD, reacting to the development, said this would bring about the fall of the Congress rule in the state. Last year the INLD had petitioned to the Speaker, urging him to disqualify the five legislators - Satpal Sangwan, Vinod Bhyana, Narender Singh, Zile Ram and Dharam Singh who had switched sides.

The Congress government had won 40 seats in the 2009 assembly elections. Though emerging as the largest single party, it was short of the half-way mark by six MLAs with Chatha becoming the Speaker.

The party, on the night the results came out, managed to turn the tables on the Opposition, by securing letters of support from the seven Independent MLAs.

They were later made ministers and Chief Parliamentary Secretaries for their support during the vote of confidence on October 28.

A day after the Cabinet was in place on November 7, four HJC MLAs defected to the Congress while the fifth joined “later”.

Fatehabad, December 20
The Director-General of Police has ordered that the death of a young couple at Samain village in July be re-investigated by the crime branch, Hisar.

The SP, Jagwant Singh Lamba, said the Tohana Sadar police probing the case had found it to be a case of suicide.

Sham Mohammad, alias Gogi and a teenaged girl from the dominant community were found dead in the playground of Government Senior Secondary School at Samain village near Tohana on the morning of July 4, 2010. The girl lived in the village with her maternal grandfather and was in love with Sham Mohammad.

On the panchayat’s edict, Sham’s father had sent his son away to Qadian in Punjab for studying in a madrasa. He had come home meet his parents on the fateful day when he received a call on his mobile from the girl well past midnight.

The two were found dead the following morning. The body of the boy bore injury marks from a sharp-edged weapon.

The girl’s autopsy at the PGIMS, Rohtak, showed that she had been raped.

The viscera samples of the victims were sent to a lab.The report said they had been poisoned by aluminum phosphide.

On the complaint of Sham’s father Prem, the police registered a case of double murder and arrested Vijender and Ram Mehar, maternal uncles of the girl.

However, the local police concluded after investigation that the young lovers had died of poisoning and there was no evidence to suggest that someone had administered the poison to them.

Both t he accused are out on bail now.

Prem Mohammad and members of his community took the matter to the National Commission for Minorities, alleging that the district police was hand in glove with the accused.

They said the police did not oppose the bail of the accused and that money had played a role during the investigations.

Jhajjar, December 20
A bridegroom had to return without a bride at Akehri Madanpur village under Salhavaas police station here last evening when the marriage was stopped midway following the timely intervention of Child Marriage Prohibition Officer (CMPO) Madhvi Lohchab. She had received a tip-off that a minor girl was allegedly being forced into marriage.

The girl’s marriage was fixed with a boy of Sundana village in Rohtak district for December 19. As the baraat reached the village, someone informed the police control room and the CMPO that Ranbir Singh was going to solemnise the marriage of his minor daughter.

SHO Somveer Singh rushed to the village and stopped the marriage.

The family members of the bride could not produce the evidence of her age. Thereafter, the police recorded the statements of kin of the girl and co-villagers, who admitted that the bride is minor, the SHO said, adding that the case had been transferred to the CMPO for further action. Lohchab said kin of the girl along with the village sarpanch came to her office and assured that the girl would not be married till she attained a marriageable age.

New Delhi, December 20
Deepender Hooda, MP from Rohtak, raised the water issue with Punjab at the Congress plenary session here today.

Speaking on the concluding day of the session, he suggested proper management of water resources and added that “this should not lead to a confrontation between states”.

The stance of both states on the water issue is well known. They are locked in a legal battle. In 2005, the then Amarinder Singh government in Punjab had annulled a water-sharing agreement with Haryana and Rajasthan, signed in 1981.

Hooda, son of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, touched upon the issue of water saying that growth in agricultural production must be ensured. “Water is a major factor ….it needs to be properly managed. By 2020, the demand for water will increase, but the availability will reduce… This should not lead to a confrontation between states; like Delhi alleging that Haryana is not giving it its share of water or Haryana alleging that Punjab is not giving it its share.”

Observers say it may be difficult for the party to intervene on the issue between the two states. The last such intervention in 1981 during the days of Indira Gandhi turned out to be a major issue.

Meanwhile, Deepender asked senior leaders to create more jobs for the youth and for sustaining growth. “…the aspirations of the youth must be fulfilled and the Congress must address this aspect.”

Sirsa, December 20
Residents of Bani village in the district continue to live with the stench emanating from the rotten wheat lying in the storehouse of the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC).

Though the HSWC has already accepted bids between 80 paise per kg and 94 paise per kg for the disposal of nearly one lakh bags of highly decomposed wheat, the reeking bags have still not been lifted from the village.

“The authorities lifted some bags of slightly better wheat from the storehouse last month. But now, they have stopped taking away the rotten stock,” alleged Manjit Singh, a villager.

Residents complain that it has become difficult for them to live with the stench that not only pervaded the entire village but has also spread to the nearby “dhanis”.

“Our children refuse to go to school, as the village school shares a wall with the HSWC storehouse,” complained a villager, Satnam.

Villagers have demanded that the rotten wheat should be immediately taken out of the village as it has become very difficult for them to live with its stench anymore.

They fear that the wheat could lead to the spread of diseases in the village.

ML Verma, District Manager of the HSWC, however, maintained that the authorities had already lifted a substantial quantity of the rotten stock from the village.

He said the corporation was serious about the disposal of the rotten stock and the remaining stock would be lifted by the end of this month.

As many as 1,70,000 bags of wheat belonging to the HSWC were submerged under 10 to 12 ft water, when floodwater from the Ghaggar entered Bani village in July this year.

Bhiwani, December 20
To stop illegal mining, the district administration has cordoned off the mines of the Charkhi Dadri subdivision. Teams of the civil administration are patrolling the area mines round the clock in coordination with the police.

The Deputy Commissioner has warned that strict action would be taken against anyone found indulging in illegal mining. “Mining has been prohibited in Pichopa, Kaliyana, Atela, Kheri Battar, Asawari, Mankawas, Tiwala, Mehra and Ramalwas by the High Court and the administration is only complying with the orders,” the DC said.

He said teams led by the SDM and the DSP, Dadri, would prepare a progress report daily. Officials of the forest, ST, mining and the Pollution Control Board had been inducted into these teams.The Dadri SDM has been directed to meet sarpanches and other influential persons to enlist their cooperation in stopping illegal mining. With the administration having promulgated Section 144 in the mining zone, any tractor-trailer or detonator found in the zone would be impounded, the SP said. He also said that crushers sealed by the Pollution Control Board and found functioning would be re-sealed and cases registered against the owners.

Rohtak, December 20
The police has registered a rape case against an Assistant District Attorney (ADA). The accused, belonging to the district, has been posted in Faridabad at present. No arrest has been made so far.

According to the complainant, the accused, who was her friend and knew her for the past few years, had been exploiting her physically on the promise of marrying her. However, when she asked him to marry her, he dumped her.

She alleged that the accused had also threatened her, when she tried to pressurise him for marriage.

SSP Satish Balan said while a case under Sections 376, 406 and 506 of the IPC had been registered, the matter was under investigation. He said the girl would be asked to give her statement regarding the allegation tomorrow and the police would take action as per the victim’s statement.

The accused had not been questioned or arrested so far, he added. The accused identified as Pardeep Kumar has been working as ADA in the office of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) in Faridabad.

Rohtak, December 20
The state unit of the CPM has lodged a protest with the office of the Chief Minister over the alleged illegal quota policy adopted in the recruitment of schoolteachers recently.

In an open letter to the Chief Minister, copies of which were released to mediapersons here today, state secretary of the CPM Inderjit Singh alleged that the share of woman teachers was being cut down by illegally manipulating the 33 per cent reservation policy.

He said such nefarious manipulations have been repeatedly attempted during the past six years, but were thwarted by resistance from women and employees’ organisations, but what had been done in the recruitment of teachers was a total violation of constitutional provisions pertaining to reservation.

He said categories like the Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and physically challenged has been excluded in the selections to the open category.

The letter said the state had achieved yet another dubious distinction by adopting such blatant discrimination towards deprived sections with impunity.

The party has urged the CM to personally intervene and get the act rectified as soon as possible.

Ambala, December 20
As many as 2,088 graduate and postgraduate students of various streams were conferred degrees at the annual convocation of MM University, Mullana, today.

Justice Rajesh Bindal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was the chief guest on this occasion while Justice Laxmi Narain Mittal of the same court was the guest of honour.

Justice Bindal said students were the future of the country and the mirror of society and should not adopt shortcuts in life. He said they should excel in life with positive thinking and hard work.

Citing examples of eminent personalities like Mahatma Gandhi and Vivekananda, he said students should follow the path shown by such people.

Chancellor of the university Tarsem Kumar Garg presided over the function. Students of MBA, MCA and MBBS were among those who were conferred degrees.

Sirsa, December 20
There is still no clue to the identity of the woman whose chopped body was recovered from two places in the town on Saturday.

Jatinder Singh, SHO of the Sadar police station, said the police was trying to establish the identity of the victim, but so far no success had come its way.

The postmortem of the body was condected at the PGIMS, Rohtak, today.

A cop accompanying the body said doctors who conducted the postmortem had confirmed that all organs belonged to the same woman.

The doctors, the cop said, were of the view that the woman was strangled and later her body chopped into pieces.

He said the doctors had sent samples of the body for DNA examination.

The police had found the head and lower limbs of the woman in a sack at Kanganpur village near here on Saturday morning.

The same afternoon, the police had recovered the torso and upper limbs of the woman in a suitcase from a vacant plot near the Agarsen Colony in the town.

The police has been investigating the matter from all angles, including honour killing.

The police showed the body to some local people, including the kin of two girls who went missing from their homes a few days ago.

However, the police had not been able to establish the identity of the victim so far.

Sirsa, December 20
The state government has placed the services of two officials of the local municipal council under suspension. Executive officer Neki Ram Bishnoi and fire officer of the council Ram Kumar Khichhar have been suspended.

The Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary of the Urban Local Bodies Department had issued the orders on behalf of the government. Sources said the action had been taken following a complaint by a senior leader of the ruling party that fire tenders of the council were pressed into service to take out water from the premises of an INLD leader during floods in July. — TNS