New Delhi, January 31
In a far-reaching order, the Supreme Court today enlarged the scope of a petition filed from Punjab to direct all the state governments to take immediate steps to restore gram sabha land allotted to private persons to the respective village panchayats.

“In many states, orders have been issued by the state governments permitting the allotment of gram sabha land to private persons and commercial enterprises on the payment of some money. In our opinion, all such government orders are illegal and should be ignored,” a Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra ruled. All the state governments “should prepare schemes for the eviction of illegal/unauthorised occupants of gram sabha/gram panchayat/poramboke/shamlat land and these must be restored to the gram sabha/gram panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village”.

“For this purpose, the Chief Secretaries of all state governments/UTs are directed to do the needful taking the help of other senior officers of the governments. The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupant after giving him a show-cause notice and a brief hearing,” the Bench said.

The apex court clarified that “the long duration of such illegal occupation or huge expenditure in making constructions thereon or political connections must not be treated as a justification for condoning this illegal act or for regularising the illegal possession.”

Regularisation should only be permitted in exceptional cases where lease was granted under some government notification to landless labourers or members of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, or where there was already a school, dispensary or other public utility on the land, the Bench ruled.

The Bench passed the order while dismissing an appeal filed by Jagpal Singh and others who had challenged a move to evict them under Section 7 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, from a pond in Rohar Jagir village in Patiala taluk as well as district.

“Instead of ordering the eviction of these unauthorised occupants, the Collector, Patiala, surprisingly held that it would not be in the public interest to dispossess them and instead directed the gram panchayat, Rohat, to recover the cost of the land as per the Collector’s rates…Thus, the Collector colluded in regularising this illegality on the ground” that they had spent “huge money on constructing houses on the said land,” the SC observed.

However, the Commissioner set aside the Collector’s order and the occupants came to the SC after losing their case in the High Court. The apex court said though it had dismissed the appeal, this would be listed for hearing time and again to monitor the implementation of its orders to the state governments.

The Bench regretted that in large parts of the country, common village land had been grabbed since Independence by “unscrupulous persons using muscle power, money power or political clout, and in many states now there is not an inch of such land left for the common use of the people of the village, though it may exist on paper.”

Amritsar, January 31
The US school in Canton township in Michigan, which had barred students from bringing a kirpan to the school last month, has lifted the ban starting today though with some conditions.

A communication by Plymouth-Canton Community Schools dated January 28 on its website says that starting Monday, January 31, baptized students of the Sikh faith will be allowed to wear the kirpan at school with the following conditions: Any kirpan worn at school should be sewn inside a sheath in such a way that the blade cannot be removed from the sheath.

The blade of the kirpan is restricted in length to no more than two and one-fourth inches. This would take the object outside the scope of the Revised School Code’s definition of a knife constituting a dangerous weapon.

The blade of the kirpan must be dull. The kirpan should not be worn on the outside of the clothing and should not be visible in any way. It will not be the practice of staff members to conduct random searches for the possession of kirpans. However, students who violate any of the above will be subject to disciplinary action, including a prohibition on wearing the kirpan to school in the future.

While SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar could not be contacted for comments, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Paramjit Singh Sarna has hailed the decision of the school authorities.

“The condition that the kirpan should not be sharp is okay as it is to be carried by children.”

Chandigarh, January 31
More than three months after a Mohali court acquitted Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Badal and wife Surinder Kaur Badal, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today took cognisance of the supervising officer, IGP BK Uppal’s, petition alleging that the special judge chose to acquit the accused hurriedly and the case was not one of “absolutely no evidence”.

Justice Rajan Gupta issued a notice regarding the stay on the petition to the State of Punjab. The notice came more than a month after the petition initially came up for hearing. In the appeal argued through counsel RS Cheema, Uppal asserted that the judgment, whereby the decision of filing the complaint was taken, itself revealed the great hurry with which the special judge wanted to pass the same.

The special judge did not even bother to record the statements of the accused under Section 313 of the CrPC and chose to acquit the accused hurriedly, although “the case is not such which could be said to be one of absolutely no evidence on record, which the accused were required to answer”.

The evidence led by the prosecution definitely proved certain important allegations levelled against the accused, which would be required to be put to the accused under Section 313 of the CrPC, which seems to have been obviated in a hurry to finish the matter. There are many witnesses who have proved the reports, inspections, search etc. and yet no note thereof has been taken.

He has gone on to add both defence and the prosecution were batting for the accused. Even the special judge failed in his job to ensure the surfacing of the truth. Uppal has categorically said the entire evidence will reveal the case to be one where both sides, the defence counsel as well as the public prosecutor, were batting for the accused.

Claiming to be the fall guy in the matter, Uppal went ahead to say that the role of investigating officer Surinder Pal Singh was also not put under the scanner. Surinder Pal Singh was properly examined; and he was made a scapegoat without even assessing the scope of his official assignment, and supervisory role, Uppal added.

Nalas (Rajpura), January 31
Unemployed youth from seven villages, whose land was acquired to setup thermal plant in Nalas village, today staged a dharna for not getting jobs in the thermal plant despite government promises.

Foundation stone of the 1,320-MV thermal plant was laid by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in March last year. Agitating villagers alleged that the government, while acquiring their 1,078 acres of fertile land, had promised to employ maximum number of people from surrounding villages, but now most of labourers and other employees have been hired from outside the state.

“The construction work is going on for the past one year, but we are yet to get jobs despite promises,” said Sukhwinder Singh, a truck driver who also works as an electrician. Another villager, Rajinder Singh, said: “The government forcefully purchased our land at a very low price and most of the farmers were unhappy.”

Baljinder Singh, speaking on behalf of Nalas village sarpanch Kaki Devi, said: “The government had made tall claims of project making our lives better, whereas we have become redundant without any sound livelihood.” He rued that heavy machinery plying on the village road has damaged the path. 

“Use of heavy trucks loaded with construction material has left pot holes and people are facing problem of heavy traffic passing right through their villages,” said Bhola Singh, another resident.

Jagdeep Singh, joint general manager of Nabha Power Limited that is constructing the thermal plant, said though they had employed around 100 villagers, including unskilled labourers, they would recruit more people from these villages. On today’s agitation by the farmers, he said the Mumbai-based media head of the company could comment on the issue. 

Debo Jyoti said he was aware of agitation by nearby villagers would be sorted out soon.

Dr Suman Kumar at the Civil Hospital, Amritsar, on Monday. Sitting beside him is his wife, Dr Sunita Wadhawan. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Guards hold protest in Ferozepur
Chander Parkash/TNS

Ferozepur, January 31
Members of Punjab Jails Guards Association held a protest in front of Central Jail here today. They were demanding revocation of the suspension orders of three employees of the Central Jail.

Assistant Superintendent of Jail Suraj Parkash as well as Head Constables Des Raj and Emi Chand had been suspended after narcotics and mobile phones etc were recovered from the inmates of the central jail during a raid conducted by Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav and district police chief Kaustab Sharma on January 27. The suspension orders were issued by Superintendent Jail LS Jakhar.

The protesters termed the move as unjustified. Bohar Singh, District president, Punjab Jails Guards Association, Ferozepur, claimed the suspended employees were not involved in any illegal activity.

He said only 175 security guards had been deployed in the jail for 1800 inmates against the sanctioned capacity of 1036. He said there was need to deploy 500 security guards.

“When the jail authorities are working without adhering to the jail manual, how can the employees be held responsible for any lapses,” he asked.

He said that association would meet Anil Kaushik, DGP Jail, Punjab, on February 2 with their demands.

Patiala, January 31
Punjab Mandi Board chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal has said if the Central Government failed to implement the recommendations made in the MS Swaminathan Committee Report, farmers would stage a protest demonstration in New Delhi on March 9.

Lakhowal made this announcement during an interaction with farmers at the Dukhnivaran Sahib gurdwara, here on Saturday. He also demanded that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops should be fixed in conformity with the price index.

“The Union Government is bias against the farmers. The Central Government should extend autonomy to states, on the lines of the US Government, so that state governments can fix the prices of crops,” said Lakhowal. He said farmers, from all across India, would participate in the proposed protest demonstration.

Lakhowal said the Union Government had constituted the Swaminathan Committee to resolve the problems faced by farmers. “It is extremely unfortunate that the report, submitted in 2006, is yet to be implemented,” he said.

Recently, the Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations (CIFA) had also submitted a memorandum demanding implementation of the report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through Punjab Governor Shiv Raj Patil.

CIFA president Satnam Singh Behru had urged the Prime Minister to issue immediate orders for the implementation of the report. “Since the present Agricultural Cost Commission does not have any legal authority and its recommendations are not binding on the Union Government, the Central Government should give a constitutional status to the Agricultural Cost Commission of India,” said Behru.

Ropar, January 31
The visit of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amrinder Singh to Ropar on February 15 will be video-graphed. Under the scanner will be the party leaders and the crowd they bring with them.

“This is largely being done to rule out the claims every leader makes at the time of such congregations. Most of the leaders claim to bring maximum number of people with them to be in good books of the party high command,” said some Congress workers. MLA Nangal Rana KP Singh, the main organiser of function at Ropar, said the CCTV cameras would indeed be installed, but from the security point of view.

“We are making arrangements for the rally on war footing. It will be too early to speak about the number of CCTV cameras installed and videography to be done. We are mainly doing it for security purposes,” he added.

The Congress workers said most of leaders had been asked to bring a large number of supporters with them. After being appointed the PPCC president, Captain Amrinder Singh is visiting all districts of state, mobilising workers forthe forthcoming Assembly elections.

Patiala, January 31
Second phase of the census 2011 will begin in Patiala from February 9. While stating this, Patiala Deputy Commissioner-cum-Principal Census Officer Dipinder Singh said second phase of the census would continue till March 5. He further said in the second phase of the census, information about the institution household (old age homes, welfare home for children etc), houseless population and normal houses would be collected.

“Patiala has been divided into 2,767 blocks. As many as 2,499 enumerators and 421 supervisors have been appointed for undertaking the census work in the 2,767 blocks. During the second phase, the enumerators will go door-to-door for collecting necessary information. During the process of the information collection, the enumerators will gather information about 29 listed points from the head of the family,” Dipinder said.

Patiala, January 31
Punjabi University today organised the 27th International Punjabi Conference on the theme of “Punjabi language, new developmental spheres”, which was inaugurated by Puddcherry Governor Dr Iqbal Singh. Meanwhile, complete mismanagement at the function left many senior Punjabi writers annoyed, who were shabbily treated at the function.

The conference was held under the aegis of the Development of Punjabi Language Department and 14 books were also released while senior Punjabi writers were also invited. Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Jaspal Singh released the books. The function started almost one hour behind the schedule and senior writers had to wait for the chief guest and other invitees to finish their speeches. And at last, when the books were eventually released, a few writers had already left the venue. In this regard, a senior lecturer and one of the organisers Yograj Singh claimed that they had tried their best to attend all but if someone felt bad, he could apologise. “We will not repeat it again,” he assured.

Earlier, speaking at the conference Dr Iqbal stressed on the fact that as the Punjabi community was settled across the world, there was an ample need of setting up of the International Punjabi Education Schools for betterment of the language and universities from Punjab should start working on this. “I will also appreciate if the literary brains of Punjabi language try to use the simplest form of language in their writings so that more and more people are interested in reading Punjabi literature,” he added. The former Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, said with the invention of new technology, the spheres of development of Punjabi language had changed.

Meanwhile, a book written by eminent Punjabi writer, Surjit Singh Hans was also inaugurated. Hans has to his credit of translating 35 plays by Shakespeare in Punjabi. He started writing in 1993 and is soon to finish his work on two more Shakespearean plays. 

Ludhiana, January 31
The Court of Additional Sessions Judge JS Chouhan today acquitted former Agriculture Minister Gurdev Singh Badal in a case of disproportionate assests, embezzlement of special grants and promotion of around 135 officers against rules.

Delivering the verdict, the court held that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges levelled against the accused. He was facing trial for the past eight years. The Vigilance Bureau (VB) had claimed that the former minister had amassed a wealth of Rs 1.07 crore, disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The VB had claimed to have unearthed a promotion scam that allegedly took place in the state Agriculture Department, during the tenure of Badal as Agriculture Minister.

It was alleged that 135 employees had reportedly benefited from the scam, in which promotions were allegedly made by the ex-minister.

The VB had claimed that the investigation had found at least 20 fake grants given by the former Agriculture Minister. It was further claimed that he allegedly pocketed most of the amount of grants himself.

It was alleged that at least 18 employees, including Joint Directors, Deputy Directors and several Chief Agriculture Officers, were given promotions, allegedly at the former minister’s behest, in utter violation of the laid-down procedures and rules.

Along with them, 117 beldaars were allegedly promoted to the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector in the Agriculture Department in violation of the rules. Only 20 per cent of them could be promoted as per the procedure. Even the mandatory Depatmental Promotion Committee was not constituted, claimed the prosecution.

He was elected MLA for a record 11th time from Panj Guraian, an Assembly constituency in Faridkot district.

An FIR no. 83 was registered against him on November 23 by the VB Flying

Squad, Patiala, under Section 13 (1) E (D) R/W 13 (2) 88 of the PC Act.