Pak denies visa to Sikh jatha
Amritsar, May 27
The Pakistani embassy has denied visa to a Sikh jatha which was to visit the country for the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev on June 5.The 340-member jatha was to leave for Pakistan from here tomorrow and return on June 6.

Badal, May 27
People from all walks of life converged on the cremation ground here today for the ceremony regarding the collecting of the ashes of Chief Minister Parkash Singh’s wife, Surinder Kaur Badal.

The Chief minister Badal along with his son Sukhbir Badal, daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur, daughter Preneet Kaur, son-in-law and food and supply minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, brother Gurdas Badal and nephew Manpreet Badal performed the ceremony.

Om Prakash Chautala, former Chief Minister of Haryana, Avtar Singh Makkar, president, SGPC, Punjab ministers, MLAs, senior bureaucrats, businessmen, religious figures and residents of surrounding villages were among those who attended the ceremony.

Makkar performed the religious rites. The urn containing the ashes was carried by Sukhbir Badal. Hundreds of people, including employees of various departments and schoolchildren, lined up on both sides of the road and showered petals on the bus carrying the ashes. Boards carrying couplets from Gurbani and pictures of Surinder Kaur were put up by various organisations as a tribute to her.

Kiratpur Sahib: The Badal familyimmersed the ashes of Surinder Kaur, wife of Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, into the Sutlej at Gurdwara Sri Patalpuri Sahib today.The Badal family and close relatives arrived at the gurdwara in a flower-decked bus at 5 pm. Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal carried the urn containing his mother’s ashes.

The CM, Sukhbir Badal, his wife Harsimrat and other relatives immersed the ashes into the Sutlej. Surinder Kaur’s brother Inderjit Singh broke down into tears.The only Congress leader accompanying the Badals was former MLA of Chamkaur Sahib Bhag Singh.

Head Damdami Taksal Baba Harnam Singh Dhuma, Sant Baba Nihal Singh Harianavelan Wale, Baba Labh Singh Kar Sewa Wale and president SGPC Avtar Singh were among those present.

Other dignitaries included Rajya Sabha MPs SS Dhindsa and BS Bhunder, SAD vice-president Gurdev Singh Badal, MPs Paramjit Kaur Gulshan and Sher Singh Gubhya and Cabinet Ministers Gulzar Singh Ranike, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Hira Singh Gabria, Upinderjit Kaur and Janmeja Singh Sekhon.

Attari (Indo-Pak border), May 27
Limited time to till their land across the fence, “denial” of power connections, lack of canal water, time mismatch between power supply hours and opening of border gates - the woes of border farmers seem endless.

Talking to The Tribune, Raghubir Singh, a farmer from Rodewala Khurd village, said the state government, an year ago, had promised to allot power connections for their land across the fence on a priority basis, but nothing had been done so far.

“In my case, even the estimate has been passed, but no further steps have been taken to provide the connection,” said Balwant Singh, another farmer.

According to them, in absence of power connection, they cannot water their fields across the fence. This forces them to give their land on contract at lower prices to farmers having tube wells.

“We have no option but to give our land on contract at Rs 15,000 per acre, which is half the prevailing price,” they added.

They said that they were not being allowed to use the path along the fence to access their fields for the past month. Hence, they were forced to walk through the fields to reach there.

Jamhoori Kisan Sabha leader Rattan Singh Randhawa said the problem of power connections was not of Rodewala Khurd alone, but of almost the entire border belt.

“Only those farmers have been given connections whose test reports were okayed before December 2010,” he said.

According to him, border farmers are also facing a tough time due to a mismatch in power supply and border gate timings.

“The farmers here get power supply from 4 am to 12 noon but the gates on the border open at 10 am. By the time, they reach the fields, they have already lost six hours of power supply,” he said.

Randhawa said the farmers of Daoke village were so fed up with these issues that they had stopped tilling their land across the fence.

Former Rajataal village sarpanch Makhan Singh claimed that though senior BSF officials issue directions to facilitate the farmers, but they were not followed at the ground level.

He said they have four gates in their village, but only two are opened in a day. On Sunday, all of those are shut. It leaves them with only three days in a week to cultivate their land across the fence.

Kuldeep Singh, a farmer who owns 25 acres across the fence, said that they are allowed to till their land from 10 am to 2 pm only. “We need to be in our fields from 8 am to 5 pm. The BSF can at least allow us to fully utilise the daytime.”

BSF IG Himmat Singh said he would look into the problems being faced by the farmers. PSEB Chief Engineer (Border Zone) Sudeep Singh Sandhu denied that the farmers were being denied power connections and said if somebody had the problem, he would personally look into it.

New Delhi, May 27
The Supreme Court today took the Punjab Government to task for usurping panchayat members’ power to remove sarpanches through a no-confidence motion, observing that the functioning of village-level institutions should not be affected in this manner.

A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and CK Prasad made the observation while hearing a state government petition against a Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict. The High Court had, on May 12, 2011, ruled that the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2011 notified on April 21, 2011 could not have retrospective effect from July 1, 2010.

Through the amendment, the state government had dropped Section 19 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, that gave powers to the panches to remove sarpanches by passing a resolution of no-confidence against them, two years after the elections.

The government contended this was necessary to check factionalism that affected development works in villages.

After dropping the no-confidence provision, the power to remove sarpanches on grounds of misconduct, corruption and incapacitation was vested with director-level officials.

Pointing out that panchayats were grassroots-level democratic institutions, the Bench said the government or the state assembly “can’t be a dictator violating the basic features of democracy and killing the very spirit of democracy.”

Dropping the provision for removal of panches through the no-confidence motion “is a legislative perversion. How can you formulate a legislation under which sarpanches can never be removed,” the Bench asked Additional Advocate General RS Khosla.

The Bench also pointed out that only 120 of a total of 15,000-odd sarpanches in Punjab were sought to be removed through the no-confidence process and as such there was no need for dropping the provision. This showed that the purpose of the legislation was “something else.”

Sensing the court’s sentiments, Khosla said he wanted to withdraw the petition. The Bench allowed the plea with a clarification that the state could not file a similar 
petition again. Despite the court’s observations, the no-confidence provision stands dropped as the appeal was restricted to the issue of retrospective effect. The High Court had held that the amendment could not have retrospective effect as this would amount to re-imposing the sarpanches on the panchayat members who had duly removed them.

The state had, however, contended that passing a no-confidence was only one of the seven requirements for removing sarpanches and in none of the cases the entire process had been completed.

Patiala, May 27
Following a letter shot to the state police wing by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) pertaining to alleged harassment of the Schedule Caste employees in the government and semi-government offices, the state police has issued clear instructions to all the gazetted officers in the state.

The NCSC wants that, following any such incident, the police should fix the responsibility of the Head of the Department. Sources say that numerous employees have recently approached the commission complaining that once they lodge a complaint against any department or officer pertaining to their harassment, they were subject to mental torture.

A letter in this regard shot to the district police chiefs in many districts by their respective DIGs, the SSPs concerned have been explained that the NCSC was perturbed over the fact that the employees belonging to the SC category in various departments were subject to harassment by the employees from other castes.

“The SC employees who approach the NCSC, are either transferred or are suspended on flimsy grounds,” reads the letter. It further states that under the Article 338 of the NCSC constitution, the employees concerned have the right to approach the commission and can legally complain against such attitude. “I had filed a case against my seniors for trying to debar me from promotion due to my SC status and once this came to the notice of my seniors, they tried to transfer me,” claimed an 
SC employee.

“Despite my requests that my wife was working in some other department in the same district, my requests for cancellation of my transfer to seniors went futile,” he added.

Explaining the spirit of the letter, DIG (Patiala range) Parmod Ban told The Tribune that the letter was being sent to all the police stations where the SHOs and other employees would ensure that no unnecessary harassment was caused to any SC employee.

“In case it is done, the entire responsibility of the whole episode will be of the Head of that Department,” he said, adding that these directions were issued following a letter by the NCSC. 

Amritsar, May 27
The Pakistani embassy has denied visa to a Sikh jatha which was to visit the country for the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev on June 5.The 340-member jatha was to leave for Pakistan from here tomorrow and return on June 6.

According to sources, the embassy said it had been informed by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee that the event was being observed there on June 16. Hence, a jatha could be allowed to visit Pak between June 8 and 17 only.

The SGPChad planned the visit as per the amended Nanakshahi calendar. — TNS

Jalandhar, May 27
It seems to be the end of political journey for the three former BJP ministers Manoranjan Kalia, Swarna Ram and Master Mohan Lal.It will be hard for the party high command to put them up as candidates in the ensuing assembly elections due in nine months. Kalia represents the Jalandhar constituency, Swarna Ram Phagwara and Master Mohan Lal Pathankot.

“How will the high command justify their re-nomination as candidates after seeking their resignation as ministers just months before the elections,”observed a senior BJP leader.

Party insiders said now Rakesh Rathore, Mayor of the local Municipal Corporation, was the strongest claimant for the party ticket. Ashwani Sharma, BJP state unit chief, who had tried hard last time to secure the party ticket from Pathankot, is in the race for the same seat again.

In fact, last time Mohan Lal was given the BJP ticket at the last moment on the intervention of Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal.

Vijay Sampla and Som Parkash are reportedly in the run for the BJP ticket for the Phagwara seat.

As the BJP has painted itself black, now the Shiromani Akali Dal( SAD), its senior coalition partner in the state, is in such a commanding position now that it can dictate terms to it( BJP) at the time of allocation of seats in the coming Assembly elections. Last time, the BJP was allocated 23 seats.

Patiala, May 27
As the hearing in the murder case of Harpreet Kaur, daughter of former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, resumed at the Court of Special Judge (CBI cases), Patiala, Balbir Singh, defense counsel Satnam Singh Kler started the cross-examination of Kamaljit Singh, the main witness in the case.

Giving details about the court proceedings, Kler told The Tribune, “I asked Kamaljit about his source of income and family background. During the questioning, Kamaljit admitted that recently he had purchased an Innova SUV worth Rs 11.5 lakh. He also admitted that his mother had purchased a plot in Begowal, the cost of which is about Rs 12.5 lakh.”

Defense counsel alleged that Kamaljit had purchased an SUV and property from the money, which he got from the Congress MLA from Bholath Sukhpal Singh Khaira and other political opponents of Bibi Jagir Kaur, for taking a u-turn in the case.

Notably, on February 25, 2010, Kamaljit had turned hostile before the court. However on March 21 this year, Kamaljit moved an application in the court, stating that he had changed his statements under pressure and mental duress from various quarters and the accused and pleaded for the re-examination of his statements given during the court trial. On May 2, court accepted the Kamaljit’s plea.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira rubbished the allegations of giving money to Kamaljit to change his statements in the court. Speaking to The Tribune, Khaira said, “When the Badal Government failed to register an FIR in the alleged murder case of Harpreet, the complainant Kamaljit approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2000. Subsequently, the HC directed the CBI to investigate the case. As the NDA Government was at the Centre, the accused cannot blame that the CBI registered the case with an intention to falsely implicate Bibi Jagir Kaur.”

Meanwhile, Bibi Jagir Kaur and Paramjit Singh Raipur, Sanjeev Kumar, Harminder Singh and Satya were present during the court proceedings, whereas co-accused Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi and Nishan Singh had got exemption from personal hearing. The hearing in the case would resume tomorrow.

Dyalpura Bhaika, May 27
Gloom descended on this Bathinda village as President Pratibha Patil rejected the mercy petition of Devinder Singh Bhullar, who is on death row.

Bhullar, who belongs to Kothe Surjeet Pura, was awarded the death sentence by a Delhi trial court in 2001. Subsequently, the sentence was upheld by the Delhi High Court and later confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Bhullar has been held guilty of triggering a blast near the office of the Indian Youth Congress in Delhi in 1993, killing nine persons and injuring the then IYC president Maninderjit Singh Bitta. A graduate in electrical engineering from Guru Nanak Engineering College, Ludhiana, Bhullar taught at a number of colleges in Punjab before leaving for Germany after the 1993 blast. He was brought back and put on trial. No farmer in this village went to the fields today. Sukhdev Singh Dhaliwal, village sarpanch, said the residents and panchayats of Dyalpura Bhaika and surrounding villages would move a representation to President Patil, urging her to review her decision and convert Bhullar’s death sentence to life imprisonment.

“Bhullar has already suffered a lot as he has been in jail for the past 10 years. He has been suffering from depression.

“His father Balwant Singh and another relative kin were allegedly killed by the police. Their bodies were not given to the family. Bhullar deserves some mercy. His death sentence must be converted into life sentence,” he maintained. Chattar Singh Gudu, a former sarpanch, said the residents of Dyalpura Bhaika would build a movement for saving Bhullar’s life. Bhullar, he held, was a “victim of police atrocities and false court trials.” Mukhtiar Singh said an akhand path would be held for saving his cousin’s life. 

Chandigarh, May 27
The President’s rejection of the mercy petition of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar facing death sentence in the 1993 Indian Youth Congress office bombing case has brought together the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) in demanding a review of the decision.

“It is regretful that President Pratibha Patil has rejected the mercy petition of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar at a time when the state has been issued a notice regarding a petition by Bhullar, pleading that his death sentence be converted into life imprisonment. Early this week the Apex Court had issued a notice to the Delhi Government after taking up the petition of Bhullar,” says DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna.

Senior lawyer KTS Tulsi, who represented Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar in the Supreme Court, says that his client “cannot be hanged till the pendency of his petition in the Supreme Court”. The mercy petition of Bhullar had been pending with the office of the President since 2002.

Sarna, who claims credit for getting 117 names deleted from the Sikh militants’ blacklist, says thatthat he had led a delegation of Sikhs to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and demanded, among other things, that Bhullar’s death sentence be commuted.

Sarna expressed surprise as to how a decision has come within days of the notice to the Delhi Government though the mercy petition had been pending before the President for more than nine years now.

The SGPC chief, Avtar Singh Makkar, says he had met the President and the Prime Minister several times to demand a review of Bhullar’s death sentence.

Besides the DSGMC and the SGPC, the Sikh Students Organisation, the Dal Khalsa and various human rights organisations have petitioned to the President for pardoning of the death sentence.

Patiala, May 27
In order to ensure that working of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) is transparent, hassle-free and user friendly, the board has taken various steps to facilitate the industries operating from the state.

In an interview with The Tribune, PPCB chairman Rajat Agarwal said e-governance system started by the board, under which the Punjab industrialists could check the status oTf the consent to industry/project proponents online, had not only benefited the industrialists, but also streamlined the functioning of the board.

The chairman also said one of the major bottlenecks in processing the consent cases was the staff shortage for taking samples. “But now, the PPCB is probably the only board in the country that has authorised seven laboratories for the analysis of the effluents and air emission samples, which are valid for deciding consent applications under the Water Act- 1974 and Air Act- 1981,” he said.

Patiala, May 27
Getting higher education is always rewarding, but in the case of Punjab Education Department, it has become a problem for those Classical and Vernacular (C&V) teachers who continue to study despite getting a government job with an aim to achieve higher degrees.

While these teachers are promoted to the master cadre, they are not given any increment as grades for the C&V teacher and master cadre are same. Their service is counted from the date of their joining as masters and thus, the years of service they have put in as C&V teachers are not counted for the increments. Teachers rue that what is the benefit of getting promoted to master cadre when their service becomes zero?

The C&V teachers are those who join teaching jobs after matric, jyani (Punjabi)/prabhakar(Hindi) or Oriental Teacher Training and masters are those who join jobs after BA BEd/BSc/BEd. The teachers falling in both these categories are given four Assured Career Progressions (ACPs) throughout their service after 8/16/24/32 years. In case C&V teachers continue their studies and do BA BEd/BSc BEd later, they are promoted in master cadre.

“I joined the department in 1980 as C&V teacher and took two ACPs after 8 and 16 years, but after I did my BA in 2004, I was promoted to the master cadre. I was about to get my third increment within a few days, but was denied the same stating that now I was in the master cadre and my service will be counted from the date of joining in the master cadre,” added one of the teachers.

“Sometimes I wish I had not studied further,” rued another teacher. Teachers informed that they had taken up the matter with all the senior authorities, but to no avail.

Rajpura, May 27
Local cable operators of Rajpura today, alleging harassment by a section of other “influential” cable operators, raised slogans against unchecked incidents of theft.

Bathinda May 27
Taking note of the Tribune report regarding toxic water flowing in the Lasara drain, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has sought a report from the Chief Secretary on the issue.

A full bench of the PSHRC taking suo motu notice of the problem ordered the Chief Secretary and the Secretary, Pollution Control Board, to file their report by July 1.

The chairman of the PSHRC, Justice Jagdish Bhalla, and members Justice Baldev Singh, Baljinder Singh, KK Bhatnagar and LR Roojam ordered that a report under Section 17(i) of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 be called from the state government well before July 1 on which date the case shall come up before the commission for further consideration.

Chandigarh, May 27
Kusumjit Sidhu, CEO, has directed the officers concerned to ensure timely collection of mobile phone numbers of all registered voters so that these could be included in the voter database.

Sidhu said that this would be done through booth-level officers in June.

The voters whose photographs have not yet been incorporated in the election rolls and who have not yet got their elector’s photo identity card should fill form No. 001-B along with two photographs and submit it to booth-level officers. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 26
Nearly four years after the death of a naik posted in Jammu and Kashmir was passed off as suicide, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed registration of a murder case under Section 302 of the IPC.

The directions by Justice Ritu Bahri came on a petition filed by Naik Suleman’s wife Sarabjit Kaur and another petitioner. In their petition against the Union of India and other respondents filed through advocate Naresh Ghai, directions were sought for an investigation by an independent agency into his “homicide”:

The FIR for Army jawan’s alleged murder will be registered at Ropar, the place where the body was brought for burial.The directions are significant as the case involved an important question of law, whether a second FIR for an offence can be registered, that too at a different place.

The High Court agreed with the counsel on the issue of registering a second FIR. It was around 11 am on August 13, 2007, that Naik Suleman’s family received a call that he was dead. Attached to 16 corps battle school in Doda, he was just 31 at the time of his death. The family was told he had committed suicide and had received two bullets - one in the abdomen and the other in the mandible region.

The petitioners contended “it was not possible to believe a person after firing a high-velocity bullet in his neck with a powerful 5.56 mm automatic INSAS riffle was capable of firing another straight bullet shot with a heavy riffle weighing 5 kg”.

Taking up the petition, Justice Bahri observed on December 21, 2007, a Superintendent of Police submitted a report to the SSP that it was a case of homicide and not suicide. On January 10, 2008, the letter was forwarded to the DGP.

Subsequently, on January 18, 2008, the DGP in Punjab sent a communication to the DGP, Jammu, for registration of a case under Section 302 of the IPC. Justice Bahri concluded: “The report dated December 21, 2007, of the SP (detective) Roopnagar is very detailed and the opinion of the board of doctors is clear that this was a case of homicide as against suicide. A direction is being given to the DGP to register an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC”.

The police produced all the suspects - Ram Simran Singh Makkar alias Prince Makkar, Amardeep Singh Sachdeva, Amanpreet Singh Narula alias Prince Narula and Jasdeep Singh alias Jassu in court.Gurkirat Singh was shot following an altercation with the quartet on April 20.— TNS

Chandigarh, May 27
Taking exception to the filing of an affidavit in contravention to a Supreme Court judgment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice to the Principal Secretary (Home), asking him to show cause why the proceedings under the Contempt of Court Act not be initiated against him.

The notice was issued by a Division Bench, headed by Justice Hemant Gupta, during the resumed hearing of a petition filed by Punjab Deputy Superintendents of Police.

Belonging to the promotee quota, they had challenged the seniority list of DSPs prepared by the Punjab Government.

A legal battle between the DSPs belonging to the direct quota and promotee quota is on since long.

The DSPs from the promotee quota had challenged the seniority list of the DSPs for promotion, as the Senior Superintendents of Police. Taking up the matter, the High Court had earlier directed the state to prepare a fresh seniority list.

The promotee DSPs, including Iqbal Singh, had challenged the fresh policy. They had alleged that the fresh policy was full of discrepancies and the new policy did not comply with the directions issued by the High Court. In response to this petition, the HC had asked the state to explain its stand.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, the Bench perused the affidavit by the Home Secretary and remarked the affidavit mentioned that “deemed confirmation” was taken into consideration at the time of finalising the seniority list.

The petitioner, through counsel DS Patwalia, alleged as per the rules of promotion there was no provision for “deemed confirmation” and it was in contravention to a judgment of the Apex Court.