The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Lawyers clash in court
PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
Two Advocates allegedly clashed in front of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) during an argument over a case in the morning today. The clash took place in the presence of JMIC Ranjit Kaur, JMIC who has been directed by the District Session Judge to submit a report in this connection.

According to information, Dr N L Sharda from Punjab and Haryana High Court, who appeared on behalf of an Amritsar resident Jai Dev Inder for a case filed against Amritsar Improvement Trust, was arguing with his counterpart Ashok Arora, who had appeared on behalf of the Improvement Trust.

The difference of opinion over the case first led to a verbal duel and later to the scuffle between the two lawyers.

Dr Sharda alleged that Ashok Arora slapped him along with 8 to 10 other Advocates who bashed him in the presence of JMIC.

“Ashok Arora was misleading the magistrate about the facts in the case. That's why I urged the honourable judge to take action against him as per the law. Infuriated over this they slapped me and when I was going to meet the District and Sessions Judge to complain in this regard I was again mishandled by Arora and several other Advocates in the court premises," Dr Sharda alleged.

He said the District and Sessions Judge has asked him to submit a written complaint about the incident. "As I am a heart patient and was not feeling well I left at the time. I will definitely lodge a complaint against them," he said.

Denying the allegations against him, Arora alleged that it was Dr Sharda who had manhandled him.

"He was totally impatient during the hearing and used unparliamentarily language in the court. All the eyewitnesses gave statements against Dr Sharda before the District and Sessions Judge who was probing into the matter," he claimed.

HS Madaan, District and Sessions Judge, termed the incident as sad. He said the matter is being probed and the Judicial Magistrate has been asked to submit a report.

"I have asked the Judicial Magistrate to submit a report at the earliest. I have to see what transpired during the incident in the court. Whoever is at fault will have to face the music as the sanctity of the court is to be maintained at all cost," he said.

Pardeep Kumar Saini, president, Amritsar Bar Association, in a statement to the media said I have collected evidence from senior lawyers who were present on the occasion.

“I would personally probe into the matter and submit a report to the District and Sessions Judge. Such incidents should be condemned as it brings a bad name to the institution," he claimed.

Baby girl arrives in care of Red Cross Society
Pangura scheme receives 40th abandoned baby
Tribune News Service

The baby in care of a volunteer. Tribune Photo: Vishal Kumar

Amritsar, August 25
A two-day-old girl arrived in the Pangura (cradle) installed by Red Cross Society in its premises today. The scheme was launched in 2008 by the then Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu. She is the 40th baby to have come here.

Babies allegedly abandoned by their families who are left in the cradle are later shifted by the Red Cross Society to various orphanages run by NGOs recognised by the state government.

Red Cross officials said so far 40 babies have been received under the cradle scheme out of which 37 were girls.

They said as many as 25 abandoned children have been given to families through adoption. The baby is in good health.

Gang of robbers busted, 4 held
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
With the arrest of four persons, the Kotwali police today claimed to have solved the snatching case in which a foreign national couple were allegedly robbed by several unidentified persons about a couple of days back.

In a press statement issued here today, Police Commissioner RP Mittal revealed the accused include Raman Kumar, Dheeraj Kumar and Ashok Kumar (all residents of Rani Bazaar) and Dharminder Singh (of Guru Arjun Dev Nagar area near Putlighar). They were were arrested near the old Sabzi Mandi area near Ram Bagh of the city following a tip-off.

One of their accomplices identified as Rohit Kumar, however, managed to dodge the police net, according to the police.

The police also recovered sharp-edged weapons from them besides three motorcycles stolen from various places of the district.

According to the police officials, these were the same accused who allegedly snatched the bag of Paulo Fratony of Piaja Antineo Salsineo, Rome, when he along with his partner Frexa Shikalya were going towards Green Avenue by a rickshaw.

“Though the foreign nationals have returned to their native country, efforts were being made to trace their addresses and hand over their belongings,” according to the Commissioner.

Evening Duronto’s departure to Amritsar delayed by 20 minutes
Arun Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 25
The departure of the evening Duronto from Chandigarh to Amritsar was delayed by 20 minutes by a passenger train when the Churu-Takrala-Nangal-Ambala train was made to stop at platform No 1 owing to signal failure. The occupancy on board was almost the same as yesterday. The Duronto, that was to chug out of Chandigarh at 7 pm remained stranded at the washing line as the platform No 1 remained occupied by the passenger train that arrived at 6.28 pm and left only at 6.47 pm.

It took sometime before the Duronto was brought to the platform No 1. Later, the passengers were to be provided with ample boarding time. “Hence it got delayed by 20 minutes from the scheduled time,” said a senior official of Railways.

On the second day , the evening Duronto had 161 passengers on board, as compared to 157 yesterday. However, the morning Duronto witnessed a rise in numbers on board, with 129 passengers boarding it today in comparison to 110 yesterday.

The morning non-stop train from Amritsar to Chandigarh reached the City Beautiful well in time.

Meanwhile, considering the fact that Duronto is a non-stop train, the railway authorities posted a doctor and a pharmacist on board to accompany the passengers, in case of an emergency.

The train has a total of 1287 non-AC chairs and 145 in two AC coaches. Though the occupancy was 11.2 per cent in the evening, it was even lesser in the morning. The railway authorities said it was too early to watch the occupancy critically as it would go up in the coming days.

Prisoners ‘free’ in city’s high-security jail
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
The Amritsar Central Jail should be stripped of its tag of ‘high-security jail’, if the consequent undesirable incidents within its premises are anything to go by. The two incidents: One pertains to a clash between the prisoners and another is related to a suicide attempt by an inmate day before yesterday. Both speak volumes about the lapses in its administration. Meanwhile, the police has registered cases in both the matters.

In the first instance, an undertrial Partap Singh was brutally beaten up by two other inmates, Balwinder Singh and Harchand Singh, serving trial in Nihang Taruna Dal chief Ajit Singh Poohla’s murder case. According to jail officials, they called up Partap Singh in a very dramatic manner and hit his head with a kara. Partap received injuries but his condition is stated to be normal.

In a second incident, a jail inmate Gurpreet Singh Happy, tried to end his life by hurting himself on his chest and arms with the help of a sharp-edged spoon. As soon as other inmates observed it, they informed the jail officials who took him to the Civil Hospital, where he is recovering.

The jail deputy superintendent BS Gill said, “Partap was called in the meeting room by Balwinder Singh and Harchand Singh after making a prank call that his mother had come to meet him, whereas later, in the entry register, it was found that one Rajinder Kaur had made an entry against the name of Partap Singh. After inquiring into the matter, it was found that she was actually the mother of Balwinder Singh. The trio have been booked under Sections 307/ 323/341/ 34/ 120-B IPC with the Cantonment Police Station.

History of incidents

l Just a fortnight ago, 26-year-old Bawa Singh died under mysterious circumstance in the jail premises. Though the preliminary report indicated that he suffered external injury marks, the exact cause of his death is still to be ascertained for want of a final postmortem report.

l In a simillar incident in October 2010, an under-trial prisoner Vijay Pal (23) had ended his life by hanging himself with a turban tied to the ventilator grill of a bathroom. The jail authorities had then remarked that he had committed suicide as he was under depression.

l A few months ago, a fatal clash had occurred between two groups which claimed the life of a prisoner Balwant Singh and injured several others.

Illegal hoardings deface city walls
Commissioner for action against Mayor for failure to stop the practice
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
The city of reverence and devotion has the unholy activity of illegal hoardings and banners desecrating its walls right under the nose of the administration. Scores of such hoardings and banners keep springing up every other day.

In most cases it's the politicians who are to be blamed for putting up such hoardings to glorify their 'accomplishments', congratulating their leaders for appointment to some key post, welcoming a leader on his arrival in the city, and even to greet people prior to a festival.

This is in violation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court guidelines even as the law makers turn a blind eye to the nuisance.

A visit to areas like Hall Gate, Pink Plaza, Bhandari Bridge, Golden Temple, Crystal Square, Lawrence Road square and Court Road, reveal that all empty spots and places have been covered with such hoardings. Motorists and two-wheeler owners rue that such banners are a distraction while driving, which could even lead to accidents.

Mayor Shwait Malik takes the cake as hundreds of banners carrying his photographs have come up on both sides of the road leading to the Golden Temple. Even the labyrinthine by-lanes of the city have not been spared by the Mayor and his loyal men who in a show of sheer sycophancy have pasted his pictures on walls of even government buildings.

Hoardings with the Mayor's picture stating 'Safai, hareyali and vikas' as the three principles that he believes in can be seen everywhere. However, locals are least interested in what the Mayor has to tell them through these hoardings and on the contrary get irritated when conversation veers around on this topic.

Harish Sachar, a fruit juice owner, angrily points a finger at one such hoardings and fumed, "whatever development works the Mayor is initiating is known to everyone in the town and he should not blow his own trumpet through these hoardings."

Anjana, a young shopkeeper, claimed that whenever any religious festival comes up, hoardings come up due to which the walls are defaced. He added that the Municipal Corporation should take action against people, particularly politicians, who glorify themselves through such illegal initiatives. Gurdial Singh, another Hall bazaar shopkeeper, pointed to one such hoarding and said, "I fail to understand why the MC Commissioner does not take action against defaulting politicians. If the Mayor claims that he his making the city greener, as is being proclaimed by him repeatedly, he is wrong.”

MC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said he was seized of the matter and would initiate action against people who had put up these illegal banners.

Nigerian inmate’s funeral conducted in Central Jail
No one from the Nigerian Embassy claimed the body
Manmeet Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
Two months after the death of a Nigerian inmate of the Central Jail, the District Magistrate granted the permission for the funeral of the body. The decision was made after no one from the Nigerian Embassy came forward to take the body. The deceased was arrested after he was found in possession of heroin. He died in the jail on June 29.

The Civil Hospital authorities had stated that the deceased Nawabado Sijoke Basel was HIV positive and that the body had decomposed.

According to Senior Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Balbir Singh Dhillon, the body was declared “brought dead”. The authorities waited for someone from his family, relatives or the Nigerian Embassy to put up a case to take possession of the body. Permission for cremation was granted after no request was received in this regard.

The deceased was arrested with 5 kg heroin more than four years ago. In the orders issued on Wednesday evening, the District Magistrate allowed the cremation of the body after conducting a post-mortem examination. “However, the entire proceedings be recorded by video camera for future references,” the order states.

The SMO’s office had informed the District Magistrate, Deputy Secretary (Foreigners) at the Union Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the body had “got decomposed and putrefied and is emitting foul smell”.

The hospital authorities had warned of the danger of spreading epidemic and requested for permission in view of the health risk to the doctors, paramedical staff and patients at the hospital as well as the residents of nearby areas.

Later, the body was buried inside the Central Jail premises as per the norms for the unclaimed bodies of jail inmates. The reason of his death is still a mystery as the autopsy report is awaited, Dhillon said.

Cong, NSUI men released from Jail
The police withdraws cases against them, which were registered allegedly on behalf of Mayor Shwait Malik
GS Paul
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
In a dramatic turn of events, the former District Youth Congress Chief Dinesh Bassi, along with his NSUI supporters, was today released from the Amritsar Central jail, following the withdrawal of non-bailable cases registered against them, allegedly, on behalf of Mayor Shwait Malik. Meanwhile, the court granted bail to Bassi and other NSUI workers under Sections 188, 148 and 149 of the IPC.

Police Commissioner RP Mittal said that the inquiry report submitted by SP, City I, Sat Pal Joshi, testified that serious charges like 307, 353 and the Arms Act, under which the Youth Congress (YC) and NSUI activists were booked, could not be established. “After scrutinising the circumstantial evidences, as described in the inquiry report, the serious charges were scrapped and for rest of the charges, the court has granted them bail, on the basis of which they were released,” he said.

On the other hand, Malik while refuting all charges told that he had no role to play in the police inaction. “I have no personal enmity against anybody and no complaint was lodged from my side. But it was true that on that day, the mob tried to assault me with mala fide intentions. Let the law take its own course,” he said.

On August 18, a group of YC and NSUI leaders reportedly entered into a scuffle during Malik’s visit to Katra Ahluwalia, over the issue of city’s development funds. In the melee, the Mayor had alleged that he was physically assaulted and subsequently, as many as 10 leaders, including Bassi, were arrested and put under judicial remand on serious non-bailable charges.

Following this, the Congress activists, after the intervention of senior leaders, had formed a sangharsh committee to deal with the situation. Meanwhile, the detained YC and NSUI activists observed a chain hunger strike in the jail premises. Later, the agitation was intensified after the former Mayor (Congress) Sunil Datti and the District Congress Committees (DCC) of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran joined the move.

Bhupinder Singh Randhawa, Youth Congress Coordinator and convener of the sangharsh committee, said every political party has right to protest. “Instead of resolving the issue, the Mayor tried to suppress their voice by slapping false cases,” he said while thanking the senior leadership of the party. He termed it a victory of truth.

Students union to hold strike in institutions
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
Expressing solidarity with social activist Anna Hazare, the Punjab Students’ Union (PSU) has decided to observe a one-day token strike in all the educational institutions in the state on September 2 against “the black laws being framed in the country”.

Stating this in a release to the Press here today, Jaswant Singh, the District Secretary PSU, said India was considered as the largest democracy in the world but the rulers were trying to sideline the Section 19 of the Constitution of the nation by arresting those who were trying to raise their voice against the corrupt. Putting a restriction on the indefinite fast and the subsequent arresting of Anna Hazare is violation of the Constitution which is condemnable, he added.

Singh said on the one hand the Punjab government was lashing out at the UPA-led Central Government for putting a restriction on demonstrations, while on the other hand it was framing black laws giving powers to the police for taking any action against the protesters, besides banning any demonstrations against the government. He alleged that the government was also conspiring to make it impossible for the people to hold socio-cultural and religious functions before seeking prior permission from the police.

2-day tuberculosis control workshop inaugurated
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
A two-day workshop for training and sensitisation of NGOs under Akshya project for control of tuberculosis organised by the Voluntary Health Association of India concluded today. Rajeev Choudhary, district co-ordinator of the project informed that members of four NGOs that have to play a key role in rooting out the disease participated in the workshop.

The participants were educated on the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). He added that the NGOs would help diagnose the patients who are afraid to disclose their disease due to the social stigma attached to it.

Dr Naresh Chawla, district TB officer informed that the Health Department has identified 746 patients in the district in the past six months from

January 1 to June 31, 2011. He added that patients, especially in remote areas need to know that disease is fully and permanently curable.

The NGOs were also informed about the various schemes available under RNTCP in Punjab and operational system for getting associated with the scheme for them. Alma Ram, who runs an NGO Jagriti Bhalai Kendra informed, “The people in rural areas are afraid of going to the hospital even when they are aware of the reason of their prolonged cough.”

She added that NGOs would help people know that TB is curable within six months and medicine is provided free of cost by government.

Passport Office stands unguarded
Manmeet Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25
At a time when security cover reflects on a person’s say in the power circles and even not-well-known leaders assume it as their right, the Regional Passport Office, an office of highly sensitive nature, is without any permanent and ample security cover ever since its inception here in June, 2008.

When The Tribune team visited the office today, employees said the office has been provided security on and off on temporary basis for short intervals. The last temporary cover granted to the office was withdrawn more than three months ago by the police authorities, without citing any reason behind the move.

Since then the passport office has hired private security personnel to man its main entrance gate. Though the office tried to seek attention of the police authorities by citing a reason that without any security cover the office can easily be presumed a soft target by terrorists and miscreants, it has not yielded any results. With more than 1,000 visitors daily, on an average, private security men seem incompetent to handle the rush and identify any miscreant entering the place with ill motives.

“The laxity of security men at the gate reveals that they are not trained to guard a sensitive place,” commented Sarabjit Singh, a visitor from Quandian in Gurdaspur district, while informing that the guard did not question him about his purpose of visit while entering the office.

Though the two personal security officers (PSOs) on duty with the Passport Officer are seen managing affairs inside the office, but as per the nature of their duty they are solely responsible for the security of the officer and not the office. Recently , a miscreant had injured a guard with a sharp-edged weapon as the later tried to stop him from entering into an office. The person was later handed over to the police.

Passport Officer J.S. Sodhi said, “We have taken up the matter with various police officials concerned. But so far the place is without a security cover and managed by private guards.” The officer said citing sensitive nature of the official work here they had asked for three security personnel from PAP. He confirmed that the office had not got a permanent security cover since June, 2008.