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Gujarat Guv bypasses Modi, appoints Lokayukta
BJP comes out in full support of Jan Lokpal Bill
Protester storms Parliament, detained
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Anna Hazare supporters boo BJP leaders
Transplantation
of Organs
To prevent Army acquisition, officer terms wife’s land unfit
Fertiliser firm refutes CAG report on subsidy mess
2G Scam
SC dismisses Dinakaran’s plea
Defence personnel will now get pension statements by email, SMS
Relief
Fund Disbursal
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Gujarat Guv bypasses Modi, appoints Lokayukta
Although it is true that generally the Governor acts as per the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister, there might be a circumstance, where the Governor cannot remain a mute spectator to the happenings in the state and is compelled to use discretion. — Governor's office Under Article 154 of the Constitution, the Governor is bound to act in consultation and as per the advice of the Council of
Ministers. The decision to appoint Justice Mehta as Lokayukta was taken unilaterally by the Governor without consulting the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers — State's argument
Gandhinagar, August 26 The Governor’s decision late last night stoked a potential confrontation with the Narendra Modi government which had dithered on the issue of appointment of a Lokayukta for seven-and-a-half years. The Governor said she cannot remain a “mute spectator” to the happenings in the state. The state government challenged the appointment to the Lokayukta post --- vacant since 2003 --- before the state high court contending it was “unconstitutional and unilateral”. Mehta is a former judge of the Gujarat High Court. Non-appointment of Lokpal had become a contentious issue, with the Opposition Congress and ruling BJP blaming each other for the delay. “Although it is true that generally the Governor acts as per the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister, there might be a circumstance, where the Governor cannot remain a mute spectator to the happenings in the state and is compelled to use discretion,” a statement from the Governor’s office said here today. “So...as per the provisions of Section 3(1) of the Gujarat Lokayukta Act, 1986, Dr Kamla had used her power on August 25 and issued a warrant of appointing Justice RA Mehta (retd) as the Lokayukta of the state in overall interest of transparency and good governance,” it added. Directly indicting the Modi government for non-appointment of Lokayukta for the last seven years, the Governor said, “Despite several reminders... for the reason best known to it, the government was delaying the matter for one reason or other.” The state’s junior Law Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court, challenging the decision as “unconstitutional and unilateral”. The state government contended that under Article 154 of the Constitution, the Governor was bound to act in consultation, and as per the advice of, the Council of Ministers.The decision to appoint Justice Mehta as Lokayukta was taken unilaterally by the Governor without consulting the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, said Advocate-General Kamal Trivedi, arguing on the state’s behalf before Justice Abhilasha Kumari. The government said the high court declared the appointment as unconstitutional, and set it aside. The hearing would resume on August 29. Gujarat government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas alleged that the Governor had bypassed the formal process of appointment. “As per the rule 3 of the Gujarat Lokayukta Act, the powers of appointing Lokayukta lie with the Governor. But this rule cannot be read in isolation, it has to be read with the provisions under the Constitution, which say Governor is bound to act as per the suggestion of the council of ministers, except under exceptional circumstances,” Vyas said. “In this case, the Governor bypassed the formal process of appointment,” he said. The Governor made the announcement of the appointment in the presence of a delegation of Congress Legislative Party this morning. The delegation had sought to meet her on the same issue. “Public opinion against the delay in the appointment of Lokayukta was gaining momentum,” the Governor is reported to have told the delegation.
— PTI
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BJP comes out in full support of Jan Lokpal Bill
New Delhi, August 26 It read: “The House resolves that a Lokpal Bill which will set up an independent Lokpal institution be enacted quickly to effectively deal with the prevailing rampant corruption in the country. “Such a law should have the widest coverage, including the Prime Minister...create an appointment mechanism for appointing Lokpals which may be independent of the government domination and provide for an independent and autonomous CBI.” The BJP also conceded Lokpal’s right to oversee lower bureaucracy saying, “The House further resolves that such a law would cover all levels of government servants and provide for a framework for setting up of Lokayuktas with similar powers in the states which will also provide for effective redressal of grievances that affect the common people in the country …” The Team Anna draft read: “A Lokpal Bill shall be passed by Parliament in the ongoing session which will set up an independent Lokpal institution at the Centre and an independent Lokayukta institution on the same model in each state. “The House further resolves that the Lokpal shall have jurisdiction over all government servants (barring judicial officers) at the Centre and the Lokayukta shall have jurisdiction over all public servants in respective states. “Such law will require that all government departments make Citizens’ Charters to provide which public dealing work will be done on how much time and by which officer. Violation of Citizens Charter shall be penalised by the Lokpal or the Lokyaukta.” The BJP which was playing along with the general mood of MPs, incensed with what they perceived as putting a gun to the heads of Parliamentarians, suddenly changed track after some quick developments yesterday. Till yesterday, the parliamentary party was reluctant to support the Jan Lokpal Bill per se and instead preferred the Arun Roy formulations. However, by yesterday evening, Gadkari charged off his letter to Anna Hazare through his political secretary Vinay Sahasrabudhe and BJP general secretary JP Nadda, where he offered full support to Anna’s agitation saying “the BJP accepts your draft the Jan Lokpal Bill to be the basis for a strong and effective Lokpal to be put in place at the earliest without getting into procedural wrangles.”
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Protester storms Parliament, detained
New Delhi/Rohtak, August 26 As soon as he reached the main porch, the protester raised slogans in support of the Jan Lokpal Bill, shouting “Vande Mataram”, “Inquilab Zindabad”, and “Anna Hazare Zindabad”. He continued to raise the slogans as security personnel swooped down on him and whisked him away. The protester was later identified as Manjit Singh Grewal. He hails from Meham town of Rohtak district in Haryana and belongs to the family of a freedom fighter.
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Anna Hazare supporters boo BJP leaders
New Delhi, August 26 Munde and Kumar had come there to meet Anna Hazare, whose fast entered the 11th day today, and were speaking to the media after meeting the Gandhian. As Munde and Kumar started addressing a press conference on the ground, an agitated Kiran Bedi told the crowd to ask them if they would allow Parliament to function at least tomorrow. She said politicians had double standards and they wore masks. Bedi said tomorrow would be a very crucial day when the country would come to know which party stands where vis-a-vis the Lokpal issue.
— PTI
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Maya advises Anna to contest poll
Lucknow, August 26 Soon after extending unconditional support to Anna Hazare in his fight against corruption Chief Minister Mayawati today made her support conditional. Virtually in a veiled warning to Anna supporters in the state, Mayawati said, “As long as the campaign remains peaceful we will support it, but my government apprehends that communal forces may try to take advantage of the situation and disturb the law and order situation.” Forewarning of “dealing firmly with such elements”, she urged the Union Home Ministry to be on an alert against such anti-social elements who were making their presence felt at the Ramlila Grounds. Addressing the media at her 5 Kalidas Road official residence this evening, Mayawati appreciated the concept of the Lokpal Bill to eradicate corruption but asserted that the Bill should be finalised only if there was a consensus. “Even after arriving at a consensus the Bill should remain within the parameters of the Constitution,” she pointed out. Reiterating her old demand the Chief Minister demanded Dalit representation in all the decision-making stages of the Lokpal Bill draft. She warned of her party not supporting the Bill if there was no Dalit representation.
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Transplantation
of Organs Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 26 There has been a spate of reports about thriving human organ trade in India and consequent exploitation of economically weaker sections. For those involved in illegal commercial dealings, the punishment has been enhanced from five to 10 years of imprisonment and the fine from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 to a prohibitive range of Rs 20 lakh-1 crore. While an organ removal and storage network as well as a national registry of donors will be set up, another amendment seeks to make it mandatory for the treating medical staff to request relatives of brain dead patients for organ donation and to provide for enucleating of corneas by a trained technician. There were suggestions to extend the definition of the term "near relative" under the Act to also cover uncles and aunts willing to donate. An expert committee suggested that it was not advisable to expand the term so much as it would make it difficult to establish the relationship through genetic testing or unduly expose a patient's maternal side to the pressures of donation. While barring the cases of donation by parents, sisters, brothers, spouses and grandparents of a patient, all other donations, even if they are from people related by blood, would have to come through authorisation committees, for the "near-relative category", formalities of donation have been reduced. They need not undergo screening as the submission of a birth certificate will suffice. The Bill also makes it clear that human organs or tissues of mentally challenged will not be removed before their death.
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To prevent Army acquisition, officer terms wife’s land unfit
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Station headquarters approach land owner, get NOC for acquisition and erect a fence
Chandigarh, August 26 According to documents of the case, which came up for hearing before the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) yesterday, the Army was in the process of procuring land adjacent to the Nahan cantonment to meet its requirements and also to address security concerns. The owner of the land was approached by Station Headquarters (HQs), Nahan, on behalf of the government and told not to sell the land as the Army was acquiring it. No-objection certificates for its acquisition were also obtained from the civil administration. A fence was erected and the case for acquisition moved ahead. Till July 1999, there had been no change in the stand of station HQs with regard to the acquisition of the said land, of which the wife of the officer in question owned a small part. However, a different stand was taken by the headquarters after the officer, who had served there earlier, joined as station commander. From January 2000, station headquarters took up the case to term specific khasra numbers to be a municipal path, where as in September 1999, station HQs, while approaching revenue authorities, had stated that there was no existing path on ground and accordingly recommended that the area covered by the said path could not be excluded from the total area of land being acquired. Later, in October 2000, the station commander in a letter addressed to Defence Estates Officer, Ambala, and Headquarters 2 Corps stated that some specific khasra numbers had been excluded from the acquisition proposal for being “unsuitable for the Army from the administration point of view as well as from build-ability factors”. However, later, when an officer from Ambala visited Nahan and saw the situation on the ground, he learnt that a portion of the land which was recommended to be excluded by the station commander had been purchased by his wife and a house was being constructed on it. After that, recommendations were changed in March 2002 and the whole land was recommended for acquisition. In his reply before the AFT, central government counsel Capt Sandeep Bansal contended that though very well aware of the purchase of the land by his wife in 1999, the petitioner, through his correspondence on record, never disclosed that the land in fact had been purchased by his wife. He also did not endeavour to tell these facts to visiting officers and commanders. The matter was investigated by a Court of Inquiry and disciplinary action was initiated against the petitioner.
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Fertiliser firm refutes CAG report on subsidy mess
New Delhi, August 26 The Tribune on August 22 carried a news report based on the performance audit of fertiliser subsidy (Department of Fertilisers (DoF), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers). The CAG has submitted its report (2011-12) to Parliament. The report has put the IPL in the dock. IPL Managing Director PS Gahlaut has responded to The Tribune’s news report, pointing out alleged discrepancies in the CAG report. Regarding the alleged discrepancy of 1.64 lakh Metric Tonnes (MT) of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) during 2008-09, Gahlaut said that in this particular year, the payment of subsidy up to November 2008 was on the basis of actual sales and from December 1, 2008, onwards, it was on the basis of receipts of material in the states. “The reported difference is merely the opening inventory of April 4, 2008, which was already there in the states. We have since received 100 per cent sales certification by state governments of the total quantity of 30.42 lakh MTs of DAP and as such there is no question of any excess drawl of subsidy,” claimed Gahlaut. Regarding the alleged interest/penal interest, Gahlaut said, “The IPL claimed Rs 204.30 crore as losses in the transaction, for which it was mandated by the government duly supported by documents. The government is examining both the cases and should take a final decision in due course.” “The required documents of all the 43 shipments were available in the DoF, but with different wings which have since been compiled and consolidated. Collateral evidence for all these shipments under the said scheme is also available with independent sources like the port authorities and the Customs Department,” he said. During this period, according to Gahlaut, the daily discharge from ships, packing and movement was reported to the government on a daily basis and the same reports came to them directly from ports as well and the entire movement was monitored at the highest level in the government. In case of the ‘VELA’ shipment, Gahlaut said that the total quantity carried by the ship was 52,039.021 MTs. The subsidy amount claimed by the IPL and paid by the DoF for the exact same amount. “No excess amount was paid by the DoF,” the IPL MD claimed.
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2G
Scam
New Delhi, August 26 The court also gave him time for filing an application which seeks to make then Finance Minister P Chidambaram an accused in the case as the matter is pending in the Supreme Court. “Since my application seeking CBI inquiry into the role of Chidambaram in the 2G scam is pending before the Supreme Court, it will be in the interest of justice to wait for the apex court’s order and then come here (to this court) with the plea to make him (Chidambaram) an accused in the case,” Swamy told Special CBI Judge OP Saini. — PTI
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SC dismisses Dinakaran’s plea
New Delhi, August 26 A Bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi also rejected his contention that the panel has no power to conduct preliminary inquiry against him. Justice Dinakaran, who resigned from the post in view of impeachment proceedings against him, had contended that the committee had exceeded its jurisdiction by framing 14 charges on the basis of fresh complaints whereas there were only 12 charges at the time when the motion was introduced in Parliament. The former judge, who faces various charges, including amassing disproportionate wealth and judicial misconduct, had alleged that the fresh charges were “ultra vires” as they went beyond the original charges contained in the Rajya Sabha motion.
— PTI
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Defence personnel will now get pension statements by email, SMS
Jalandhar, August 26 To make this project a success, letters are being dispatched to the pensioners to register their mobile numbers and emails with the Defence Accounts Department. Sources at the Ministry of Defence said the pensioners would be required to provide their email accounts and mobile numbers on a prescribed format, which is available with all the 61 Defence Pension Disbursement Offices across the country. “Earlier, the retired defence personnel had to personally visit the nearest DPDOs for pension. The new initiative will ensure quick update on their
pension status”, said an Army official. The CGDA has also developed and started two
special softwares ‘Suvigya’ and ‘Aashraya.’ While ‘Suvigya’ is a pension enquiry system through which the pensioners would be able to know their entitlement by providing minimum basic information about themselves, ‘Aashraya’ is a web-enabled pension disbursement system developed to ensure right disbursement. It will also help in speedy redress of pensioners’ woes.
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SC suspends mining in 2 more K’taka dists
New Delhi, August 26 A three-judge forest bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia turned down the plea of some mining companies of Bellary for allowing them to carry on their operations and indicated that the suspension would continue till a proper rehabilitation scheme for the area was placed before it. It asked all mining companies to form an association and sit with Attorney General G E Vahanvati and Amicus Curiae Shyam Divan, who is assisting the court to propose the scheme on how mining should be conducted in the area in a scientific manner so that further damage to environment could be prevented. “On going through the Report of Central Empowered Committee (CEC), we extend the order passed by this court on July 29, 2011, to the mining leases in districts Tumkur and Chitradurga. Consequently, pending further orders, there will be a ban on mining in districts Tumkur and Chitradurga,” said the bench, also comprising Justices Aftab Alam and Swatanter Kumar. The court passed the order after going through CEC report which recommended the halting of extraction of iron ores in the districts. The Committee, in its latest report, said there was loss of forest land due to illegal mining of iron ore in 2678 hectares in Tumkur and Chitradurga, which witnessed excessive production compared to the size of the lease. The report gave findings of about 55 mining leases in Tumkur and about 18 mining leases in 687 hectares of which 500 hectare lies in the forest land in Chitradurga. The CEC report about Tumkur said, “During the site visit a number of mines were overburdened and working pits were outside the leased areas. The construction of the road without approval has led to loss of forest cover”. In a relief to steel industry which has been affected due to ban on supply of iron ore, the bench said that it would allow the release of the raw material for the industry in the state and sought response on their requirement. “The question is how much quantity could be released from the existing stock of 25 million tonnes of iron ore so that the steel industry is not starved. “We have requested the Amicus Curiae and Attorney General to submit to this court the quantity which could be released from the existing stock of 25 million tonnes of iron ore, subject to reclamation and rehabilitation plan(s) being submitted,” it said. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on September 2.
— PTI
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Relief
Fund Disbursal
New Delhi, August 26 A Bench of justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik quashed a Rajasthan HC judgment, which had ruled that the Chief Minister cannot grant compensation from his relief fund in an “arbitrary manner” to rape victims. — PTI
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New Delhi/Rohtak, August 26
