Shimla, August 30
The Himachal Pradesh Apartment and Property Regulatory Act, 2005, is likely to be repealed with a select committee of the Vidhan Sabha recommending that it should be done away with in the interests of the state as serious violations in the form of benami land deals are taking place, a major threat to the invaluable agricultural land.

BJP legislator Suresh Bhardwaj, chairman of the seven-member select committee to whom the issue had been referred, presented its report before the state Assembly today. “The committee is of the opinion that the Property Act should be repealed and amendments made to the Town and Country Planning Act to regulate the construction of apartments so that violations can be dealt with stringently,” he stated.

Bhardwaj said during field visits and interaction with officials and the public, it had come to the notice of the committee that the construction of apartments under the Act was not being done properly which was a cause for concern. “Benami land deals and construction in the name of Himachali agriculturists is taking place along national highways with impunity,” he said.

He said some of the provisions of the Property Act, the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act, 1977, and the HIMUDA Act, 2004, were found to be overlapping and it was not advisable to keep the first two simultaneously. “In case amendments are made to the TCP Act by adding some provisions to cover apartments, there will be no need for the Apartment Act,” he said. He said stringent provisions should be made for issuing of essentiality certificates under the TCP Act so that there was no misuse.

The committee recommended taking of strong action against the builders who had violated the provisions of the Act. “Not only should monetary penalty be imposed on the builders who have sold apartments without seeking approval, but action must also be taken against officials who had not implemented the provisions of the Act and allowed its violation,” said Bhardwaj.

Taking a serious view of the fact that in some cases registries had been done by undervaluing the land cost, stamp duty should be taken and action initiated against the erring officials. It was also suggested that the land should be used only for the purpose for which permission had been granted and it should not be brought in use for any other purpose.

The committee had further recommended that user charges should be imposed on the promoters who had failed to create basic amenities at the colonies made by them.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said even though the Apartment Act was passed by the Congress regime despite opposition from the BJP, the recommendations of the committee would be discussed and appropriate action taken in the interests of the state and its people. Congress MLA Kuldeep Pathania welcomed the recommendations of the select committee.

Shimla, August 30
Himachal today became the third state in the country to pass the Himachal Pradesh Special Courts (Attachments and Confiscation of Property) Bill, 2011, enabling confiscation of property amassed by public servants, including official and politicians holding public office, through corrupt practices and a time-bound trial by special courts in all such cases.

The House today unanimously passed the Bill after holding a detailed discussion. Though Congress members welcomed the Bill, at the same time they made certain suggestions so that it could be made more effective in tackling corruption.

Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are the only two other states to have passed the Bill. Addressing the concerns of Opposition members, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said in case there was need for a change to make it stringent, amendments could be made later. “The apprehensions of the Congress members regarding properties acquired outside the state by such corrupt people are unfounded and investigating agencies will immediately approach the court for attaching all such properties,” he said.

He said it had been seen that while corruption cases kept pending in court, family members of the accused used the properties. “Now the special courts will be approached to attach the property, on which a final decision will be taken once the case is decided,” he said.

Congress MLA Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu suggested that the Act could have been far more effective if provision had been made for a time-bound investigation as well as timely grant of prosecution sanction, which did not come through either from the Centre or the state government. “If the trial can be made time-bound, then why not the investigation as well as mandatory presentation of challans,” he said.

Congress MLA GS Bali suggested that the government should ponder over the Bill to make it more foolproof and as such refer it to the select committee. Suresh Bhardwaj, BJP MLA, welcomed the Bill and said it was a historic moment when such a step was being taken towards eradicating corruption.

The House also passed the Himachal Pradesh Entertainment Duty (Amendment) Bill, the HP Taxation (On Certain Goods Carried by Road) Amendment Bill, the State Tax on Luxuries (in Hotels and Lodging Houses) Amendment Bill and the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University (Establishment and Regulation) Bill.

Shimla, August 30
The Congress today raised questions over the manner in which the government had decided to impose property tax even on the buildings which had been raised unauthorisedly and whose status was still illegal in the three merged areas of Dhalli, Totu and New Shimla.

To a query by Sohan Lal of the Congress during question hour in the Assembly about the imposition of property tax based on the unit area method, Urban Development Minister Mohinder Singh informed that the new taxation system would cover all, including the illegal buildings.

He informed the House that there were 1,967 illegal structures within the municipal limits, a majority of which fell in the three-merged Special Area Development Authorities (SADA). “There is no proposal as of now to regularise these structures though representations have been received from the house owners,” he said.

It was through a supplementary that Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu sought information from the minister about the Section under which the tax was to be imposed on the owners of these unauthorised structures, as there was no such provision in the Act. The minister said he did not have the information and would provide it later.

BJP legislator from Shimla Suresh Bhardwaj echoed similar sentiments and said accepting tax from structures still illegal was contradictory and would only give claim to the owners to seek regularisation. “Tax should be based on the income criterion as uniform development of all areas has still not taken place and the government should give these house owners a one-time relief to get their structures regularised,” he pleaded.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal informed the House that the government was keen on excluding the villages and inhabited area from the wildlife sanctuaries under the rationalistaion process.

Shimla, August 30
The intervention of the high court has forced the otherwise indifferent Forest Department to act against encroachers and it has registered FIRs against 2,350 persons who were in illegal possession of more than 10 bighas of forest land.

The court had set the deadline of June 19, but the department could complete the job only by the end of July. The total forest land involved in these cases is about 2,520 hectares. The maximum number of 855 cases involving 1,030 hectares of forest land are in Shimla Forest Circle, followed by Rampur Circle (642 cases and 618 hectares of land), Kullu (543 cases and 638 hectares) and Mandi (107 cases and 113 hectares).

The high court had given four months for removing the encroachments after the registration of cases, which will expire on October 31. However, the field staff has been slow in taking action and there is little possibility of the department meeting the deadline.

Besides, there are already over 9,600 cases of encroachment involving 1,850 hectares of forest land and the figures refuse to come down despite evictions as fresh cases crop up. Eviction orders have been passed in 5,700 cases involving 1,150 hectares and about 2,850 encroachers have been removed to free 600 hectares of forest land.

The department has been reluctant to act firmly against the offenders and if it fails to act even after clear-cut orders of the high court, then there is little hope of saving the ever-depleting green cover. The department has not made any effort to implement its own regulations to deal with encroachments, which make it mandatory to lodge FIRs in offences involving tampering with boundary pillars, erection of permanent structures on forest land and encroachments in a protected wildlife area. There is no provision for compounding the offence.

However, Additional Chief Secretary, Forests, Sudipto Roy asserted that the process had been speeded up with the setting up of a task force at the state, district and forest division level and he would personally monitor the progress.

Hamirpur, August 30
Renewal of voter lists containing photos in Hamirpur district will be undertaken from October 1 to November 1.

District Election Officer-cum-DC, Hamirpur, Rajinder Singh Thakur gave this information after holding a review meeting here today. He said electors could register their names in the voters lists during this period on prescribed forms.

The DC said the voters lists would be authenticated in general house meetings of gram panchayats and urban bodies meetings on October 8 and 11 and also at the booth level on October 9, 16 and 23.

He has also appealed to the general public and political parties to help in voter lists renewal work.

Dharamsala, August 30
Hectic lobbying has started for the state Youth Congress president elections. Most of the leaders are aggressively carrying out a membership campaign of the Youth Congress to have an effective say in the coming elections. The elections are likely to be held in October.

The current president of the state Youth Congress, Manmohan Katoch, is also trying his luck for another term as president of the organisation. His camp is carrying out the membership drive in almost all districts of the state.

Katoch admitted that he would be contesting the election for the post of president of the state Youth Congress.

Katoch is not finding favour with any senior Congress leaders in the state. Belonging to a common family, Katoch is, however, considered close to Rahul Gandhi, due to which last year he got a one-year extension in his term as the state president of the Youth Congress.

Talking to The Tribune, Katoch said he was seeking a re-election as Rahul wanted the youth from common families, who did not have any political background, to come forward and join politics.

Sources said senior Congress leaders in the state were divided over the elections for the post of the Youth Congress president. One camp wanted Vikramaditya Singh, son of Virbhadra Singh, former Chief Minister and Union Minister for Small, Micro and Medium Industry, as the next state Youth Congress president.

Virbhadra Singh recently launched his son into politics and he has started touring various parts of state. Though Virbhadra Singh has denied that his son will contest the Youth Congress elections, the sources told The Tribune that most Congress leaders from the Union Minister’s camp were actively taking part in the membership drive.

The other camp of the Congress, including HPCC president Kaul Singh, is rallying behind Raghubir Singh Bali, son of Congress leader from Kangra GS Bali.

The Bali group has also gathered a large membership of the Youth Congress.

Bali is also staking claim to the seat, citing caste equations in the state Congress. The Bali camp has been maintaining that at present most of the important posts in the state Congress are with the Rajput community and so the president of the state Youth Congress should be a Brahmin.

In the state Youth Congress elections, members enrolled by various leaders would have the right to vote. Though the elections would be held through a democratic process, the contenders for the post would be selected by the high command of the party.

Dharamsala, August 30
The GOC, Rising Star Corps, Lt Gen AK Chaudhary and his wife Madhuri were among the first volunteers from the Army to donate blood at a camp organised by the Army at Yol today. The camp was organised in coordination with the Red Cross and Tanda Medical College.

Speaking on the occasion, the GOC said the aim of the camp was to create awareness regarding the vital role of blood transfusion in saving life and motivating people to donate blood.

The General further stated that blood donation in the armed forces was a regular feature. The need of the hour was to give support to civil organisations to overcome requirements, especially of rare blood groups. He said in times of war, the nation supported the defence forces and there was no shortage of volunteers to donate blood. Hence, today it was the duty of the defence forces to assist civil counterparts.

An interactive session was also held to clear many myths and doubts associated with blood donation. Sixtythree units of blood were collected during the camp.

Nurpur, August 30
Following the protest demonstration and memorandum to the local SDM by the agitating family members of deceased Bharti Devi (20) and villagers of Kharian gram panchayat yesterday, the police swung into action this evening and registered a murder case against six members of the in-laws of the deceased.

According to police information, the body of the deceased was recovered from a well on August 6 at Lakhwal village where she had been married. Initially, the police had reported the matter under Section 174, CrPC, following the statement of Sali Ram, father of the deceased. Then Bimla Devi had given a written complaint to the DSP on August 12 suspecting murder of Bharti Devi.

Unsatisfied over police action, Sali Ram then sent a fresh complaint to the SP, Kangra, on August 25 and held a protest demonstration here yesterday, along with his relatives and villagers. He had also given an ultimatum to the SDM asking him to get an FIR lodged against the accused and arrest them within eight days, otherwise his family would stage an indefinite dharna before his office.

According to DSP Rajinder Jaswal, an FIR under Sections 302 and 34, IPC, has been registered against Sandal Kumar, husband, Pushpa Devi, mother-in-law, Seema and Reena, sisters-in-law, Pawan Kumar, brother-in-law, and Rania Ram, elder brother of the father-in-law. He asserted that a fair probe would be initiated in the case.