Chandigarh, September 21
A statement made by CBI’s special public prosecutor Anupam Gupta on the role of a former Law Minister in the cash-for-judge scam has raised a controversy.

The Centre today made it clear before the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the view expressed by Gupta on the issue was his own, and the Union of India did not subscribe to it. The order in the case stands reserved.

Adding a twist to the controversy, Gupta on the previous date of hearing had told the Bench of Justice Permod Kohli that the then Union Law Minister had “acted on his own” on the issue of refusing sanction for prosecuting Justice Nirmal Yadav.

The Centre after the conclusion of arguments by Gupta had told the Bench that it was adopting the contentions. But as the case came up for resumed hearing exactly after a week, Assistant Solicitor-General of India Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu categorically told the Bench that the assertion against the then Law Minister did not reflect the Centre’s opinion.

Elaborating, Sidhu said the Centre was directed to produce record of three ministries in the case; and the orders were fully complied with.

Whatever has been said against the Law Ministry, or any other ministry, reflects opinion of the counsel, and not the Union of India, he emphasised.

The assertion came after senior advocate KTS Tulsi, appearing on behalf of Justice Yadav, said: “The prosecutor has argued that the Law Minister acted on his own in an unconstitutional manner and subverted the process of decision-making from within.

“No such claim has been made by the Union of India in its reply. Unless, he has the express authority to make these remarks, the same are liable to be ignored”, Tulsi asserted.

Chandigarh, September 21
Taken aback by the “poor pass percentage” of candidates in the state teachers’ eligibility test (STET) conducted in other states, Haryana, in dire need of teachers, seems wary of conducting the test with the present pattern.

So, despite the Chief Electoral Officer having given the go-ahead for conducting the test on September 24 and 25, the Education Department has decided to postpone the test to the first week of November.

The idea is to not only approach the National Council for Teacher Education to recast the pattern of the test whereby teachers are assessed for their knowledge in the subject they will teach rather than for general aptitude.

Sources maintain that a study of the performance of candidates in various other states, including Punjab, where the test has been conducted on the pattern prescribed, has come as a “shocker”.

“Since the paper is not subject-specific, some states have a pass percentage as low as 3 per cent and 5 per cent. We are having the test after two years and are very short of teachers. We cannot afford to go ahead with the test in its present form, given the poor results. We will take it up with the Centre and see if this can be rectified. The entire pattern needs revisiting. Based on the outcome, we will plan our test in November. The proposed dates are November 5 and 6 that are yet to be confirmed,” an official said.

Sources added that the government was also to take a decision on representations received from various SC organisations seeking relaxation in the pass percentage. The decision has to be kept pending until after the Hisar byelection is over since the model code of conduct is in force.

The model of the STET examination in other states has shown that the relaxation given to the scheduled castes is much higher . Haryana has already given a relaxation of 5 per cent in the eligibility criteria and further relaxation in the pass percentage has been opposed on grounds that they cannot claim relief at two levels.

Besides holding demonstrations at various district headquaters last month, teachers’ unions had represented to the department, seeking a change in syllabi for the STET. They were demanding that the candidates should be tested in the subject of their specialisation rather than appearing for a general test. Also, representations were received from organisations of scheduled castes. They are seeking a relaxation of 5 to 10 per cent in the pass marks also.

Hisar, September 21
Kuldeep Bishnoi, joint candidate of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) and the BJP, filed his nomination for the Hisar Lok Sabha byelection seat here today. He is first of three main contestants to file nomination.

Bishnoi arrived at the mini-secretariat here from his home town Adampur accompanied by a caravan of scores of cars and assorted vehicles. From Adampur he rode in a car. He shifted to a tractor when the cavalcade reached the Hisar-Sira national highway. Harshvardhan, senior BJP leader, and Dharam Pal Malik, former MP, accompanied him on the tractor.

It took Bishnoi more than three hours to reach the mini-secretariat. On the way from Adampur he was welcomed by residents of villages situated on both sides of the road. At the mini-secretariat he was received by hundreds of supporters. The security arrangements made by the administration proved ineffective as HJC workers broke the barriers put up there and reached the porch of the building.

Bishnoi’s supporters entered the office of the Returning Officer in large numbers. However, Bishnoi was asked to send them out. Bishnoi’s mother, Jasma Devi, and his wife, Renuka, were present inside the office. Bishnoi presented his papers to the Returning Officer, took an oath and then left for a tour of the constituency.

Meanwhile, Jai Prakash, Congress nominee, and Sampat Singh, former minister, convened a meeting of party workers here. Addressing the workers, Jai Prakash said both Chautala and Bhajan Lal clans had been befooling the voters during elections for decades. They would first promise the moon to the voters and after the election they did not care two hoots for people. He said the voters had now become wise and would like to ensure development of the constituency by electing him.

Sampat Singh said the Congress was assured of its victory as the party was united.

Chandigarh, September 21
P Anjani Kumar, who has been appointed as Expenditure Observer for the Hisar Lok Sabha byelection by the Election Commission of India, has joined duty. His telephone number is 08901549774.

Stating this today, Hisar District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner Amit Aggarwal said any candidate, election agent or commoner willing to provide information about the election expenditure of candidates could meet him personally in his office at PWD rest house between 5 pm and 6 pm everyday. — TNS

Chandigarh, September 21
The state government has transferred five IAS and two HCS officers.

HS Malik, Special Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management-II Department; Director, Consolidation of Holdings; Director, Land Records; Special Collector (HQ); and Special LAO, has been given additional charge as Director and Special Secretary, Women and Child Development and MD, Women Development Corporation, during the training period of Renu S. Phulia.

Pushp Raj Singh, Special Secretary, Home-I, has also been given additional charge as Special Secretary, Home-II; Commissioner, Gurdwara Elections; and Special Secretary, Animal Husbandry, during the training period of Vinay Singh.

Satyaprakash TL, Director and Joint Secretary, Industries and Commerce and Mines and Geology, MD, Haryana State Small Scale Industries and Export Corporation, Haryana State Handloom and Handicrafts Corporation and Haryana Tanneries, Jind, has been given additional charge of Director, Supplies and Disposal, during the training period of Chander Shekhar.

Samir Pal Srow, DC, Ambala, Estate Officer for Management of Government Land in Excised Area, Ambala Cantt. and Commissioner, MC, Ambala, has also been given additional charge as DC, Yamunanagar, and Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Yamunanagar, during the training period of Ashok Sangwan.

A. Sreenivas, Deputy Secretary, PW(B&R) and Architecture Departments, has been posted as Deputy Secretary, General Administration Department, against a vacant post. PK Sharma, Additional Director (Admn.) and Deputy Secretary, Urban Estate Department, and Samwartak Singh Khangwal, Secretary, HUDA, Panchkula, will swap their places of posting.

New Delhi, September 21
A Delhi court yesterday ordered the trial of five persons, in whose names sitting Haryana MLA Ajay Chautala allegedly bought huge properties, as abettors in the corruption case against him for owning properties exceeding his legal income.

Special CBI Judge PS Teji also decided to put the former Chief Minister's son on trial in the corruption case but could not formally frame charges against him due to his absence from the court. The court, however, asked Chautala to appear before it on September 23, the date fixed for framing charges against him.

Chautala had taken exemption from personal appearance yesterday before the court on the ground of his illness.

The five whom the court put on trial are Abhimanyu Singh, Chet Ram, Om Prakash, Rajendra Kumar Godara and Netra Ram Godara. According to the chargesheet filed on December 24, 2009, against Ajay Chautala, the CBI claimed he was in possession of assets to the tune of Rs 27.74 crore -- 339 per cent more than his income of Rs 8.17 crore during 1993-2006. — PTI

New Delhi, September 21
The Hisar SP has been ordered by a Delhi court to take prompt action against people found making provocative speeches on last year's killings of a 70-year-old Dalit man and his handicapped daughter in the distrct's Mirchpur village. The court also warned the relatives of both victims and the accused persons against making any provocative speech against each other and distrub peace and tranquility in the area.

“I may advise the litigating parties before this court i.e. both complainants and the accused to ensure that the matter being subjudice, no irresponsible and provocative statements are made at any forum particularly those which may in any manner disturb or adversely affect the peace and tranquility in the area,” Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said.

The court passed the directions after the counsel, appearing for the accused, apprised the court that some mischievous persons of the village are making irresponsible and provocative statements to the media, as a result of which there are serious apprehensions of breach of peace in the area. “The SP is directed to ensure that in case of any such instance being brought to his notice, immediate preventive action is initiated as per law against persons indulging in activities prejudicial to public peace and tranquility in the area, intimation of which be placed before this court. A copy of this order be sent to the SP concerned for compliance,” the judge said.

The court is likely to pronounce its judgement on September 24 on the criminal culpability of 98 dominant Jat community men for allegedly burning alive Dalit man Tara Chand along with his physically challenged daughter Suman allegedly by a mob of over 100 persons in Mirchpur village on April 21 last year.

BS Rana, counsel for the accused, said the elderly persons of the village had told him that some people were making provocative speeches to the media and villagers and it might affect the peace in the area. The investigating officers, however, told the court that they were unaware of the incidents and action would be taken if they come across any such instance. — PTI

Faridabad, September 21
A Congress worker and a former Faridabad district secretary of the Sewa Dal (a wing of the Congress) running a PDS ration depot here was today allegedly slapped by Praveen Kumar, DC, Faridabad.

After the Deputy Commissioner slapped depot holder Nand Lal Bharti, his gunman also assaulted the latter.

The incident occurred when the Deputy Commissioner visited the SGM Nagar area that falls in the Badkal assembly constituency.

Bharti was also present in the crowd.

According to Bharti, a couple of women alleged before the DC that they were not being given sugar from the depot under the PDS scheme. Bharti clarified that they could not get sugar as it was provided only to “BPL” card holders.

After the women went away, two persons came to the spot, alleging that Bharti had demanded money from their relatives for ration cards.

Though Bharti refuted the accusations, the Deputy Commissioner allegedly slapped him without hearing him. His security personnel also assaulted Bharti thereafter.

Vijay Pal, who heads the Faridabad district unit of the Sewa Dal, said it was unbecoming of an officer to assault a person.

The Deputy Commissioner could not be contacted despite several attempts.

Chandigarh, September 21
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has directed HUDA to set up an independent vigilance wing and bring more transparency in its functioning, especially in the issue of completion certificates.

The Chief Minister, who was presiding over a meeting of HUDA and its sub-committee here, also directed HUDA to issue reminders to allottees online for regular payment of instalments.

The meeting also approved the budget estimates of HUDA for the current financial year 2011-12, according to an official statement issued here.

Against the total expected receipts of Rs 5208.66 crore, HUDA will incur an expenditure of Rs 5396.15 crore.

A sum of Rs 1,100 crore will be incurred on development works while Rs 1868.89 crore will be incurred on land acquisition. A sum of Rs 1,600 crore is expected to be paid to farmers on account of enhanced compensation awarded by various courts.

A sum of Rs 50 crore has been set aside for the payment of annuity to land owners under the rehabilitation and resettlement policy of the state government.

HUDA also approved the estate management procedure,2011, for industrial plots allotted by HUDA, allotment of 13 petrol pump sites in the Sonepat, Rohtak, Panchkula and Panipat urban estates and 14 religious sites in the Sonepat and Gurgaon urban estates. — PTI

Jind, September 21
The alleged failure of the officials concerned to streamline the disbursement of old-age pension in the district appears to have become a cause for concern for the beneficiaries. They have resorted to various means of agitation, including staging traffic blockades, to protest.

The authorities, on the other hand, claim that efforts were on to sort out the matter as it involved various agencies.

While it was perhaps the fourth time in the past few months when the movement of traffic was blocked on Monday on a road in the district, the matter is still unresolved due to lack of coordination between the agencies involved in the work, said sources in the Department of Social Welfare.

The protesters, hailing from Kandela village, who squatted on the Jind-Kaithal road yesterday for about three hours, claimed that they had not been given the pension for the past six months.

Karnal/Kurukshetra, September 21
Come September, it brings chaos, controversy and confusion for the HSGPC-ad hoc, which hogs the limelight for “right or wrong reasons”. Maybe it is a mere coincidence, but the month that marks the end of the monsoon brings storms for the HSGPC that subside only after the damage has been done.

The separate gurdwara parbandhak committee movement reached its zenith on September 7, 2008, when the Sikh sangat, attended by thousands of Sikhs from Haryana and the adjoining states, sounded the bugle and served a one-month ultimatum on the SGPC, Haryana and Union Governments to accept the demand within a month and threatened to take over ‘sewa’ in the Haryana gurdwaras.

A year later, a desperate HSGPC led by Jagdish Singh Jhinda translated its one-year old threat into action and took control of the management of Gurdwara Chhathi Patshahi at Kurukshetra in a swift operation on September 15, 2009. However, the high drama ended in a whimper and the president of the HSGPC, Jhinda, meekly surrendered and handed over the control to the SGPC by the evening, stating that the “takeover” was symbolic.

Jhinda and his four associates were also found guilty of misconduct by Akal Takht, declared ‘tankhayia’ and awarded punishment to clean shoes, wash utensils, and listen Shabad Kirtan for five days each at Takht Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo, Takht Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur, Akal Takht Amritsar and Chhewin Patshahi Gurdwara at Kurukshetra in Haryana.

Back to his old ways, Jhinda again renewed his threat to take over the ‘sewa’ and convened a meeting of the Sikh sangat at Dera Baba Charan Singh in Kurukshetra on September 16, 2010, but wary of his earlier tactics, the district administration arrested him along with some other leaders as a preventive measure, following which his supporters blocked the rail line at Kurukshetra.

Jhinda, who gave a “Jail Bharo” call was booked under Sections 506, 341, 186,188, 148 and 149 of the IPC for criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint, obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his duty, defiance of order duly promulgated by a public servant, rioting, armed with a deadly weapon and unlawful assembly along with 44 others and sent to 14 days’ judicial custody. About 1,000 Sikhs courted arrest during the one-month “Jail Bharo” agitation.

But September 2011 spelt doom for both factions of the HSGPC, who were routed in the SGPC elections held on September 18. The poll results (unofficial) not only exposed the tall claim of support of Haryana Sikhs for a separate SGPC, but also decimated the leaders of rival factions, Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalvi.

Panchkula, September 21
As three experts of CFSL, Hyderabad, did not bring machines and equipment to carry out forensic tests on the objects, including an IED timer, seized from the Samjhauta train blast site, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) failed to complete re-examination of the evidence collected from the explosion site.

The court had fixed September 20 and 21 for the re-examination of evidence at the NIA camp office in Panchkula. Sources said the NIA would now move a fresh application before the court to allow the agency to take 33 objects to the Hyderabad lab to carry out tests as machines would be available there.

With this forensic test, the agency is trying to find a link between Samjhauta and other blasts, including those at Ajmer, Hyderabad Mecca Masjid and Malegaon.

Chandigarh, September 21
Vijay Sabharwal, Secretary of the DAV College Management Committee, said that all DAV institutions would remain closed tomorrow as a mark of respect to Padma Bhushan GP Chopra, President of the management committee, who died in Delhi today following a prolonged illness. He was 92. Chopra headed the DAV committee as well as the Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Sabha, New Delhi, for over two decades. Chopra will be cremated in Delhi, on September 23.

Mourning the death, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Chopra would be long remembered for his initiatives taken for the promotion of education and to bring about social reforms, especially for the weaker sections of society and women’s education.

Sonepat, September 21
Two young wrestlers, Dinesh (24) and Manoj (25), of Guhna village under Mohana police station died on the spot after inhaling a poisonous gas in a well near the village last evening.

However, another wrestler Deepak (22) had a lucky escape as he was rescued by people from the well and rushed to hospital. He was reported to be out of danger.

According to information, these wrestlers used to practise everyday at a village “akhara” and take a bath in a pond thereafter.

But they reached a tubewell in fields for taking a bath last evening after practice.

They found that the fan-fitted electric motor installed in the well was not lifting water.

Dinesh entered the well for repairing the fault but did not return nor responded to the calls. Then Manoj entered the well but he also met the same fate.

Sensing something fishy, Deepak entered the well cautiously. After feeling the presence of a poisonous gas and seeing the bodies of Dinesh and Manoj, he raised an alarm.

People reached the spot and rescued Deepak before taking out the bodies of Dinesh and Manoj from the well.

DSP Randhir Singh reached the spot and asked the villagers not to enter the well.

Fatehabad, September 21
Two persons died of electrocution in the Ratia area of this district today.

Satpal (23), a mechanic, was repairing a snag in a mobile tower at Bahmanwala village, near Ratia, when he got a strong electric shock.

The victim was rushed to the CHC, Ratia, from where he was shifted to the General Hospital, Fatehabad. However, doctors could not save his life.

In another incident, Gupti Ram, a farm labourer, was spraying a pesticide in fields in Bharpoor village, when the metallic pipe of his spray pump touched overhead electric wires. He died on the spot. — TNS

Sirsa, September 21
The police has unearthed a flesh trade racket in the town with the arrest of four persons, including two women brought from Delhi and West Bengal.

Two persons, who used to bring girls from outside for illicit flesh trade, are at large.

The police raided a house in Prem Nagar last night and found Mayur, alias Monu, son of Rattan Lal, a resident of Fatehabad, in the company of a woman. The woman was identified as Pooja of Nadia district in West Bengal, who told the police that she had been brought here for flesh trade.

The police also found another girl, Sonali, a resident of Macchi Market, Delhi, in another room of the house. Sooraj, a resident of Ganganagar in Rajasthan who had taken this house on rent was also arrested.

The police said preliminary interrogation revealed that Ramesh Bhatia, a resident of Kirti Nagar, used to bring girls from Kolkatta and Delhi for supply to Dharmender Saini, a resident of Chatargarh Patti.

Saini, in turn, supplied these girls to brothels functioning in some residential areas of the town and to farmhouses of influential persons.

Pooja and Sonali had been brought here about a month ago on the monthly “remuneration” of Rs 60,000 each, said sources. Sources said that the police had rounded up some other persons too, but they were let off later .

The SHO, however, said the persons were left off as they were found in some other house raided by the police in the Chatargarh Pati area nothing objectionable was found against them.