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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 20
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the States of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to notify at the earliest the schemes for compensating victims of rape and other crime against women.

The directions by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover came after the Bench was informed that schemes under Section 357-A of the CrPC have already been prepared.

The CrPC was amended to bring in progressive legislation by inserting Section 357(A). All state governments in consultation with the Central Government are to prepare the scheme for victim compensation.

On recommendation by the court for compensation, the district legal service authority or state legal service authority is to decide on the quantum of compensation. A provision is also there for relief in cases where trial cannot take place as the offender cannot be traced or identified.

The directions to notify the scheme came on a petition filed by Voluntary Health Association of Punjab against the Union of India and another respondents.

The Bench observed: "This public interest litigation has been filed seeking directions from the court for preparation of a scheme for payment of compensation to victims of rape and crime against women."

"The scheme is required to be prepared by the Union of India in conformity with the judgment of the Apex Court dated October 19, 1994…."

"During the pendency of the writ petition, Section 357-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been brought into force by the amendment made by Act No.5 of 2009 with effect from December 31, 2009."

"We are told that the necessary schemes under Section 357-A CrPC have been prepared by the States of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory Administration, Chandigarh but the same are yet to be notified".

Disposing of the petition, the Bench observed the issue arising in the writ petition stood covered by specific statutory provisions. "We deem it appropriate to close the writ petition by observing that the State Governments of Punjab and Haryana and the UT Administration, Chandigarh, would bring the issue of the preparation of the scheme to its logical conclusion by issuing the necessary notifications at the earliest. Beyond the above, we do not find that any further order will be justified," the Bench added.

All state governments are to prepare the scheme in consultation with the Central Government

The district legal service authority or state legal service authority is to decide on the quantum of compensation

A provision is also there for relief in cases where trial cannot take place as the offender cannot be traced or identifiedn All state governments are to prepare the scheme in consultation with the Central Government

The district legal service authority or state legal service authority is to decide on the quantum of compensation

A provision is also there for relief in cases where trial cannot take place as the offender cannot be traced or identified

Chandigarh, February 20
Upholding an order of the district forum, the UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a private engineering institute to refund the entire fee to a student after deducting Rs 1,000 as administrative charges.

The president of the commission, Justice Sham Sunder, and members Neena Sandhu and Jagroop Singh Mahal have directed Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ram Nagar village, near Banur, Patiala district, to pay Rs 10,000 to the student as compensation for harassment.

The institute had filed an appeal against the order given by the Chandigarh Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II on the complaint filed by Ashima Soni, a resident of Panchkula.

Ashima had stated in her complaint that in July 2009, she took admission at the institute for the course in information technology and deposited Rs 43,480 as fee. On August 9, she got admission at another college in the electronics and communication engineering stream.

Ashima had stated that she had not attended any class in the institute and immediately approached it for a refund, but her request was rejected. Aggrieved, she filed a case in the forum.

In its reply submitted to the forum, the institute stated that the student left the course after joining for a few days and surrendered her seat voluntarily.

The institute claimed that the seat surrendered by her remained vacant for the whole session and she was not entitled to the refund of fee.

In its order, the forum stated that the institute did not produce any evidence to prove that the student had attended classes for the course. Hence, the course had not yet started when the complainant applied for refund of fee. The forum stated that as per guidelines of the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), if a student withdrew admission before the start of the course, candidates in the waiting list should be given admission against the vacant seat.

The AICTE had also specified that the entire fee collected from the student must be refunded after deducting a maximum of Rs 1,000 as processing fee. In this light, the forum gave its order in favour of the student. The institute approached the commission against the forum’s order. The commission reviewed the case and concluded that there was nothing wrong with the forum’s order. It dismissed the appeal filed by the institute.

Chandigarh, February 20
In what brings to the fore rampant lawlessness in the city at night, a jeep was set on fire at Sector 44 here past night. The jeep, parked outside house 2285, was discovered burnt around 5 am this morning. Those residing in the house called up the police and the owner of the jeep, living in Sector 39.

“The jeep is owned by Vikram, alias Vicky. He had a quarrel with a few boys at a wedding and suspected them to be behind this incident. We have not got a formal complaint so far and cannot proceed any further,” said SHO Kirpal Singh.

With hundreds of people on the roads, heading to temples for Mahashivratri, hooliganism was at its worst, with youths zooming around in speeding cars and motorcycles.

Though the police made several extensive night patrol plans, nothing much seemed to have been achieved as night crime hit an all-time high.

Despite all its self-proclaimed efforts, the UT police was yet to deal with the ever-increasing night rowdyism, which had had serious results in the recent past.

Almost a month ago, 28-year-old Harminder Singh was killed after he got into a scuffle with youths as they came for an ice-cream at the Aroma coffee shop in Sector 22, with a PCR stationed just 50 metres away.

In September past year, 15 youths, their faces covered and armed with swords, baseball bats and rods, barged into the Tao Lounge at Sector 26 in the wee hours and attacked the staff, guests and bouncers.

In October past year, assailants struck at the Voodoo Lounge and Bar in Sector 26 and fired gunshots into the air in a bid to attack a bouncer.

Panchkula, February 20
A 28-year-old newly married woman is struggling for her life after she was allegedly pushed by certain persons off the roof of her house at Himshikha Colony in Pinjore, near here, yesterday. Bhuradeen, the father of the victim who has been identified as Shabina, in a complaint lodged with the police, alleged that his daughter was a victim of harassment by her husband and in-laws for dowry.

Shabina was married to Sameer four months ago in October past year. On Saturday, I got a call from her that her in-laws were harassing her and pressurising her for getting a new car as dowry, said Bhuradeen. “Yesterday, we got a phone call from Sameer that Shabina had been injured accidentally,” he said. On reaching Pinjore, I found that she was lying unconscious in a private hospital where the doctors referred her to Governmenr Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, he added.

The Pinjore SHO, Dhramveer, confirmed that Bhuradeen had levelled allegations of attempt to murder against Shabina’s husband and in-laws. Any action against them will be taken after the victim’s statement is recorded, said the SHO.

Chandigarh, February 20
In a head-on collision of two vehicles, a passenger sitting on the rear seat received serious injuries and later died at GMCH-32 past midnight. Ramesh Chand of Mohali died on way to hospital.

The incident occurred around 1 am when one vehicle (PB65J-1797) was hit by another (HR51A-1121) near the traffic light point on the road separating Sectors 29 and 30.

According to information, Gurmeet Singh of Sector 29 was driving the car that hit a Bolero jeep, which was being driven by Jagdeep, with Ramesh sitting on the rear seat.

Gurmeet and Ramesh were admitted to GMCH-32, where Ramesh died. Jagdeep managed to flee from the spot.

Panchkula, February 20
The Panchkula police today registered an FIR against five residents of Mauli village on the charges of kidnapping and voluntarily causing hurt and under other sections of the IPC for kidnapping a property dealer based in the Mansa Devi Complex (MDC) here.

One of the persons accused was Panchkula police constable Rohtash.

MDC resident Karan Datta told the police that he went to Sector 2 with his friend Kushal, a Sector-11 resident, in his car. He further said a few persons stopped their car and forcibly took him to their car. Following this, Kushal called up the police and reported that the car went towards Mauli village.

When the police reached Mauli village, it found Karan sitting with Vijay, Mohan and Jagdish, residents of Mauli village, and others. Karan alleged that those people kidnapped him as they failed to pay Rs 2 lakh to him.

The village residents who reached the police station in support of the accused said Karan had taken Rs 2.5 lakh from the youths two years ago to sent them abroad, but had failed to do so.

They claimed that Karan called them up today and asked them to pay Rs 2 lakh more, but when they demanded their money back, he created the kidnapping story.

Ajay Rana, station house officer of the Sector-5 police station, said the police registered an FIR in this connection and was investigating the matter.

Chandigarh, February 20
The Chandigarh police might be boasting of providing free kits to slum children and organising various tournaments for reaching out to various sections of society but when it comes to their own performance in ‘team’ games, the department has nothing to contribute.

It has failed to participate in the ‘team’ games (football, hockey, etc) for the past many years and, notably, no recruitment under sports quota has been done after the nineties. If rely on sources, the Chandigarh Police Department might recruit sportspersons after June.

A senior official, on the condition of anonymity, said: “A shortage of sportspersons in our department is the main reason behind our poor performance in the games. The other police departments have their separate category of sportspersons and they do participate in various tournaments on regular intervals,” said the officer.

“There was a time when our football team and other teams used to win trophies. No doubt these newly recruited lads give their best on the field but the department needs professionals to win laurels,” said the officer.

Not only at the local level but the teams of the local police have also failed to put up their best performance in the recently held 60th All-India Police Games (cluster 2011) held in Patna (Bihar) from February 1 to 5.

Out of the four events (volleyball, basketball, handball and kabaddi) of the competition the UT police participated in two events. The teams of both handball and kabaddi failed to clear the initial (league) stage of the competition. Both the teams lost their all three matches.According to PK Srivastava, Inspector General of Chandigarh Police, the department will soon recruit sports persons. “We might not be able to win laurels in the team games but the things will change soon and in next recruitment we will keep in mind this aspect also. We hope we will taste success in our effort,” said Srivastava.

Chandigarh, February 20
Like every other person, middle-order batsman of Punjab Mandeep Singh has a dream. For the dream, to wear the blue jersey and become the backbone of the Indian cricket team, which is not easy to attain, he is working day and night.

The ace batsman, who is expected to play for the Punjab outfit, Kings XI, in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) T-20 championship, is working hard to prove his mettle in an international tournament.

“The tournament is the real boost for youngsters and I am looking to make my place in the playing squad. I am working hard on all the aspects and devoting much time to face pace ball. Hope, I will show my talent for the home team also,” said Mandeep.

“The tournament also supports us to share the same field with international players playing in different outfits. Azar Mahmood is also going to be the part of the Kings XI team, which will definitely lift the bowling and batting of the team. The seniors always come up with important tips that prove to be useful for players like us,” he added.

After making a coming back following an ankle injury, the batsman also wants to represent the nation and make his family proud.

“Every player has the aim of representing the nation but it is not easy to achieve. The domestic-level cricket is the best way to gain experience and showcase one’s talent. I am eager to get a break through and hope will get it soon,” said Mandeep.

Chandigarh, February 20
Top seed Vishnu Vardhan defeated Vivek Shokeen in straight sets 6-4 7-6 (5) during the main draw match of ITF Men’s Future US$-10000 Tennis Tournament being held here today. Vivek Shokeen started well but later went down against Vardhan 7-6 (5) in a tiebreaker.

In another match, Sanam Singh recorded an easy victory against lLos Santos of Malayasia 6-3 6-1 while sixth seed Lee Hsin of Taipei got the better of Jordi Kevin of Switzerland in three sets 4-6 6-1 6-1.

Kevin made a spirited bid but lost the first set 6-4 and went down in another two sets 6-1 6-1. Sidharth Rawat defeated his counterpart Vijay Kannan. Rawat won the first set 7-5 while Vijay bagged the second by 7-5. In the third Sidharth Rawat made an easy 6-4 victory. Number two Onozawa Arata of Japan defeated Abhijit Tiwari in straight sets 7-5 6-2 .

In the doubles category, the top seed pair of Lee Hsin and Han Peng defeated Indian challenge of Jayaprakash and Mohit in straight sets 6-4 6-4 while the Hsien-Yin duo defeated Mayur Tiwari and Abhijeet 6-4 6-4 to move into the quarter finals.

Second seed Barry Sam of and Bugby Miles faced no difficulty in defeating Feaver James and Gabb Richard in straight sets 6-1 6-4 while Japanese pair of Onozawa and Takeuchi Kento routed Bun Kenny and Duldaev Daniar 6-0 6-2.

In another match, the pair of Balaji N Sriram and Virali-Murugesan R thrashed Anan Kunal and Sidharth Rawat 6-3 and 6-3.

Chandigarh, February 20
Panjab University, Chandigarh, won the All-India Inter University Softball Championship for Women for the session 2011-12. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Delhi University and Calicut University, Calicut, got second, third and fourth positions respectively. The following are the results:

League matches: PU, Chandigarh, beat GNDU, Amritsar, 12-9; Delhi University beat Calicut University 8-4. Former Advocate General, Punjab, GK Charath was the chief guest who gave away the prizes to the winners.

Chandigarh, February 20
Punjab started their one-day campaign for Vijay Hazare Trophy on a triumphant note when they beat Haryana by 4 wickets in their North Zone league encounter in New Delhi.

Winning the toss, Haryana skipper Nitin Saini opted to bat first. Nitin Saini and Sandeep Godra scored 106 runs for the first-wicket partnership before Sandeep Godra got out for 39 (three boundaries). Nitin Saini was the top scorer for Haryana scoring 77 inclusive of four boundaries. The other contributions came from Sunny Singh (36) and Sachin Rana (59 not out, with 3 boundaries and two sixes).

For Punjab Manpreet Gony scalped two wickets for 40 while Amitoze took 1 for 28 and Bipul Sharma 1 for 36. Off spinner Harbhajan Singh remained unsuccessful in his 8-over spell while conceding 46 runs.

In reply, Punjab opened with Uday Kaul and Karan Goel and were soon jolted when Uday Kaul was snapped by wicket keeper Nitin Saini off medium pacer Harshal Patel for 5 with the team’s total reading 16 for 1. At this stage debutant Gurkirat Mann joined Karan Goel and the two put on 78 runs for the second-wicket partnership before Karan Goel was run out for 41 inclusive of 5 boundaries. Punjab received another setback when Gurkirat Mann was also caught short of his crease at his individual score of 43 inclusive of 5 boundaries. Mayank Sidana was snapped by wicketkeeper Nitin Saini off Tomar for 4 reducing Punjab to 108 for 4. Then Mandeep Singh and Amitoze Singh got together to stitch a 66-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Mandeep Singh was castled by Harshal Patel for 39 off 50 balls inclusive of 2 boundaries and one six. Amitoze was now joined by Bipul Sharma and the duo took the total to 235 by raising a 61 runs partnership for the sixth-wicket partnership before Bipul Sharma was caught and bowled by Sonu Rathi for 29 inclusive of 5 boundaries. Amitoze Singh, meanwhile, kept on stroking the ball to all parts of the ground and remained unbeaten at 76 off 56 balls studded with 7 well-executed boundaries and two lofty sixes with a strike rate of 135.7. Skipper Harbhajan Singh gave him company in the last stages and remained unbeaten on zero while Amitoze collected 12 runs during that stand.

For Haryana Harshal Patel 2 for 41, Tomar 1 for 23 and Sonu Rathi 1 for 35 were successful bowlers. Punjab got four points for this win while Haryana logged (0).

Brief scores:

Haryana : 243 for 6 in 50 overs

Nitin Saini 77, Sachin Rana 59 not out, Sandeep Godra 39, Sunny Singh 36. Manpreet Gony 2 for 40, Amitoze 1 for 28 and Bipul Sharma 1 for 36.

Punjab: 247 for 6 in 46.4 overs . Karan Goel 41, Gurkirat Mann 43, Mandeep Singh 39, Bipul Sharma 29 and Amitoze Singh 76 (not out). Harshal Patel 2 for 41, Tomar 1 for 23 and Sonu Rathi 1 for 35.