|
|
|
|
|
Harpreet
Kaur Murder case
Will Bibi Jagir Kaur resign from SGPC?
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CM must quit for ‘helping’ Bibi: Khaira
Badal says no decision yet on her replacement
Both parties to move HC
Capt joins war of words, attacks critics
Gurdaspur
violence
3 hurt in violent protest
SGPC executive meeting on April 3
Will bail out Power Corporation: Badal
Tariff to be major issue: Engineers
Corporate bodies owe Rs 39 crore to Punjab Police
Bid to sell panchayat land
|
Harpreet Kaur Murder case
Begowal, March 31 This is how Kamaljit recalls his relationship with Harpreet: “Had Bibi Jagir Kaur not shot to limelight, our marriage would have been a smooth sail. As our love kept blossoming, so did Bibi’s political career. There was no caste barrier as we both were Lubana Sikhs. I had even agreed to grow my hair and tie a turban, the way Bibi, being an SGPC president, wanted. But Bibi had different plans, which forced us to marry in haste.”
Kamaljit, the complainant in the case, got married in 2008. “After Harpreet’s death, I chose not to marry again. But my parents persuaded me to go for a second marriage. My second wife Nevia comes from Mohali. I have two sons, Tejvir (2) and eight-month old Jaivir." Seated inside his heavily guarded house, Kamaljit feels sad and frustrated. “Had there been mobile phones then, things would have been different. The last time I met her was at Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi's residence in Phagwara on April 12, 2000. Dhesi, another convict in the case and Bibi’s confidante, assured us that we would be married in a week’s time and I was told to return to Begowal.” Kamaljit says he kept calling her at the Phagwara landline number given to him, but was told Harpreet had left for Chandigarh with Bibi. “I tried her Chandigarh number, but could not contact her there as well. The next day was Baisakhi and I knew Bibi would have gone to Anandpur Sahib. I kept on enquiring about her the entire next week, only to be told on April 20 that she was no more.”
He says they had plans to settle abroad. “We knew our life was not going to be easy here if we married against Bibi's wishes. I was not as adamant on marriage as was Harpreet. She had turned defiant despite Bibi’s repeated scolding.” Due in Chandigarh tomorrow to meet his counsel for filing an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday, he says: “One question fails to get off my mind: If it was not Bibi, who else murdered her? I am not ready to accept that she died a natural death. These 12 years have been very difficult for me. I have not been able to concentrate on my agricultural work. I have not been able to start any work here due to Bibi’s clout. I deliberately sent my younger brother abroad.”
|
|
Will Bibi Jagir Kaur resign from SGPC?
Amritsar, March 31 Former Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission chairman KS Patti said the Act did not say anything about the convicted members. He, however, stated that there had been instances of convicted members holding the office in the past as well. Former SGPC general secretary Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, who is also a SAD member in the new SGPC House, also said the Act was mum on the fate of a member convicted in a case. However, she felt that if the conviction of Bibi Jagir Kaur was not stayed she should resign from the SGPC. According to the Article XXIV (q) of the code, “The following individuals shall be liable to chastisement involving automatic boycott …, killers of female infants.” However, it was a male foetus which was aborted in the case. DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said she had committed a heinous crime which was against Sikh traditions and therefore she should resign from the mini-parliament of Sikhs.
|
|||
|
CM must quit for ‘helping’ Bibi: Khaira
Chandigarh, March 31 “I demand including Prakash Singh Badal as an accused in the Harpreet murder case for willfully destroying evidence and shielding the guilty. I also seek his resignation for patronising and shielding criminals. Though the law has caught up with the guilty in the Harpreet case, it’s a case of justice delayed is justice denied. It took twelve long years for our criminal justice system to partially get hold of the powerful, well-connected and the rich.” Khaira directed his tirade against the CM saying that Badal was the chief minister with the home portfolio when Harpreet was murdered in 2000. “On April 21, the girl was cremated in a hurry before Badal reached there in his helicopter. The CM had directed destruction of evidence and given a signal that no FIR was to be registered against Kaur.” Badal had shielded Jagir Kaur and it was only on the intervention of the High court that a CBI inquiry was ordered. “Now that there has been a conviction, it proves that Badal tried his best to shield her. Had a post-mortem been allowed, it would have been established that the girl had died of poisoning,” he alleged. He said it was unfortunate that the CBI failed to include Badal as an accused. “The same set of ruling elite was in power on the day of Harpreet Kaur’s death. Badal clearly misused his official authority,” he said.
|
|||
|
Badal says no decision yet on her replacement
Patiala, March 31 Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme at the Punjabi University here, Badal said soon after the verdict was pronounced Bibi herself called him up and conveyed that she was sending her resignation from the Punjab Cabinet. "After I receive the resignation, it will be sent to the Punjab Governor for acceptance", he said. Badal refused to comment on the matter saying it was a sensitive as well as a judicial matter. Regarding who would replace Bibi in the Punjab Cabinet, the Badal Senior neither gave any timeframe nor any indication about the likely replacement. "Don't expect that before taking decisions I should share them with you (the Press). Let me take decision and you will obviously get to know," he said in a lighter vein. Meanwhile, Badal has blamed the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre as the root cause of all the maladies faced by the country, particularly Punjab.
|
|||
|
Both parties to move HC
Patiala, March 31 While the defence would be moving the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the conviction of former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh, the prosecution agency is likely to move the upper court contesting the acquittal of Bibi Jagir Kaur and three others under Section 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code. Defence counsel Satnam Singh Kler said, "We will challenge the judgment in the HC, but after thoroughly studying it and all other related matters pertaining to the case. It will take almost two weeks for a proper study." Special Public Prosecutor, CBI, RK Hada said, "The CBI is likely to move HC contesting the acquittal of Bibi Jagir Kaur, Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh under the IPC Section 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to screen offender).
|
|||
|
Badal fan carries his shoes to Pak
Chandigarh, March 31 He is a 62-year-old Deputy Attorney General of Pakistan, Mohammad Khursheed Khan, who came all the way from the neighbouring nation five days ago and is taking along an unusual souvenir: a pair of Badal’s shoes. A lawyer-turned-activist who hogged the limelight a few years ago for spraying the face of Pakistan army’s former chief Parvez Musharraf’s counsel with black paint, Khan left the Badals bamboozled when he came up with an unusual demand at the CM's residence on Friday. He asked for his pair of shoes that he wanted to display in a self-conceived museum in Peshawar province of Pakistan. A reluctant Badal then gave him a pair of brown Timberland shoes. "I am setting up a museum in my house in Peshawar . I plan to display used shoes of personalities who have contributed to the society.” He said he wanted a pair of Anna Hazare's shoes and went to New Delhi to meet him, but could not make it. "I was bowled over by the humility of the CM. He called me up Friday morning and invited me over. He came out to receive me and saw me off. Even not-so-senior officials in Pakistan would not extend this kind of honour to anybody," remarked Khan. The official who has collected 20 to 25 pairs of shoes of famous personalities of Pakistan wants shoes of Nelson Mandela, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and Sonia Gandhi, besides Anna's, in his collection. Mandela's fight for freedom of his country, Gaffar Khan's contribution and Sonia's refusal to become the Prime Minister of India following raising of the issue of her foreign origin has left Khan overwhelmed with these personalities. "I have applied for a visa to South Africa. I will try to procure a pair of Mandela's shoes," he said. Khan was in India for a seminar in New Delhi. "I became Badal's fan after I spoke to him over the phone before the elections and asked for a permission to visit the Golden Temple. He personally looked into it and made it happen," he said.
|
|||
Capt joins war of words, attacks critics
Chandigarh, March 31 The party’s prospects in Punjab, claimed the former Chief Minister, were sure to decline further in case its reins were handed over either to Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa or Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Singh Brar. "The party will go from the ground to basement level in case any of them is made the party's state head."
Both Bajwa and Brar have been constantly gunning for Amarinder's head ever since the Congress defeat in the Vidhan Sabha elections. Speaking to The Tribune, Amarinder said the issue of his "inaccessibility" as well as the attack on his team, being referred to as a "coterie", was a "convenient excuse" being used by his detractors to hit out at him whenever it suited them. The PCC chief claimed those who were attacking him now had, in fact, wooed him before the election results were announced. "Bajwa used to come to my house almost every day for lunch or dinner to lobby for a Cabinet berth for his wife Charanjit Kaur. Jagmeet came to me a day before the canvassing was to end pleaded I should campaign for his brother Ripjit Brar by cancelling all other scheduled programmes," he said. Amarinder claimed Sukhpal Khaira, another detractor, organised a dinner for him where he "apologised for the past mistakes and lobbied for ministership". He said Amloh legislator Randeep Singh Nabha, who held a meeting to demand his ouster as PCC president, used to seek an appointment almost every day. He said senior leaders had themselves failed to perform. "Bajwa was given five seats but could ensure the victory of only his wife. He said senior leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal was given 10 seats but could manage to win only her own and that of Rakesh Pandey. Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari was given two seats and lost both. These leaders should answer whether my inaccessibility cost them their seats," he said. Amarinder said despite the allegations of inaccessibility, the Congress had still retained its hold in the Malwa region by bagging 31 seats. He said in 2007, he had broken the Akali hold in Malwa. He said the party lost the polls due to the rebel factor that cost it 10 seats and the support of the Dera Ballan to the BSP, which cost it 11 seats in the Doaba region. "Had we won these 21 seats, we would have formed the government." When questioned about the anger against his "coterie" led by Dhuri MLA Arvind Khanna, Amarinder said during the last government, his "coterie" included BIS Chahal and Rana Gurmeet Sodhi. "They were replaced and a new team was brought in," he said. Claiming he had met most of the party legislators and candidates, besides district Congress presidents, in the last 10 days, Amarinder said he was likely to meet Sonia Gandhi after the Budget session. "I have told the Congress president if you need to replace me, do it now. If not, the party needs to be reorganised and discussions on parliamentary seat allocation initiated."
|
|
Gurdaspur violence
The action is the fallout of the death of 18-year-old engineering student Jaspal Singh in police firing on Thursday following which an indefinite curfew was clamped in the city. A case under section 302 of the IPC has also been registered against DSP Manpreet Singh who had led the police party which resorted to firing. Another youth Ranjit Singh, who was seriously injured in the firing, is getting treatment at the Civil Hospital, Amritsar. The action has come in the wake of sustained pressure put up by Akal Takht Jathedar Gurbachan Singh, Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma, former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode and other members of the Sikh clergy who had been camping at the deceased's native village Chour Sidhwan since yesterday. Gurbachan Singh led the negotiations with the state government on behalf of the deceased's family. He had threatened that he would resign as Akal Takht chief if no action was taken against the erring officials. The DC's transfer has come as a surprise to many as his role did not come under the scanner in the deliberations between the representatives of the Sikh bodies and the government. Sources reveal that the state government yielded to the pressure built up by members of the clergy. A fax was received in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, who was the main negotiator on behalf of the government, this evening which was brought to Jaspal Singh’s village by Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) Tejinder Pal Singh. The cremation of Jaspal Singh, which was postponed as negotiations between the Sikh leaders and the DC went on throughout the day, was held this evening after the impasse was broken when the government issued the orders. The decision to suspend the district police chief has led to resentment among junior officers who, preferring anonymity, claimed that "the SSP had no direct role as far as the imposition of curfew was concerned." "The law and order situation deteriorated due to the nefarious designs of some middle-rung politicians and the SSP has been blamed for it,” claimed a senior officer. Earlier, the curfew was relaxed for two hours from 6.30 am to 8.30 am to enable the locals to buy essential commodities, but a majority of the residents remained unaware about the respite as the district administration failed to timely inform the people about the relaxation.
|
||
|
3 hurt in violent protest
Muktsar, March 31 Two policemen and a labourer sustained injuries during the clash. The protesters alleged that they attacked the vehicle after its driver ran over the leg of one of their activists Gurpreet Singh.
|
||
|
SGPC executive meeting on April 3
Amritsar, March 31 Makkar said, "I have issued a 72-hour notice for the SGPC executive
meeting. We will hold a meeting on April 3 and its one-point agenda is the SGPC budget, which has already been delayed." After passing the budget proposal, he said, they would move it to the General House, which was elected last year. Asked whether the Supreme Court has allowed the new House to function, he said passage of the annual SGPC budget was necessary. However, SGPC counsel Gurminder Singh said the Supreme Court had allowed the new House to function and it could pass the budget. The annual SGPC budget is usually passed before March 31, but this time it got delayed due to the legal tangle over the Sehajdhari row.
|
||
|
Will bail out Power Corporation: Badal
Patiala, March 31 Badal said: "In a recent meeting of the Planning Commission, Punjab has obtained an additional Plan assistance of Rs 500 crore, out of which Rs 300 crore will be earmarked for the power sector. Besides, the Finance Department has recently sanctioned Rs 200 crore for the PSPCL". Appreciating services of the association, Badal assured that a meeting would be convened where proposals put forward by the PSEB Engineers' Association would be discussed. Regarding the proposal for setting up and expediting the 1320-MW Mukerian Thermal Power Project, Badal said the government was committed to execute the project. Regarding the Gidderbaha project, the Chief Minister said: “Since the NTPC is not making any progress, we will discuss the proposal to take over the project".
|
||
|
Tariff to be major issue: Engineers
Patiala, March 31 Addressing the annual general meeting of the PSEB Engineers' Association, association president HS Bedi expressed reservations over government's policy of depending entirely on the private sector for power capacity addition. "With the commissioning of the proposed capacity in the private sector, the share of Punjab's own generation will come down from 52 per cent to less than 20 per cent, which will be inadequate for managing the power system in an economical and efficient manner. If power shortage was
an issue in the past, power tariff will be a major issue in the coming years," Bedi said. The engineers informed the Chief Minister about PSPCL's cumulative commercial losses of more than Rs 11,000 crore. Now, the banks had refused to give loans which had resulted in a serious cash crunch, they said. "For the first time, the PSPCL defaulted on repayment to banks. The non-payment of subsidy in advance and in the form of cash by the government is one of the crucial issue that needs immediate attention", said various speakers.
|
||
|
Corporate bodies owe Rs 39 crore to Punjab Police
Chandigarh, March 31 Also, the state police has failed to recover outstanding dues from other states. Making a strong observation against the police authorities, the Principal Accountant General (Audit), Punjab, has pointed out that the security forces were deployed without any demand and without seeking any advance from those who sought their services. One of the biggest defaulters of the state police was the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) that was yet to pay Rs 7.47 crore for getting security during 14 international and national cricket matches held at Mohali. For the matches organised by the BCCI during the Indian Premier League, the state police deployed 18,706 policemen at the PCA without receiving any advance payment. Though the department has been lodging claims with the PCA, it has failed to recover the pending payment. Besides, the state police incurred an expenditure of Rs 34.20 crore for the deployment of forces with banks, electricity board and the All-India Radio. Between April 2006 and March 2011, the state police raised a bill of Rs 34.20 crore but could only recover Rs 11.73 crore. On the issue of deployment of state police with other states, the department could recover only Rs 3.27 crore against the total bill of Rs 13.04 crore. The Accountant General has recommended that the department should deploy its forces after the receipt of a formal request and after entering into an agreement with the beneficiaries except the cases where the deployment was for law and order purpose.
|
|
Bid to sell panchayat land
Chandigarh, March 31 The stringent directions came on a petition filed by Sukhwinder Singh against Dera Bassi sub-registrar-cum-tehsildar Nirmal Singh along with lamberdars Harcharan Singh, Harpal Singh, Jasbir Singh and Jai Singh. In his petition, Sukhwinder Singh had earlier alleged that the lamberdars attempted to sell gram panchayat land by entering into a fraudulent agreement to sell vide sale deed dated May 5, 2006. The petitioner had added that the attempt to sell the land was made even though the court, vide order dated March 27, 2007, had directed the parties to maintain status quo. Justice Surya Kant asserted: "It appears that even though these proceedings are pending for a long time, yet no final decision in the disciplinary proceedings against the tehsildar and other revenue officer(s) has been taken so far, despite an assurance from the state government, which seems to be nothing but lip service. In the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the disciplinary authority, namely SR Ladhar, IAS, Commissioner, Patiala Division, is directed to do the needful within two months failing which he shall also be impleaded in the proceedings". Before parting with the case, Justice Surya Kant also directed the tehsildar to remain present in the court.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has assured that the state government will make all efforts to bail out the cash-strapped Power Corporation. In his address during the annual general meeting of the PSEB Engineers' Association, held at Punjabi University today, he said the government was serious in improving the financial condition of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited
(PSPCL).
Gurdaspur, March 31
n The Punjab Police incurred an expenditure of
Rs 34.20 crore for deploying forces with banks, electricity board and the All-India Radio between April 2006 and March 2011, but could only recover
Rs 11.73 crore