Chandigarh, May 24
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Haryana to furnish the details of awards announced by the collectors and the land that was acquired in the State after policies for fixing minimum floor rates for acquisition of land were framed and amended.

The directions by Justice Rajesh Bindal came after the State made attempts to justify the payment of Rs 50 lakh per acre compensation for land in three villages, though the average sale consideration was not more than Rs 31,88,200 per acre.

The development is significant as the high court is seized of another matter in which allegations of multi-crore embezzlement by a Haryana Commissioner in awarding high compensation for land acquired in Sirsa have been levelled.

Taking up the matter, Justice Bindal asserted, “The information regarding the award of collector for the acquisition of land in Sirsa, where notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was issued on January 15, 2008, has been furnished in the court.

“The award is sought to be justified placing reliance upon policy for revision of minimum floor rates and the policy for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the landowners-land acquisition oustees issued on November 9, 2010.

“In terms of the policy, a committee headed by a Divisional Commissioner is entitled to assess the real value of land in an area, which could be over and above the floor rates fixed by the State….

“For justification of assessment of Rs 50 lakh per acre as the value of land pertaining to villages Vaidwala, Naizadelakalan and Khairpur, which was acquired, the average sale consideration paid in sale deeds registered during the last one year is shown….

“No doubt, the provisions of the policy provide for assessment of fair compensation for acquired land, which can be over and above the floor rates fixed in the policy. But, while dealing with cases of land acquisition, this court has not come across any assessment of compensation by the collector even after framing of policies was made at a rate higher than the rates fixed in the policies”.

Rohtak, May 24
While 14 days’ police remand of two of the main accused came to an end today and the local court sent them to seven days’ judicial custody this morning, officials probing the matter have said that the DNA test of the four women, who had been handed over (or sold) the newborn children by the shelter home in the past couple of years, were over and the report was likely to be soon made public. The authorities have also shifted three-fourths of the inmates, including children, to other places in the state.

Jaswanti and her driver, Satish, were sent to judicial custody by the local court today after their two-week police remand came to an end. Five other accused, including a daughter of Jaswanti and her son-in-law, have already been in judicial custody. The police had booked a case under several sections of the IPC and the Labour Bondage Act against the accused after as many as 102 inmates, of whom a majority were children, were rescued by the NCPCR team.

Though a report of the probe was likely to be submitted to the state government and the NCPCR within 30 days, official sources claimed that the DNA test of four women was over and its report was likely to be released soon.

Six children were traced by the police, who had been handed over or sold by the shelter home to some persons in the recent past. While the women in question were claiming that they were their mothers, the police believes that these had been ‘adopted’ from the shelter home here.

The inmates lodged here at present have been reduced to just 27, including 25 women and two children, after the officials shifted 75 inmates to other places, including Bal Bhawans at Bahadurgarh, Sisroli, Bahadurgarh and Yamunanagar. Eleven of the inmates who had been sent to Bhiwani were, however, not accepted here after it was claimed that they were overaged.

Hisar, May 24
Intervening to resolve the Dalit-Jat standoff at Bhagana village in Hisar, the authorities today attached a piece of land, which has become the bone of contention between the two sides, forcing 80-odd Dalit families to leave their village four days ago.

Acting on the report by Sulochna Gajraj, SHO, Sadar police station, Hisar, Amardeep Jain, SDM, today promulgated orders under section 145, CrPC, attaching 28 kanals 7 marlas of land and Chamar Chowk and Ahlan Chowk.

The SDM has appointed the Tehsildar as receiver for this piece of land.

Earlier, the SHO said in her report that peace of the village was in peril due to the conflicting claims to this piece of land.

The report said both sides had been staking claim to the land, but none had been able to produce documents to substantiate their claims.

The 80-odd Dalit families from Bhagana, which have been camping outside the local mini- secretariat for the past four days alleging that members of the Jat community had ostracized them, had also accused them of erecting a wall on this piece of land.

They had alleged that the wall had blocked the entry to and exit of their houses.

Chandigarh, May 24
The Haryana BJP has reacted sharply to the increase in petrol prices. Party president Krishan Pal Gurjar said the steep hike in the petrol prices would spell doom for the common man, who was already in a pitiable condition because of uncontrolled inflation. BJP spokesman Rattan Lal Kataria said the frequent hike in petrol prices was the result of the failure of the UPA government’s economic policies.

SONEPAT: The steep hike in petrol prices has invited sharp criticism from political and social organisations in the district. Brig OP Chaudhry (retd), former Vice-Chancellor of the MDU, Rohtak, commented that the unprecedented hike of Rs 7.54 per litre was no less than a “midnight loot” of the common man. The state media in charge of the BJP, Rajiv Jain, said the increase in petrol prices was “the UPA government’s gift to the people on the completion of its three-year rule.”

The district secretary of the CPM and the state vice-president of the All-India Kisan Sabha, SN Solanki, called the hike as “anti-people” and blamed the wrong policies of the government for this hike.

FARIDABAD: The opposition parties here took to the road and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA government on Thursday in protest against Wednesday’s hike in the prices of petrol. The agitation disrupted movement of vehicular traffic on the city roads. INLD workers held demonstrations against the petrol price rise and burnt an effigy of the UPA government at BK Chowk. The BJP, too, organised an agitation at the chowk against the rise in petrol prices. Activists of the CPI and the CPM jointly staged a dharna at Neelam Chowk.

Hisar/Sirsa/Fatehabad: The steepest-ever increase in the price of petrol fuelled protests in Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad. INLD workers on Thursday held a demonstration and torched an effigy of the UPA government at Hisar. In Sirsa, activists of the CPI and the CPM held a demonstration. Swaran Singh Virk, a senior leader of the CPI, Raj Kumar Shekhupuria, district secretary of the CPM, and Roshan Suchan, state convener of the All-India Students Federation, said the hike was the cruelest step taken by the UPA. In Fatehabad, the BJP, the HJC and the CPM activists held a demonstration and burnt the government’s effigy. Similar demonstrations were held in Ratia too.

Chandigarh, May 24
The INLD today demanded a high-level probe into the alleged incidents of corruption in various universities of the state and strict action against the guilty.

The demand was made by the party when a delegation led by its president Om Prakash Chautala submitted a memorandum to Governor Jagannath Pahadia, who is also the Chancellor of the state universities.

The party also criticised the alleged attempt to save the guilty of gang rape with a Dalit student of the women’s university in Sonepat district as well as several suicides by the students of this university under suspicious circumstances.

The memorandum also demanded a high-level probe to identify the guilty of the shocking incidents in the Rohtak-based shelter home, “Apna Ghar”. The party demanded that those who were responsible for keeping a watch on the shelter home but did not discharge their duties faithfully should also be taken to task.

The delegation included Haryana INLD president Ashok Arora, secretary-general of the party Ajay Singh Chautala, deputy leader of the INLD legislature party Sher Singh Badshami and Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh.

Chandigarh, May 24
President of the Haryana Youth Congress Chiranjeev Rao today made it clear that he would like to contest again for the party post.

Chiranjeev is the son of Power Minister Ajay Singh Yadav.

The Youth Congress has launched a membership drive, which will continue till June 13, after which organisational elections would be held right from the polling booth level. Chiranjeev said the party wanted to double its membership from four lakh this year.

Expressing satisfaction over the functioning of the party during his tenure, Chiranjeev said the Youth Congress had opposed the acquisition of fertile land for industrialisation in Ambala following which Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had stopped the process of acquisition. He said only barren land should be acquired for industrialisation in backward areas.

Karnal, May 24
Nasib, a resident of Badrana village in Kaithal, stabbed his brother-in-law, Bhim Sen (22), to death in a fit of rage. Vinod, the deceased’s brother, said Nasib attacked Bhim Sen with a knife after an argument, inflicting multiple injuries, at Saunkra village.

The deceased’s mother, Premo Devi, who tried to intervene, was also attacked.

The police has registered a case of murder against Nasib. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination. The deceased got married five months ago.

Sirsa, May 24
In a major scam relating to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in Chaudhary Devi Lal University here, a Jalandhar-based outsourcing agency is alleged to have cornered funds running into several lakhs.

The company, which used to provide contractual employees to the university for nearly three years, has not deposited their provident fund into their accounts.

The university authorities have lodged a complaint against the company with the EPF office in Jalandhar and are contemplating to lodge an FIR against its director now.

The exact amount of funds embezzled by the company is not yet known but sources said it might cross Rs 50 lakh.