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HC raps Punjab Police for shielding culprits
Nishan was told to do community service when he kidnapped Shruti
3 days on, no coal supply from Jharkhand mine
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150 ‘unfit’ schoolteachers to be shown the door
BJP wants Akali Dal CPS attached to its ministers
Cong observer visits Barnala
Now, dial 1968 for legal assistance
After job scandal, PPSC may appoint medical officers
Oil tankers to stay off roads
Despite threat, Sikh jatha to visit Pakistan
Ward-wise panchayat poll will divide villagers: Cong
Policeman, guard held for extortion
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HC raps Punjab Police for shielding culprits
Chandigarh, November 24 Indicting the police in severe terms, Justice Mehinder Singh Sullar also directed the Principal Secretary (Home) to intervene. “This illegal conduct of the Punjab Police is giving rise to multiplicity of variety of litigation,” Justice Sullar asserted. The scathing observations, made in a five-page order, a copy of which is in possession of The Tribune, have far-reaching consequences not just for the much-criticised Punjab Police but also for those implicated by the police for giving clean chit to culprits. The Case During the preliminary hearing of a petition, Poonam Anand versus the State of Punjab, it transpired that initially a criminal case was registered, among others, against accused Inderjit Anand, his son Navil Anand, wife Poonam Anand, brother Harish Kumar Anand, Sudhir Syal, Upesh Kumar Gupta, Krishan Kumar Gupta and Dheeraj Walia on the complaint of Punjab National Bank’s senior manager. The FIR was registered at a Ludhiana police station on March 2 for cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and other offences on the allegations of preparing and using “false and forged cheque as genuine and apportionment of fraudulently withdrawn huge amount” on the basis of the forged cheques. After the completion of investigation, the challan or the final report was submitted against all the accused. The Anomaly Justice Sullar asserted: “Although legally speaking, the police almost becomes functus-officio (having discharged duty) after submission of the final police report as contemplated under Section 173 of the CrPC, except further investigation in case some fresh evidence is obtained, that too with the prior approval of the trial court”. Referring to the case in hand, Justice Sullar added “strange enough” a police party, in garb of subsequent reinvestigation after the submission of challan, exonerated accused Harish Anand, Navil Anand and Poonam Anand on an application filed by an accused. Again, the police exonerated the remaining accused Sudhir Syal, Krishan Kumar Gupta and Upesh Kumar Gupta by submitting a second report. The Observations Justice Sullar ruled: “As strange as it may sound, strictly and truly speaking, the tendency and frequency of some of the officers of the Punjab Police to prepare subsequent report of reinvestigation, exonerating or substituting the accused after the submission of final report has been tremendously increasing day by day… To my mind, it’s a very serious lapse, which requires immediate attention of the appropriate state authorities in order to maintain the rule of law. Therefore, the Principal Secretary, Home, is directed to conduct a detailed inquiry into the matter, fix responsibility, take appropriate action against the erring police officers, suggest remedial measures in order to avoid any reoccurrence of such illegal events in future and submit his report to the court within two months positively”.
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Nishan was told to do community service when he kidnapped Shruti
Faridkot, November 24 His “criminal” profile accessed from police records reveals that he was supposed to do community service in hospitals or religious places or indulge in social work up to February 28 next year. Judicial Magistrate Sangeet Pal Singh had ordered him to perform community service for illegal possession of arms and ammunition. Sources said Nishan may have to face another case for the breach of community service. He had reportedly gone missing for a month in July-August as well, but no action was taken then. Nishan's criminal profile is being prepared by the Faridkot police following directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The High Court had sought details following a petition filed by the minor's parents seeking a CBI probe into the alleged links between Nishan, policemen and politicians. Before the community service was ordered, Nishan was acquitted in 10 cases of petty quarrels. Surprisingly, neither the State nor the victims in these cases appealed against his acquittal. Police sources said Nishan got the benefit of being a juvenile. He was merely 15 years old when the first criminal case of causing injury to a person was lodged against him. The profile reveals that Nishan continued to enjoy such "benefits" till he allegedly kidnapped Shruti. He was declared a proclaimed offender in four cases over the past fortnight. He will also have to face separate cases for jumping bail. A local resident and a member of Shruti Kidnapping Case Action Committee, Swaran Singh, claimed that Nishan was allegedly protected by a local politician and several policemen. Swaran's son too was attacked and critically injured allegedly by Nishan and his accomplices. "Nishan almost chopped off my son's arm. Witnesses against Nishan turned hostile or were reluctant to depose in the court. I too have been threatened by policemen and politicians. But, I will pursue the case till justice is done," said
Swaran.
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3 days on, no coal supply from Jharkhand mine
Normative requirement is the level of reserve stock that needs to be maintained by any thermal plant for keeping the generation going. Though not all plants are able to maintain the full normative requirement, alarm bells started ringing once the stock slips below the half mark (of the normative requirement). Against the normative requirement of 30 days, the 920-MW Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant has coal stock left only for 13 days. Similarly, the 440-MW Bathinda thermal plant has coal stock left for 17 days whereas the normative requirement is 30 days. Likewise, the coal stock at the 1260-MW Ropar thermal plant is for 14.5 days, though the reserve should have been for 25 days. The daily consumption of coal is 1,09,310 tonnes for the Bathinda plant, 2,87,100 tonnes for the Ropar plant and 1,80,620 tonnes for the Lehra Mohabbat plant. At any thermal plant, coal stock reaches a critical stage whenever the normative requirement slips below the seven-day mark. The level touches super-critical point when less than four days of coal reserve is left. The supply to Punjab has come to a complete halt due to protests, which are being led by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi. He is demanding rehabilitation of those affected by the functioning of Panem Coal Mines Limited, a joint venture between Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and EMTA Coal, which supplies 7 million tonnes of coal to Punjab annually. The protesters have blocked the approach roads from the mines to the railway station in Jharkhand and are also disrupting the loading of coal (at the railway station). The Pachwara mines are PSPCL’s own captive mines. Apart from Panem, Punjab also gets supply from Coal India Limited. EMTA Coal director Bikash Mukherjee had written a letter to power corporation stating that the ground situation was “very critical” and in case the issue was not resolved immediately, the coal supply to the thermal plants of Punjab will be severely affected. PSPCL director (generation) GS Chhabra said, “We received Mukherjee’s letter on November 21 and it certainly is a cause for concern that there has been no coal supply to Punjab for the last three days.” Chhabra said EMTA officials are holding talks with the protesters to resolve the crisis. “We have taken measures to prevent any major power crisis in the state. PSPCL has requested Coal India that supply from central coal fields to Punjab should be stepped up”, he added.
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150 ‘unfit’ schoolteachers to be shown the door
Chandigarh, November 24 The Director-General of School Education (DGSE) has written to all block education officers and district education officers that "it has come to the notice of the department that certain teachers are medically or mentally unfit to teach. These teachers are being unfair to the students". Kahan Singh Pannu, DGSE, said: "During a recent inspection, I came across a teacher in Sangrur district who could not speak due to epilepsy. When I inquired from children, they said they had not heard a single word from their teacher in the entire academic session. Interestingly, the school principal asked me to overlook the disability as the teacher belonged to a poor family." "I was surprised to get similar views from other principals and teachers who asked the department to be sympathetic towards such teachers. The department has carried out a preliminary exercise to identify such cases. "It has been decided to direct the block and district-level officers to prepare a list of such teachers. Children are suffering for no fault of theirs". The department has already referred at least 10 such cases to the medical board. An official said: "The department will forward a list to the government to seek a remedy. The Department of Social Welfare needs to intervene in case of medically unfit teachers and prepare a policy for their settlement". Amarjit Singh, a school principal, said: "The government cannot steer clear of its responsibilities. It needs to be sympathetic towards teachers who lost their eyesight, met with an accident or suffered some medical complication during their service".
Acting tough
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BJP wants Akali Dal CPS attached to its ministers
Chandigarh, November 24 The decision was taken due to the embarrassment that the party had to face recently following the spat between Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal and Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Health) Navjot Kaur Sidhu. Both these leaders belong to the BJP and were at loggerheads over conducting sting operations on government doctors who were doing private practice. A similar situation is reported to have been witnessed in another ministry, sources said. The core committee held a meeting here today. Senior BJP leaders, including the party's national vice-president and Punjab affairs incharge Shanta Kumar, Punjab president Ashwani Sharma, former state president Balramji Das Tandon and the Health Minister were present in the meeting.
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Cong observer visits Barnala
Sangrur November 24 Sources said local leaders on Friday suggested the names of Congress MP Vijay Inder Singla, Barnala MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon and Dhuri MLA Arvind Khanna for the seat. However, some others also favoured Lehra MLA Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and former Sangrur MLA Surinderpal Singh Sibia to be the party’s candidate. Subhash Grover, Congress district president, Sangrur, refused to comment.
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Now, dial 1968 for legal assistance
Ludhiana, November 24 He claimed the service would help people seek legal advice. In case of need, they would be provided free legal services by referring the matter to the district legal services authority concerned, he added. Earlier, Justice Nijjar along with Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court AK Sikri laid the foundation stone of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) centre system. He said 22 ADR centres would be opened in the state to help reduce workload in courts. Justice Nijjar exhorted the youth to play a vital role in launching a crusade against social evils and in creating legal awareness among the people. Chief Justice AK Sikri claimed the justice delivery system had improved. The disposal rate of cases was higher than the filing rate, which was a good sign, he said.
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After job scandal, PPSC may appoint medical officers
Chandigarh, November 24 Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Health, said: “In the category of MBBS doctors, 334 posts are lying vacant. The number of applicants in this category is extremely high as compared to other categories. Hence, we thought it prudent to ask the commission to set up a panel for the recruitment of MBBS doctors.” Doctors were appointed by the PPSC till 2009 when the recruitment of 312 doctors came under the scanner. The matter was also taken up in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Subsequently, all recruitments were made by a selection panel. Dr Hardeep Singh, president of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association, said a PPSC panel would ensure greater accountability. A senior government doctor posted in Bathinda district, said: “I don’t think it makes any difference whether the Health Department or a PPSC panel conducts the interviews. But considering that a department panel consists of eminent personalities from the field of medicine, why doubt its credibility?” He pointed out that some candidates had written to the department that the exam and selections by Baba Farid University had been fair and that there was no need for the PPSC to conduct the interviews. For appointment of specialists, the Health Department has received few applications. It is learnt that the government has approved a department proposal to give incentives to gynaecologists, surgeons, paediatricians and anaesthetists worth Rs 5,000 per month and Rs 10,000 per month.
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Oil tankers to stay off roads
Jalandhar, November 24 Vice-president of district Indian Oil Tanker Union Ashok Sareen said the oil tanker owners decided to go on a strike as Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) officials had not been paying heed to their demands. The IOC terminal at Suchi Pind in Jalandhar supplies diesel and petrol to the entire Jammu and Kashmir state, most of Himachal Pradesh and the doaba region.
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Despite threat, Sikh jatha to visit Pakistan
Amritsar, November 24 SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said they would write to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, urging him to take up the matter of security of the pilgrims with the Pakistan Government. He said he had also spoken with Evacuee Trust Property Board Chairman Syed Asif Hashmi on the issue. Makkar criticised the Centre and Pakistan’s Embassy for denying visa to more than half (971) the members of the SGPC jatha.
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Ward-wise panchayat poll will divide villagers: Cong
Patiala, November 24 While a survey is on in all districts, the Congress alleges favoritism in ward-wise division of houses and believes that it will divide the villages on political lines. With the Rural Development Department imparting training to officials to complete the process at the earliest, political observers say the process will create a political divide in the already sensitive villages. Sources said the deputy commissioners had been told to ensure the completion of the survey in one month so that elections scheduled in May 2013, were held as per the new system. "The election process is set to get murkier as candidates will divide the villagers by playing the party card which will disturb peace in villages," stated a Congress leader. Behind this claim of the Congress is the fear that the elections will give an ideal platform to the SAD workers at the grass-roots level to show their working, the observers said, adding it is not a hidden fact that majority of SAD's vote back is based in Punjab villages and therefore SAD wants to capitalise on it. As per the new system, a village with 300 to 1,000 population will have five wards, a panch heading every ward. Similarly, villages with 1,000-2,000 population will have seven panches, above 5,000 but below 10,000 will have 11 panches while above 10,000 will have 13
panches.
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Policeman, guard held for extortion
Sangrur, November 24 The Amargarh police has registered a case against the three in this regard. Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harcharan Singh Bhullar said Ranjit Kaur called Batish to her house in Amargarh to buy an insurance policy. On November 22, Batish went to her house where ASI Ram Singh and Home Guard jawan Kuldip Singh threatened to register a case against Batish for attempting to rape her if he didn’t pay them Rs 1 lakh. The SSP said the duo took Rs 10,000 and Batish’s LIC insurance card from him. Besides, they forced Batish to write down that he had been caught molesting the woman, Bhullar added. SSP Bhullar said Batish agreed to give them Rs 50,000 on November 23. Later, he informed the matter to the police. The police laid a trap in Sangrur and allegedly caught the ASI and the Home Guard jawan while taking Rs 50,000 from
Batish.
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When Nishan Singh allegedly kidnapped a minor girl, Shruti, from her house on September 24, he was into the seventh month of the one-year community service that a Faridkot court had ordered him to perform in February this year.
A toll-free service has been launched to provide legal assistance to people and to reach out to the needy section of society.
Justice SS Nijjar, a Supreme Court Judge, today launched a four-digit toll-free number 1968 at a state-level youth festival at Guru Nanak
Bhawan.
Patiala, November 24