Stamp duty evasion
Rs 5-crore scam unearthed
Jalandhar, December 3
Stamp duty evasion, worth over Rs 5 crore, has come to light in Jalandhar, where very costly commercial land, situated on the busy Jalandhar-Phagwara highway, was found to be registered as village residential land at 100 to 300 per cent lower rates than the collector rates fixed by the district administration.

No respite from illegal hoardings in city
Jalandhar, December 3
The Municipal Corporation (MC) Jalandhar seems to have turned a blind eye towards the increasing number of illegal hoardings in every nook and corner of the city. As religious, social or sports events are always in the offing here, almost all roundabouts, intersections, dividers and islands remain covered with hoardings.

Illegal hoardings of candidates for the Gymkhana Club election dot the divider leading to the club premises in Jalandhar on Monday. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

Gymkhana Club election result out after recounting of votes
Jalandhar, December 3
The Jullundur Gymkhana Club elections this year got mired in controversy, as the administration had to get recounting of votes done for the posts of 10 executives today after there were complaints of bungling in the counting process by some candidates and their supporters.

Winners of the Jullundur Gymkhana Club poll in a jubilant mood; and (right) cops deployed at the club during the recounting of votes, a day after the poll in Jalandhar on Monday. Photos: Sarabjit Singh

Physically challenged at receiving end in govt offices
Jalandhar, December 3
Despite laws enacted in their favour, the physically challenged persons continue to face problems of accessibility in almost all state and Central government offices in the city.

Members of the Handicapped Welfare Society present a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti on the occasion of World Disability Day; and (right) members of the society come out of the office of the DC. Photos: Sarabjit Singh

Youth dies after consuming 'adulterated' poppy husk
Phagwara, December 3
Sonu (35), an alleged drug addict, of nearby Raipur-Araian village died under mysterious circumstances this morning. He was under treatment at a nearby village hospital, where he died.

Sculptor pays tribute to Gujral with clay statue
Jalandhar, December 3
A sculptor, Charanjit Maan, resident of Lesriwal village in Jalandhar, has paid tributes to the late Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral by making a clay bust of the departed leader.

Charanjit Maan gives final touches to a statue of the late Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral; and (right) clay busts of world leaders made by him at his residence in Lesriwal village. Tribune photos

Road to nowhere? Vehicles cross a flyover in thick fog on the Jalandhar-Amritsar national highway on Monday morning. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

Two killed, 9 hurt in mishaps
Phagwara, December 3
Two persons, including a woman, were killed and nine others sustained injuries in four different road mishaps in the subdivision. A pedestrian, Daljit Kaur, resident of Satnampura, was crushed to death by a speeding bus near Chahal Nagar.

2 held with poppy husk
Phagwara, December 3
The police has busted an inter-district gang of drug peddlers by arresting its two members, identified as Sodhi Ram and Jaswant of Silkiana village.

Youth festival School students perform gidda during inter-school youth festival “Pratibha-12” organised by Desh Bhagat University at Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall in Jalandhar on Monday. Photos: Sarabjit Singh

On protest path Members of the ASHA Worker and Facilitator Union, Punjab, hold a dharna in front of the Civil Surgeon’s office; and (right) members of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union sit on a hunger strike in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Jalandhar on Monday. Photos: Sarabjit Singh

Stamp duty evasion
Rs 5-crore scam unearthed
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 3
Stamp duty evasion, worth over Rs 5 crore, has come to light in Jalandhar, where very costly commercial land, situated on the busy Jalandhar-Phagwara highway, was found to be registered as village residential land at 100 to 300 per cent lower rates than the collector rates fixed by the district administration.

The prime commercial land, measuring 42 kanals and 2 marlas, was situated on the Jalandhar-Phagwara GT Road.

The "Collector rate" of the land along the Jalandhar-Phagwara GT Road up to Paragpur was fixed at Rs 9.60 lakh per marla. The sale of the land, however, was effected through 12 sale deeds registered between Rs 30,000 to 1 lakh per marla by "cleverly" presenting it as Birring village residential and agriculture land, apparently with the connivance of certain revenue officials and land owners.

The land belonged to owners of the once-famous Punjab Iron and Steel Company (PISCO) and it was said to have been sold through an authorised signatory.

The building of the old factory on the land which was sold in bits and pieces was yet to be fully dismantled. The "scam" came to the fore when one of the sub-registrars came across the irregularity and pointed it out to the District Collector that the sale of the prime commercial land was registered at much lower rates than the prevalent collector rates in violation of the provisions of the Indian Stamp Act.

DC Priyank Bharti entrusted the probe to the Additional Deputy Commissioner Parneet Bhardwaj and asked him to determine the exact value of the PISCO land and the extent of stamp duty evasion, if any, under Section 47-A of the Act. ADC Bhardwaj then inspected the land and found that the land in question was purely commercial and the factory building was still being dismantled.

“Surprisingly, the land was not residential in nature. It was purely a commercial piece of land situated on the main GT Road which has already been declared as a 'Commercial Stretch' by the District Collector. Stamp duty evasion worth Rs 5.19 crore was detected and notices in form II have been issued to the respondents---all six buyers based in Mohali, Mumbai, Jalandhar,” said Parneet Bhardwaj.

The failure to deposit the assessed amount of Rs 5.19 crore could invoke stringent action against the respondents under Section 48 of the Indian Stamp Act which included, recovery of the requisite amount as arrear of the land revenue.

Earlier, when the respondents were summoned by the court of the ADC, they tried to come out with different "evasive" replies, including finding faults with the computer of the Sub-Registrar or the issuance of notices to them with wrong intentions or reiterating that the land was situated in the jurisdiction of Birring village and was not at all commercial. “A spot visit falsified all the claims. Notices for the recovery of the assessed stamp duty have been sent. If the deficient stamp duty is not deposited, further action under Section 48 of the Indian Stamp Act will be initiated,” said Parneet Bhardwaj.

Interestingly, the detection of stamp duty evasion in Jalandhar might be the highest in Punjab, as stamp duty evasion worth Rs 33 crore has been detected during the past about one year, official sources said. “ More than 300 cases have been decided during the past one year. The ongoing drive to detect stamp duty evasion will be intensified in the days to come,” said a senior administration officer.

No respite from illegal hoardings in city
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 3
The Municipal Corporation (MC) Jalandhar seems to have turned a blind eye towards the increasing number of illegal hoardings in every nook and corner of the city. As religious, social or sports events are always in the offing here, almost all roundabouts, intersections, dividers and islands remain covered with hoardings. The stretch of the road in front of the Gymkhana Club has been the worst affected.

All candidates in fray had put up their multiple hoardings along the divider and electricity poles. Not even a single pole around the area was spared, clearly in defiance of the Defacement of Public Property Act. Almost every candidate had put up multiple hoardings in his name. Interestingly, residences of top-rung administrators and even MC officials from the city fall just close to the road where defacement had been done.

Mayor Sunil Jyoti said, "He had realised that no other city was so badly defaced as Jalandhar. There are specific sites earmarked for putting up advertisements. I have asked the Commissioner to start a major drive to remove hoardings."

Gymkhana Club election result out after recounting of votes
Daljeet S Chhabra elected secretary; Narinder S Shergill treasurer; Paramjit S Penta had already been declared junior vice-president
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 3
The Jullundur Gymkhana Club elections this year got mired in controversy, as the administration had to get recounting of votes done for the posts of 10 executives today after there were complaints of bungling in the counting process by some candidates and their supporters.

In a late-night episode, the administration also got complaints lodged with the police against three persons, including Vishal Kakkar, a candidate for the post of executive, Ajay Verma, his counting agent, and Girish Kakkar, a government teacher (on duty from the administration side), for allegedly forging documents related to counting. The complaint was filed by Tehsildar Elections-cum-ARO of the club polls at the division number 4 police station.

There have been allegations that the trio had put the number of votes polled in one round to 60 instead of the actual figure of 30. SDM-1-cum-Returning Officer Iqbal Singh Sandhu checked up the matter himself and recommended the lodging of a complaint.

Satish Thakur Gora, who had been getting re-elected as secretary for the past eight years, lost by 85 votes to advocate Daljeet Singh Chhabra of the Progressive Group, who managed to get 1,254 votes polled in his favour.

While Paramjit Singh Penta of the same group had already been declared winner unopposed for the post of the junior vice-president, the other two posts also were grabbed by the same group.

Gulshan Sharma took a lead of 414 votes from his competitor Tarun Sikka of the Gora group. Narinder Singh Shergill got elected as treasurer, defeating Amrik Singh Ghai by a margin of 310 votes.

In the recounting done today, the Gora group got some relief, as six of the 10 executives who got elected are from the Gora group. The top 10 winners are Amit Kukreja, Saurabh Khullar, Dheeraj Seth, Gurpreet Singh Kochhar, Anu Matta, Vivek Gupta, Vipan Jhanji, Shaleen Joshi, SPS Virk and Rajiv Sachdeva.

Satish Gora, when contacted, said he had demanded a copy of the entire record of voting and video clippings. “If I find anything concrete regarding any attempt to influence the voter or any bungling, I will move court, demanding the setting aside of the polls,” he said.

RO Sandhu said he did not get any objection from anyone, which meant that the candidates were so far satisfied with the result.

Physically challenged at receiving end in govt offices
Face problems of accessibility in state and Central government buildings
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 3
Despite laws enacted in their favour, the physically challenged persons continue to face problems of accessibility in almost all state and Central government offices in the city.

Even though it has been 17 years since the Persons with Disability (Equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) Act 1995 came into being, the office of the PUDA, Jalandhar Improvement Trust, judicial courts complex, SSP office, income tax office, sales tax offices and passport office are without any provision of access to the disabled.

Fed up with the inconvenience, the members of the Handicapped Welfare Society today gave a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti, demanding their right to accessibility in all buildings.

Advocate Ashok Sharma, president of the society, said that they were being made to suffer even at the entrance to the DC office complex owing to the main passage getting blocked due to the chaining of iron gates. “There is a special toilet for the handicapped in the complex, but the same remains locked since the day it was constructed. What is the idea of such a provision?” he asked.

He further claimed that the judicial complex was also lacking facilities, as there is no parking place, special toilets for disabled and a provision of wheel-chair. “The office of the Commissioner of Police is two-storeyed, but there is no lift and ramp facility.”

The members further rued that even the MC was giving clearance to shopping malls and cinema halls coming up without proper accessibility to the disabled. They demanded right to free education for a child with disability up to the age of 18, right to free books and scholarships to such students, appropriate transportation facilities, removal of architectural barriers in public buildings, allotment of plots at concessional rates, waiver of import duty on wheel chairs, crutches, hearing aids and artificial limbs, and minimum monthly pension of Rs 2,000.

Youth dies after consuming 'adulterated' poppy husk
Ashok Kaura

Phagwara, December 3
Sonu (35), an alleged drug addict, of nearby Raipur-Araian village died under mysterious circumstances this morning. He was under treatment at a nearby village hospital, where he died.

Though it was suspected that Sonu died after consuming adulterated puppy husk, SHO Phillaur Gulshan Lal denied this. He told this correspondent here this evening that he had visited the victim's family, but none of his family member ever complained about this. The body was handed over to the deceased's family members after conducting the post-mortem examination at Phillaur Civil Hospital. The police has acted according to Section 174 of the CrPC , said the SHO.

Meanwhile, over 20 drug addicts, belonging to different villages, including Silkiana, Dayalpur, Katalo, Puari and Raipur Araian, reportedly fell ill after consuming adulterated puppy husk and are being treated by different village doctors after suffering from gastroenteritis caused by suspected adulterated puppy husk.

Phillaur DSP Paramjit Singh Pannu denied reports of consumption of adulterated puppy husk and told this correspondent here this evening that no such complaint was received from any family member of any victim.Sources said nobody wanted to involve their family members in a drug addiction case.

Sculptor pays tribute to Gujral with clay statue
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 3
A sculptor, Charanjit Maan, resident of Lesriwal village in Jalandhar, has paid tributes to the late Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral by making a clay bust of the departed leader.

Maan claims to have made busts of prominent leaders of the world and other personalities, including Barack Obama, Dr Manmohan Singh, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Benazir Bhutto, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Maulana Azad, Bhagat Singh, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Lord Buddha.

"I have no formal training in sculpting. All I used to do during my childhood was to play with clay and try to make idols and small statues of gods and goddesses while playing in the courtyard of our house. When I grew up I found that I am doing it seriously. Now, I do it very effortlessly," said Charanjit Maan.

Talking about the time he spent on his hobby of sculpting, Maan said one such sculpture could take anywhere between 10 to 20 days.

Two killed, 9 hurt in mishaps
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, December 3
Two persons, including a woman, were killed and nine others sustained injuries in four different road mishaps in the subdivision. A pedestrian, Daljit Kaur, resident of Satnampura, was crushed to death by a speeding bus near Chahal Nagar.

Satnam Singh of Mandhali village was killed in a road mishap here today.

In other two mishaps, nine persons, including three women and two children, sustained serious injuries on the national highway. Four vehicles - two motorcycles, car and a scooter - were damaged in the mishaps.

2 held with poppy husk
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, December 3
The police has busted an inter-district gang of drug peddlers by arresting its two members, identified as Sodhi Ram and Jaswant of Silkiana village.

The police said gang members Sodhi Ram and Jaswant were nabbed during a naka near the Panchhat turn on the Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road. The police recovered 36 kg of puppy husk from their car. The police also impounded their car.