Chandigarh, October 21
Acting on a petition filed by Haryana Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan Gujjar seeking anticipatory bail in a scribe’s suicide case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed his arrest. Justice Sabina also issued notice to the state on another petition filed by Gujjar challenging the summons issued by an Ambala Court in the same case. Both cases will now come up for hearing on December 17.

Naraingarh-based journalist Pankaj Khanna had committed suicide by consuming poison. In his suicide note, he had blamed the MLA and two others, Ajit Aggarwal and Vijay Aggarwal. Khanna had alleged he was being harassed and humiliated by the two at the MLA’s behest. Soon after the incident, Khanna’s relatives had blocked the state highway demanding the registration of a case against the MLA and others.

The MLA had earlier also claimed before the High Court that he was being falsely dragged into the case registered on June 11, 2009, on the complaint of the victim’s father, Yashpal Khanna.

In an earlier petition, Gujjar’s counsel said: “After the registration of the FIR, the police investigated the matter and filed a challan dated July 15, 2009. In the final report submitted by the police under Section 173, CrPC, the petitioner was found innocent and the allegation levied against the petitioner were found to be baseless. The conclusion was based on the inquiry conduct by DSP, Naraingarh, dated July 1, 2009.

New Delhi, October 21
Former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, accused of abetting the suicide of former airhostess Geetika Sharma, today told the Delhi High Court that he would not seek interim bail in future from the trial court in order to attend the Assembly session. The MLA’s assurance came from his senior advocate Ramesh Gupta before Justice JR Midha.

The court accepted Kanda's submission and disposed of a police plea seeking cancellation of his bail on the ground that the same court had refused bail to Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi in a CWG scam to attend Parliament, but in this case, the trial court had ignored the police argument and granted relief to Kanda.

Kanda has already spent 13 months in custody and has been on month-long interim bail since September 4 from a lower court to be able to attend the Assembly session. Kanda, who represents Sirsa in the Assembly, had also moved the city court for extension of interim bail, which was dismissed by the court and he had subsequently surrendered on expiry of his bail period.

Earlier, the High Court had, while hearing the police plea, said it would examine the issue that despite this court's ruling not to grant bail to any accused to attend assembly or parliament session, how the trial court had allowed Kanda's plea. Justice Midha said the trial court should have followed the High Court's order.

“Once the law is settled by the Division Bench (of this court) that no MP or MLA can seek bail as a matter of right, how can the trial court grant bail?" asked the High Court, adding, “After the judgement in the Suresh Kalmadi case, no MP or MLA can seek bail to attend parliament, that right is over.”

The court today decided to hear the police's plea against interim bail granted to Kanda's employee and co-accused in the case Aruna Chadha on November 12. The trial court had granted interim bail to Chadha till November 15.

Kanda and his aide Chadha were accused of abetting the suicide of Geetika, the 23-year-old former airhostess. The two have denied the allegations. The victim had left behind a note accusing the two of harassing her. She committed suicide on the night of August 4 last year.

Kanda has been charged with rape, abetment to rape as well as suicide, criminal conspiracy and forgery and under the IT Act for hacking computers and sending offensive or false messages. However, the High Court has absolved him of the rape charge in the case. The Delhi Police arrested Chadha on August 8 last year. — PTI

Bhiwani, October 21
A conspiracy to grab around three acres of prime government land worth crores has been detected in Loharu town of the district. The police yesterday booked a tehsilar, a clerk and others in a case of fraud and misuse of government office.

The Loharu SDM came to know about the land grab bid after the private party approached him earlier this month with a court order to appoint a duty magistrate to ensure possession of the land.

When he scanned the revenue record, he found that the land in question was government land. The land in front of the PWD Rest House was being used by vegetable vendors for many years.

A private party from Rajasthan approached the court in 2003 to demand possession of the land. It claimed that it was in possession of the land, but wanted the court to ensure that no private individual or the municipal committee interfered.

The municipal committee had stated that the land belonged to it. During court hearings, the private party had produced land record showing that it owned the land through a sale deed.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had given the judgement in favour of the private party, which then approached the local court.

The SDM said it was found on checking the land record that the then tehsildar had wrongly demarcated the three acres as the land under dispute.

“The revenue record says neither the private party nor the municipal committee locked in the court case are the owners of the land. I have lodged a complaint with the police to register a case against then tehsilar Jagdish Chander Bishnoi, municipal clerk Satya Narayan and others,” he said.

The Station House Officer of the Loharu police station said a case was registered under Sections 420, 409, 476, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

“Two government officials are named in the first information report, but the investigation is likely to lead to the persons who wanted to grab the land,” he said.

He added that the court had directed the administration and the police to ensure possession of the land by October 3, but the administration had detected the fraud and informed the court.

Chandigarh, October 21
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally at Sonepat, addressed by party president Rajnath Singh, has come as a big relief to Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) leaders and workers, with the BJP describing the alliance between the two parties as unbreakable. It has cleared the air, at least for the moment, that the two parties are here to stay as pre-poll coalition partners.

The HJC is relieved as there has been speculation about the BJP dumping the HJC to join hands with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). This announcement, welcomed by the HJC, has exposed the chinks within the BJP.

One faction of the BJP, that includes leaders like Arun Jaitley, has held several meetings with INLD supremo Om Parkash Chautala, exploring the possibility of an alliance. But as Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath have assured the HJC, the 'double think' on the issue within the BJP has become apparent.

While the BJP-HJC rally to launch the campaign for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana has reiterated the strength of the alliance, not much should be read into the statements, with elections yet to be announced. A lot can happen in the days to come. The INLD has already extended support to Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. In the present alliance, the BJP will contest eight seats, leaving two for the HJC.

Another factor that needs to be seen at the Sonepat rally is the attendance. The Rewari rally addressed by Modi recently had far too many people in attendance than those present at the rally addressed by Rajnath, Nitin Gadkari and Sushma. This reflects the acceptability of various BJP leaders among the people, clearly giving Modi the lead. Interestingly, Rajnath was not as vociferous in emphasising the 'unbreakable' nature of the alliance as Sushma.

In fact, Sushma has been projecting HJC president Kuldeep Bishnoi as the future chief ministerial candidate of the alliance. Even as the alliance has decided on contesting 45 seats each in a House of 90, the projection of Bishnoi as the Leader of the House has not gone well with many in the BJP and is viewed as too far-fetched.

The only obvious conclusion one can draw is that former Congress leader Ramesh Kaushik, who had quit the Congress and joined the BJP at this rally, may be the BJP nominee for the Lok Sabha seat from here.

There is no denying the fact that INLD leaders and workers will be a little demoralised by the announcements made at the Sonepat rally as this somehow diminishes their hopes of capturing power in the state when it goes to the polls in October next year.

A few INLD leaders are confident that with the efforts of people like Jaitley and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the BJP cannot totally ignore the INLD. In the absence of a formal alliance, they INLD and the BJP may decide to field candidates in a way that destabilises the Congress the most.

The golden rule in politics is that no announcement by a politician can be taken at its face value. In 2000, Chautala kept saying he would not go in for an early poll, but he recommended an early poll to regain power for a five-year term. Similarly, it may be naive for all to take the utterances of Rajnath and Sushma as gospel.

Kaithal, October 21
Police Martyrs Day was celebrated at the Police Lines ground here today. SP Kuldeep Singh Yadav and other police personnel paid tributes to jawans and officials of the police and other security forces killed in action.

The SP paid floral tributes at the memorial and a contingent of the Haryana Police fired shots in the air, sounded a bugle and reversed their arms.

Vikram Jeet Singh, inspector and in charge of the district security branch, read out the names of all 576 personnel killed in the line of duty from September 1 last to August 31.

Blood donated

Sonepat : As many as 225 units of blood were donated by policemen during a camp jointly organised by the Sonepat police and the district Red Cross Society here on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day today. Paying tributes to the police martyrs, Arun Singh,SP, said they were great assets of the nation who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country and society. 

Chandigarh, October 21
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on a tenant and his relative for not vacating a shop despite furnishing an undertaking before the rent controller.

Taking up a contempt-of-court petition filed by landlord Devinder Singh against tenant Sukhdev Thapar and another respondent, Justice Mahesh Grover said the court could not be a silent spectator to conscious subversion and abuse of the process of law. Justice Grover also made it clear that a jail sentence was not a distant reality in the matter.

Devinder Singh had earlier claimed that the shop was rented out to Thapar in 1991. Desirous of getting the shop vacated to set up his own business, Devinder Singh filed a petition in 2001 for Thapar’s eviction on the ground of personal necessity. Allowing the petition, Yamunanagar rent controller directed Thapar in July, 2008, to hand over the shop’s possession within two months. An appeal against the order was dismissed in February 2011, leading to the filing of a revision petition before the High Court.

During the proceedings, Thapar agreed to hand over the shop’s vacant possession to the petitioner and, in fact, made a statement to this effect. Thapar then gave an undertaking before the rent controller to vacate the shop within the stipulated time .

Instead, he resorted to a ‘devious plan to frustrate the orders of this court and to over-reach it’. He got a civil suit filed from his brother-in-law, Sunil Kumar, for restraining Devinder Singh from interfering in the physical and peaceful possession of the shop.

After going through the pleadings, Justice Grover asserted: “Evidently, the facts reveal that respondent Thapar in collusion with his own brother-in-law, Sunil Kumar, indulged in clever machinations to hoodwink the law and frustrate the claims of the petitioner and obstruct the course of justice?. The respondent, Sukhdev Thapar, ordinarily should have been sentenced to imprisonment for the reasons that he has consciously subverted the process of law and defied the orders of this court. He has resorted to manipulative tactics to deprive the petitioner of his legitimate claim. He has forced the petitioner to unwanted litigation, two civil suits in the courts at Jagadhri and a contempt petition here in this court?.”

“However, since the petitioner has now been given the shop’s possession and both respondents have undertaken to withdraw the civil suits filed by them, I deem it appropriate to impose exemplary costs on the respondents instead of sentencing them”. The costs have to be equally paid by Thapar and Kumar.

Tohana (Fatehabad), October 21
Hundreds bade a tearful adieu to Atul Marya, CBI Special Magistrate - cum - Civil Judge (Senior Division), Panchkula, who died after a heart attack yesterday, at his native town Tohana in Fatehabad today.

Wreaths were laid on his mortal remains by Haryana Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh, who represents Tohana in the State Assembly, RK Sondhi, District and Sessions Judge, Panchkula, and on behalf of the Punjab and Haryana High Court by Ashwani Goyal and Mahavir Singh, both Additional District and Sessions Judges in Fatehabad courts.

A large number of judicial officers from across the state and lawyers from different districts where Marya worked during his short but illustrious career spanning 13 years participated in his funeral.

His elder son, Aadil, lit the funeral pyre.

Expressing shock, Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar said Marya would always be remembered for his humane approach in judiciary.

Born on August 4, 1971, Atul Marya joined the Haryana Civil Services (Judicial Branch) in 1999.

Marya’s friends and those who knew him closely remember him as an upright officer, who had a humane approach in his functioning.

As Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate at Dabwali, Marya had issued notice to the Superintendent of Faridkot Jail on June 7, 2011, when an accused, Sukhchain Singh, was produced handcuffed in his court .

On December 8, 2011, Marya rescued two siblings, Abhilash (16) and Abhishek (12), who were removed from their schools and pushed in to labour by their maternal uncle and aunt.

The children had lost their mother in an accident and their father had lost a legal battle for their custody to their maternal grandfather, where they were being ill-fed, ill-treated and pushed into labour.

Marya had intervened in the case after receiving an anonymous call.

Marya used to post news on Supreme Court’s important judgments on his FB Timeline and his most recent post was “Bounced cheque? Fine can’t be more than twice the amount: Supreme Court” published in a business news channel’s website on October 16.

Rewari, October 21
The police has registered a case of cheating, forgery and criminal intimidation against Desh Raj of Mahendragarh district and Rajender Singh of Gurgaon district for duping Lilu Ram of the Farukh Nagar area in Gurgaon district of Rs 16.5 lakh in connection with land purchase.

The case was registered on the directive of the Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate on a petition filed by Lilu Ram. The complainant had contended that Desh Raj, in collusion with Rajender, had taken Rs 16.5 lakh from him as earnest money while executing a fraudulent agreement for the sale of agricultural land at Bawwa village of Kosli tehsil on June 10.

When Lilu Ram reached Kosli on September 10 to get the sale deed registered, he found the duo conspicuously absent from there. After the actual owners of the land exposed the fraud and Lilu Ram failed to get back the amount from the duo, he had filed a petition in the court.

Chandigarh, October 21
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, New Delhi, and the Haryana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights will organise a public hearing for cases of violation of the Right to Education Act and child rights at Faridabad on November 7.

Giving this information here today, a spokesperson said the victim children or their parents or guardians in Faridabad, Mewat, Palwal, Rewari, Narnaul and Gurgaon could send their complaints to the district officers concerned till October 31.

They could also send their complaints to District Education Officers, District Elementary Education Officers, District Programme Officers and District Child Protection Officers.

Hisar, October 21
The police today secured six-day custody of four persons arrested in a fake currency case. The police yesterday nabbed Bijender Prasad, Ramesh Kumar and Kameshwar of Bihar and Mahender Singh of Himachal Pradesh and seized fake currency worth Rs 1.2 lakh from them.

The police said the accused had got in touch with local agents and were trying to circulate counterfeit currency in the market. The CIA branch of the police had got a tip-off and arrested the accused.

Sirsa, October 21
A shopkeeper reportedly raped a married woman at her house in the Shiv Nagar locality here on Sunday. The victim's medical examination confirmed rape. The police arrested the accused Saurabh, running a shop at the Mohta Market here.

The victim reported that she had gone to Saurabh's shop a few days back to purchase some goods. As she fell short of money, she promised to pay the balance soon, on which Saurabh asked for her mobile number.

He contacted her on Sunday and went to her house to collect the money. Finding her alone in the house, he reportedly raped her under threat and fled.

Gurgaon, October 21
Karva Chauth apps on smartphones is what city eves are drooling over this Karva Chauth. Be it getting the usual ‘gyaan’ or folklore or turning your phone to a sieve to see the Moon, the apps being provided by different service providers have proved an instant hit, especially among women working in MNCs at night hours.

Among popular apps is the Karva Chauth 1.0 app, which provides you three essentials of fasting. The app comes with the entire ‘katha’ that is usually related during the evening ‘puja’, the guidelines for surviving the day and list of Karva Chauth songs with lyrics.

“This is my first Karva Chauth and I do not know anybody here. I panicked about not being able to hear the ‘katha’ on the right time and had been looking for community functions when I got to know about this app. I have downloaded the app and will be able to hear the ‘katha’ easily now,” says Simone Ahuja, an architect.

The most fascinating app is the one introduced by Tanishq, which helps turn the phone into a sieve by giving the phone camera a net effect. One click and there is no need to carry the kitchen staple around to see the Moon. The more advanced version is the i-karvachauth app, that lets a person view any of the existing pictures in the phone under a sieve.

The app has got thumbs-up from women working in city high-rises till the wee hours. “There is no way to take a sieve to office. I have to work from 6 pm till early in the morning. I was requesting my boss to allow me to go home for half and hour for the rituals. Now I will use my smartphone as a sieve,” says Ruchi Guliani, a call centre executive.