Shimla, January 18
All religious and spiritual organisations in Himachal will now enjoy exemption from the limit of owning 150 bighas of land. The state government has issued a notification, following the grant of assent by the President to the amendment in Section 5 of the HP Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972.

A notification in this regard was issued by the state government here yesterday. The President of India, on January 7, had given assent to the amendment passed by the Himachal Assembly on August 24, 2012, when the BJP regime headed by PK Dhumal was in power.

Incidentally, the Congress, while in Opposition, had opposed the exemption to religious organisations when the Bill was tabled in the Assembly. It had even decided to withdraw the Bill, which had already been sent for President’s assent.

Several religious sects, especially those based in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, have expressed their desire to have their deras in Himachal. In fact, some of them own sizeable chunks of land in the hill state where there is bar on purchase of land by non-Himachalis. By granting the religious organisations this exemption, the government has paved the way for the regularisation of the excess land, running into thousands of bighas purchased by them in violation of the law.

The BJP regime had brought in a Bill to amend the Act so that religious and spiritual organisations propagating moral and secular teachings could own land more than the limit of 150 bighas. The then Revenue Minister, Gulab Singh Thakur, had informed the Assembly that a request had been received from the Radha Soami Satsang to allow them to hold land more than the limit.

With the notification being finally issued, the religious and spiritual organisations will enjoy exemption and can own land more than 150 bighas, but cannot sell, lease, gift, will or mortgage the land. In case of contravention of the said conditions, the land would vest in the government.

The Commission on Benami Deals and Land Violations, headed by retired High Court Judge, Justice DP Sood, had come down heavily on religious institutions, accusing them of grabbing prime land at various towns, especially Shimla and Dharamsala, and rural areas at throwaway prices.

“A new form of ‘zamindari’ is being created in the name of religious institutions. The act of recognising such trusts as agriculturists and allotting those huge chunks of land is not only against the Act, but also results in discrimination in the applicability of the law to a Himachali and a non-Himachali. The formulation of such a policy is illegal and contrary to the basic principles of the Constitution,” it was noted in the report.

Hamirpur, January 18
The process to fill hundreds of vacant posts in various departments through the HP Subordinate Services Selection Board (HPSSSB) has been lingering on for years for want of clarification from the state government regarding recruitment and promotion (R&P) rules.

The HPSSSB has not started the recruitment process as a clarification regarding the R&P rules is still awaited, causing an inordinate delay in the selection of candidates.

Hundreds of posts in different categories — technical instructors and surveyors in the PWD and inspectors in the Excise and Taxation Department — cannot be filled.

The government has decided to carry recruitment for eight categories of posts, including the three categories, through the state public service commission, withdrawing the posts from the HPSSSB following a delay in the process.

HPSSSB officials say, "We have to make correspondence with the state government to seek clarifications regarding the R&P rules which takes time, resulting in the delay in the recruitment process for many posts."

Prof JK Chauhan, Chairman of the HPSSSB, said, "We had selected 1,329 candidates for different posts out of lakhs of applicants last year but the recruitment got delayed since it takes time for seeking clarification from the state government regarding the R&P rules." 

Shimla, January 18
Vehicular traffic was disrupted today and several areas were cut off from the upper Shimla region as the state capital and its surrounding areas experienced first heavy snowfall of the season. The lower hills witnessed intermittent rains.

The Hindustan-Tibet Highway was closed beyond Sanjauli and vehicular traffic to Rampur and Kinnaur was diverted via the road Dhami-Basantpur-Kingal.

Several roads in the interiors of Shimla district were closed due to heavy snow.

Shimla received about 20 cm of snow, while Jakhoo Hills, Kufri, Wildflower Hall and Fagu received about 40 cm of snow.

The key tourist resort of Narkanda received 55 cm of snow. Theog and Kotkhai received 35 and 30 cm of snow, respectively, while Sangla, Chitkul and Reckong Peo received 6 cm, 15 cm and 4 cm of snow, respectively.

The key tourist resorts of Chail, Kasauli and Karol Tibba received moderate snowfall, while Solan received flakes for the first time this season.

The tribal areas of Lahaul & Spiti, Pangi and Bharmaur received mild snowfall, but the mercury stayed at -13.1°C. The state capital shivered under freezing cold with the mercury plummeting to 0 degrees. Manali and Nahan reeled under severe cold with the mercury dropping by a few notches to stay at 1.2°C and 1.1°C, while Solan and Una recorded a low of 2.2°C and 3.5°C.

The Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, reviewed the situation and directed officials concerned to clear the roads at the earliest. He said the Theog-Hatkoti road was opened to traffic this afternoon. The Shimla-Kalka road and roads linking lower areas of Kangra, Hamirpur and Mandi with state headquarters remained open.

Snowfall was mild in tribal areas and the mercury rose by two degrees to stay at -4.5°C and -3°C at Keylong and Kalpa, respectively.

Nahan and Sangrah in Sirmaur recorded 41 and 37 mm rain, while Arki and Rajgarh had 31 mm and 30 mm rain, followed by Sunnibhajji 28 mm, Kandaghat, Solan and Jubbar Hatti 27 mm, Kotkhai 23 mm and Karsog 13 mm.

The maximum day temperature dropped by a few notches as the sky remained overcast in Shimla and adjoining areas and intermittent snowfall continued. Una recorded a maximum of 14.4°C while Sundernagar and Bhuntar recorded a high of 13.2°C and 13°C, followed by Kangra 12.1°C, Nahan 11.0°C, Solan 10.2°C, Dharamsala 10.5°C, Shimla 7.5°C and Kalpa 4°C.

Shimla, January 18
Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary was sworn in as judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court today. He was administered the oath of office by the Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir at the High Court. Before this, he was serving as Additional Judge of the High Court.

Registrar General AC Dogra conducted the proceedings. He read out the warrant of appointment issued by the President of India appointing Justice Chaudhary as judge of the High Court.

Justice Chaudhary was born in a rural agriculturist family on March 12, 1958, at Lohara village in Mandi district. He studied law from HPU in 1983 and enrolled as an advocate on May 10, 1983. He practised in the HP HC in civil, criminal, constitutional, labour, company and service matters. He held key posts in the Bar Association from 1986 to 1995. He remained additional standing counsel to the Central Government in the HC as well as standing counsel to various boards and corporations.

Before being elevated as Additional Judge of the High Court on January 21, 2012, he was posted on various important posts in the state judiciary.

Kangra, January 18
A 17-year-old youth died while four others received injuries when a car in which they were travelling was hit by a truck (HP 68 4472) near Old Matour today, the police said here.

The police said the car (HP 39 5929) was on its way to Gaggal from Kangra.

The police said the deceased had been identified as Rahul. He was a Class XII student and a resident of Badiyara. The four injured included Kamran (27) of Groah, Kaitan (17) of Sarrah and Sachin (19) of Badiyara. They were rushed to the DRPGMC at Tanda.

The body was sent for postmortem, after which it would be handed over to the family tomorrow, the police said. A case under Sections 304-A, 279 and 337, IPC, was registered against the truck driver, who was yet to be arrested.