Chandigarh, March 15
Two months after a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court framed charges of corruption against former High Court Judge Nirmal Yadav, the complainant in the case, Amrik Singh, today deposed in the court.

Singh, who was working as a peon at the camp office of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s residence in Sector 11, told the court that Prakash Ram, the munshi of co-accused Sanjeev Bansal, had delivered a bag at the camp office on August 13, 2008.

Singh told the court that on the same day, Prakash Ram visited the camp office and told him that he wanted to deliver some important documents which were sent from Delhi for the judge. Singh added he took the sealed bag inside and gave it to Justice Nirmaljit. After opening the bag, they found cash inside it.

Justice Nirmaljit asked him to catch hold of Prakash and called the Police Control Room. Within five minutes, the police came and caught Prakash, Singh told the court.

“I usually work from 8 am to around 9 pm. But the next morning, I reached office early in view of the unusual incident. The police again visited the residence and I handed over a written complaint to them,” Singh said.

Amrik Singh’s statement will be cross-examined during the next hearing of the case scheduled on April 12. Two more witnesses recorded their statements today which were cross-examined by the defence lawyers. These included head constables Bahadur Singh and Satyavir, who were posted at the Sector 11 police station and who registered the daily diary report of the case in 2008.

The court framed charges against Justice Yadav under Section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act on January 18 this year. The evidence process began today.

Charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy were framed against four others in the case. The other accused include former additional advocate-general of Haryana Sanjiv Bansal, Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh Bhasin and city-based businessman Rajiv Gupta. Also, charges of fabricating false statement were framed by the court against Nirmal Yadav, Bansal and Gupta.

Chandigarh, March 15
Income Tax officer Rakesh Jain, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation for accepting Rs 50,000 as bribe last year, today moved a contempt application against the CBI for delay in the release of his seized property.

The special CBI court today issued a notice to the CBI to file its reply in the case by March 21. The contempt application has been filed against the CBI for not complying with the directions of the court regarding the release of the property, issued in October last year.

Rakesh Jain was caught taking bribe from Ashok Arora, a real estate businessman, at his house in Sector 22 on February 6. Jain had demanded the bribe to settle an issue pertaining to the income tax notices issued to Arora. Two gold bricks and Rs 24 lakh were also recovered from his residence.

Later, a scrutiny of his bank lockers led to recovery of two more gold bricks. Jain, allegedly, had initially demanded Rs 3.5 lakh as bribe, but the deal was finally settled on Rs 2.5 lakh. Arora had paid him the first instalment of Rs 50,000 when the CBI laid a trap and arrested the accused. The bribe amount of Rs 50,000 was recovered from the undergarments of Kanta Jain, mother of the accused.

He was chargesheeted in September, last year.

Mohali, March 15
The Mohali police arrested Lawrence Bishnoi, a former member of the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), in an attempt to murder case here today.

According to police sources, Bishnoi has been taken on production warrant from Pehwal, Fazilka. Bishnoi was wanted in an attempt to murder case, which took place in Tribune Colony at Kansal village two years ago.

The case was registered on the complaint of one Raja Singh, who had alleged that Bishnoi had opened fire following a fight between two groups of youngsters.

Bishnoi was produced before the court, which had sent him to police remand till March 18. Bishnoi, a history-sheeter, is also wanted by the Chandigarh Police in several cases.

Mohali, March 15
The Mohali police booked Malkit Singh, a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) supporter and a resident of Kailon village, in a fraud case.

The complainant, Ram Singh, who is a resident of Amrala village, alleged that he and Malkit Singh had purchased a plot jointly at Kailon village.

“Later, Malkit Singh sold off the plot without informing him and did not pay his dues," alleged Ram Singh.

Notably, the complainant filed a complaint in this regard on May 31 last year, but the police registered a case against Malkit Singh under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code yesterday.

Chandigarh, March 15
Everything doesn’t seem to be going well at the 28th Senior State Softball Championship that commenced at the grounds of PEC University, here today.

The participants alleged that the two-day tournament was being organised in an unprofessional manner keeping all rules aside.

The players of Famous-9 Softball Club alleged that they were asked to leave the grounds after they protested against fielding of players of the opposite team during their first match against Friends’ Club.

“Players of other teams, that lost their previous stage matches, were asked to supervise our match. Earlier, we were playing under protest, however following erroneous mistakes, we raised objection against the officials. Rather than taking any action against the field umpires, the organisers asked us to play under their supervision. We left the match, in between, following rude behaviour of the organisers,” said Pankaj, skipper of the team.

Coach Rakesh Kumar said, “We were only demanding appointment of professional umpires. The appointed officials, for our match, were not even in the panel list,” alleged Rakesh.

Also, the tourney has witnessed participation by only six teams in men’s category and two teams in women’s category. As per rules, the registered associations should have at least seven participating teams each for different categories. The general secretary of the Chandigarh Amateur Softball Association, Roop Lal Sharma, was unavailable for comment.

Participating teams Men’s category: Friends’ Club, Chandigarh Coaching Centre Club, Strikers Club, Chandigarh’s Lion Club, Universal Club, Famous-9 Softball Club Women’s category: Strikers Club and Chandigarh Coaching Centre Club.

Chandigarh, March 15
The Chandigarh Cricket Association that is affiliated to the Punjab Cricket Academy will be organising cricket trials for the U-16 inter-district tournament starting from April 15.

The trials would be conducted at Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, on March 22 at 3pm. Players born on or after September 1, 1998, will be considered eligible for the the trials. Players are required to bring their date of birth certificates along with them. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 15
The 15th annual sports meet of the IET Bhaddal Technical campus concluded here on the college campus ground.

The meet was declared open by former international cricketer Yograj Singh. Events like races, high jump, long jump javelin throw were held on the occasion.

During the prize distribution function, Maheep Singh Sandhu was awarded the College Colours for his achievements in sports at the university level.

Earlier in the events, Jaspreet Singh secured top berth in the 1,500m race, while in men's high jump Harpreet Singh attained the top spot.

In men's discuss throw event, Salinder Singh won the medal, while in women's category Neeha Rukta secured the top berth.

In women’s javelin throw event, Isha bagged the first place, whereas Navneet Kaur won the 200 m race.