Chandigarh, March 27
Bringing an end to the long trail of criminal cases registered against former UT Chief Engineer KK Jerath over the years, a local court today acquitted Jerath and 24 others in a case of corruption registered against him in 1998. The case was registered by the vigilance cell of the UT police following a raid by the Income Tax Department at Jerath’s residence. This was the last case pending against Jerath as he has been acquitted in five cases earlier. He has been convicted only in one case of disproportionate assets registered by the CBI against him.

The case in which Jerath was acquitted today was registered on February 3, 1998.

According to the prosecution, kickbacks worth lakhs

of rupees were accepted by Jerath for issuing supply orders during his tenure as Chief Engineer. His name also appeared in the diaries of middlemen Dinesh Sharma, Suresh Sharma and Sunil Kalia, which were recovered during raids by the income tax authorities at their residences.

While Jerath was accused of receiving kickbacks for granting contracts to various firms for the supply of electrical goods, during the trial, all 18 firms denied having paid any money to anyone, counsel for Jerath Tarminder Singh told the court. A team of the Income Tax Department had raided the residences of all accused and the three mediators.

Two other accused in the case, Jagdish Mitter, the then SE (Electricity), and AK Sachdeva, the then Under Secretary to the Chief Engineer, had turned approvers in court.

Jerath's counsel said all cases were registered under pressure from the then UT Home Secretary, Anuradha Gupta. “It has been proved that the police conducted a tainted investigation and there was no reason to file the case. It was registered only under pressure from the then Home Secretary,” said advocate Tarminder Singh.

Panchkula, March 27
In the case pertaining to rape of a 13-year-old girl, the court, stating that the birth certificate produced by the accused was fake, today sent directions to the Chief Secretary (CS) of Bihar to take action against the officials who issued the same to the convict Saajan. On the basis of a fake birth certificate, Saajan was claiming himself to be a juvenile to avoid stringent punishment.

On Wednesday, Chandigarh Tribune reported how the birth certificate was issued to Saajan two months before he applied for the same. The police officials during investigations found that Saajan applied for the certificate on November 2 and the birth certificate was issued to him, two months before, on September 30.

The court of Judge Rajesh Garg in his directions to CS asked to take action against the panchayat secretary and other officials of Raj Nagar block Kunwar village, Madhubani district, Bihar.

Saajan had requested the court showing his birth certificate that he is a juvenile (16 and a half years old at the time of the incident in 2012). He pleaded that the punishment may be given under the Juvenile Act. After that, the court ordered a medical examination and asked the police to investigate the authenticity of the certificate.

The doctors at the general hospital stated that his age was between 21 and 23.

In 2012, Saajan was accused of forcibly kidnapping a 13-year-old girl, a resident of Surajpur. He took her to an isolated place and raped her. 

Panchkula, March 27
Two persons, including a woman, were nabbed by the police. They were found selling fake ornaments to a jeweller in Sector 9 here.

The accused, Nirmal Saini and her son-in-law Raji were arrested from the jeweller's shop. Both the accused are residents of Dhanas, Chandigarh and were active in Panchkula since long.

The police said the accused used to bring fake jewellery from Amritsar and after making certain changes sell them to jewellers. Today, they took Rs1.5 lakhs from the jeweller in return of their jewellery when the police that had laid a trap caught them. A case was registered. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 27
12-year old local Squash player Jannia Singh has been named to attend a national preparatory camp, prior to her expected selection, for the Asian junior individual championship to be held in Iran in June.

Among the top seeds (no.3), in the girls (U-13) category, Jannia has all reason to cheer as she is among the top four players of India, short listed to attend the camp. The camp is scheduled to be held in Chennai from April 20 to 25, following a final selection of the Indian girls (U-13), team for the Asian Championship.

The Squash prodigy has been holding the tag state champion from past three years. And in her recent feat, she finished runner's up in the DSI Karnataka Open Squash championship held in Bangalore. She also achieved the feat after winning second place in the Matunga Gymkhana Squash championship in Mumbai. “I am happy with my selection and hopefully would book the final berth for the Asian Championship said Jannia.

In 2010, Jannia stood second in the Coca Cola Indian Open Squash Tournament held in Delhi and secured 5th place in the Indian National Open Squash Tournament held in Chennai in August. Since, then, she is representing the city in various tournaments. A student of Carmel Convent School performs and learns Squash under the supervision of renowned coach Khushwant Singh, at Lake Sports Complex. Interestingly, her brother Inderjeet Singh is a known squash player in the junior player circuit.