The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Cancellation of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-Level talks
It’s setback for peace: Pak media

Islamabad, August 19
Pakistan media today said the cancellation of Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks was a “major setback” and a “giant step back” after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise move to invite his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif at his swearing-in.

“Hopes of Pakistan and India working their way back to normal relations received a major setback when Delhi called off the August 25 meeting of foreign secretaries of the two countries because of Pakistani High Commissioner’s consultative session with a Hurriyat leader,” the Dawn said.

It said the foreign secretaries were to meet for exploring the way forward in the ties in pursuance of the decision taken by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his counterpart Modi in their meeting in Delhi in May.

The paper said India’s decision followed string of terse diplomatic exchanges triggered by Modi’s accusations during his visit to Kashmir that Pakistan was too weak to fight a conventional war so it was inflicting terrorism on India through a proxy war.

It quoted unnamed analysts as saying that the “calling off of talks marked a giant step back for diplomatic ties that received a boost after Modi, in a surprising move, invited Prime Minister Sharif along with other South Asian leaders to his swearing-in in Delhi in May”. It also said on Friday, Modi made a sharp departure from Independence Day speeches by his predecessors by not mentioning Pakistan at all in his address to the nation.

Another major paper The News International reported that Pakistan received a jolt and the subcontinent peace efforts received a great setback due to cancellation of talks.

“India gave an option to Pakistan to choose between the foreign secretary-level talks and meetings with Kashmiri separatists,” it said.

The paper said after hours of deliberations at the Foreign Office, the spokesperson finally reacted by agreeing that the Indian decision was a “setback” but did not express any great disappointment nor proposed for a re-think on it.

It criticised Pakistan’s delayed reaction on the issue.

“Pakistan, once again lost the media narrative with a delayed response. The Indian government went into an overdrive with press releases, tweets and comments on Facebook while Islamabad
took its time to respond with a lackluster statement,” it said. — PTI

US terms it unfortunate

The United States said it was "unfortunate" that the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks have fallen through.

US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said: “Both sides must take steps to improve their bilateral relations.”

She said the US policy on Kashmir has not changed. "We continue to believe that the pace and the scope and character of any discussions on Kashmir are for India and Pakistan to determine between them," she said.

Cong questions BJP move to resume talks

New Delhi, August 19
On a day when Pakistan High Commissioner met Kashmiri separatists, the Congress questioned the BJP’s decision to resume the long-suspended Indo-Pakistan dialogue.

“The question is not suspension of talks; the question is resumption of talks. The country has the right to know what new understanding PM Narendra Modi arrived at with his Pakistani counterpart so as to resume talks that had been suspended in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. No one knows what transpired in the meeting between the Indian and Pakistani PMs when the latter visited India for PM’s swearing-in ceremony. It’s about time we knew,” former minister and Congress’ senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said today.

Citing a series of recent provocations by Pakistan, the Congress leader said the BJP Government ignored each of them only to finally suspend talks upon learning that the Pakistan High Commissioner was meeting separatists. — TNS

Speaker rejects Cong demand for Oppn leader post
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 19
For the first time in over three decades, the Lok Sabha will go without a Leader of Opposition with Speaker Sumitra Majahan today citing past precedents to deny the position to the Congress, the second largest party in the House.

The Congress was quick to denounce the move as “partisan” setting the stage for confrontation with the Narendra Modi-led government in the Lower House.

The Speaker rejected Congress’ official claim on the post saying many Lok Sabhas in the past went without the LoP because the opposition parties did not command 10% strength in the House, a requirement for getting LoP status. Former Speaker GV Mavalankar had in 1956 given a ruling on the LoP issue saying that a party seeking recognition for LoP’s post must have MPs equal to the quorum of the House, which is its 10% strength. In the current Lok Sabha 10% strength translates into 55 MPs but the Congress has only 44.

In a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi communicating the rejection of party’s LoP claim, Speaker Sumitra Majahan has said that the first Leader of Opposition was recognised only in 1969 as before that no party had the strength of 10% seats. “I have gone by past precedents, constitutional and legal opinion in the matter,” LS Speaker said in a letter to Sonia.

The Speaker is learnt to have communicated to the Congress that there was no LoP in the first, second and third Lok Sabhas between 1952 and December 1969. The first LoP was recognized in the fourth Lok Sabha whose life began on December 17, 1969. Later again there was no LoP between 1971 and 1977 (fifth LS) and between 1979 and 1989 (seventh and Eighth Lok Sabhas).

Partisan view

Surely the Speaker has been influenced by the government. The Speaker has taken a partisan view. The PM keeps saying he wants to take the Opposition along but there's a pronounced contradiction in what he says and what he does. We will take a considered view in this matter
Anand Sharma, congress leader

Decision taken due to Pak’s callous attitude: Rajnath
Tribune News Service

The government has already made it clear that terrorism and talks cannot go hand in hand and Pakistan has to come clean before the talks can resume in near future.
Rajnath Singh, home minister

Mussoorie, August 19
Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed as unfortunate the cancellation of the secretary-level talks with Pakistan, but said this happened due to callous attitude of Pakistani authorities.

Calling it an appropriate step, Rajnath said that Pakistan should have refrained from entering into a dialogue with Kashmiri separatist leaders, especially when the secretary-level meeting was on the anvil.

Rajnath was speaking to media persons at Polo Ground helipad before he left for Delhi after winding up his two- day visit here today.

He said the government had already made it clear that terrorism and talks cannot go hand in hand and Pakistan had to come clean before the talks can resume in near future.

He reiterated that Kashmir is an integral part of India and would remain so.

The home minster also said that it was sad that Uttarakhand was still reeling from natural calamity, adding that discussions were held with the chief minister and the state officials on speeding up the work in the disaster-affected areas.

Replying to the allegation by Chief Minister Harish Rawat that the food quota had been reduced considerably by Centre, he said if this was done there might have been some valid reasons.

Asked that the state had not got adequate representation in the party organisation at the Centre, Rajnath said it was an ongoing process and more names would be considered when required.

Party workers, who met the Union minister, aired their concern over the slow pace of relief and rehabilitation work in the state.

Local MLA Ganesh Joshi said the state government had reduced the interim relief amount from Rs 4,000 to Rs 2,700 which was nothing but cruel joke on the calamity victims.

He demanded that the Central government should intervene and direct state government to speed up the rehabilitation and relief work.

BJP local unit president Roop Singh Kathait, senior BJP leaders Vijay Ramola, Kushal Rana, Anil Godiyal, Mohan Petwal and others were present on the occasion. Rajnath left for Jolly Grant airport around noon.

Geelani lauds Pak for talking to Hurriyat despite India’s protest
Ishfaq Tantry
Tribune News service

Srinagar, August 19
The hardline Hurriyat faction headed by Syed Ali Geelani today said New Delhi had categorically told Pakistan not to engage
with Hurriyat leaders prior to the August 25 secretary-level talks.

At the meeting with Geelani, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit today said they were “surprised” and “did not expect” India to call off talks and “feared” that the relations between the two countries might further “deteriorate”.

Hardline Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar, who was part of the three-member delegation which met Pakistani officials today, said the Pakistani officials informed the delegation that Indian foreign ministry officials had told the Pakistani envoy not to engage with the Hurriyat leadership.

“During the meeting, Geelani hailed the decision of Pakistan to continue engagement with the Kashmiri leadership despite protests by India,” Ayaz said while talking to The Tribune over phone from Delhi.

“He (Geelani) thanked PM Nawaz Sharif for his support,” Ayaz said. He said they discussed internal situation in Pakistan and the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including the forthcoming Assembly Elections, at the meeting.

The Pakistani officials told the delegation that they were “surprised over the unilateral decision” of the Indian government to cancel talks and they “did not expect” such a “harsh” reaction from it, he said. “Though they did not say it, but the impression was conveyed that the relations between the two countries may further deteriorate, which may include the expulsion of the Pakistani envoy from India,” he said.

“There may be some domestic compulsions behind the government’s decision such as the forthcoming Assembly elections in J&K, where the BJP is eyeing a major share of votes,” Ayaz said, adding that Geelani is firm on his stand of boycotting the polls.

“Geelani send a message for PM Nawaz Sharif that he should not take any decision in haste on Kashmir,” Ayaz said, while adding that Geelani also asked PTI chief Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri to call off their protests as these may further destabilise Pakistan.

Later in the evening, a separate meeting was also scheduled between the Pakistani officials and moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in New Delhi. “I am surprised over the reaction from New Delhi and its opposition to engagement of Pakistan with Hurriyat leaders, Mirwaiz told mediapersons before leaving for New Delhi on Tuesday morning.

CWC meet soon to discuss Antony report
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 19
Three months after Congress’ debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, the party is finally getting down to some serious introspection. The party’s highest decision-making body — the Congress Working Committee (CWC) — is scheduled to meet shortly to discuss the AK Antony committee report that lists reasons for party’s defeat and measures to be taken for its revival.

Party’s senior spokesperson Anand Sharma today said the CWC would meet to take a view on the Antony committee report and discuss its findings. Although no timeline has been put to the crucial meeting, party sources confirm the meeting can be called “any time soon”.

This will only be the second CWC meeting after the Lok Sabha poll debacle. The first one saw resignation offers both by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. These offers were, however, rejected by the CWC, which passed a resolution authorising Sonia to effect “any change across any level in the party”.

No changes followed, with party sources today saying restructuring is unlikely until elections to four poll-bound states of Haryana, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand conclude.

The Congress president has studied the Antony panel report, which is said to have put the blame for poll loss on the UPA government, the arrogance of ministers, inflation, corruption and the inability of the party campaign team to take on an aggressive Narendra Modi.

Court orders release of Irom Sharmila from jail

Imphal, August 19
A local court today ordered the release of rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila, under detention for attempting to commit suicide by fasting for nearly 14 years demanding withdrawal of a tough law that gives sweeping powers to armed forces from Manipur.

Absolving her of the charge of attempt to suicide, sessions judge (Imphal east) A Guneshwar Sharma said: “The petitioner (Sharmila) be released from custody if not required in any other case.”

The prosecution, he said, had “failed miserably” to establish her intention to commit suicide by fasting unto death and evidence of the alleged offence, which is punishable under Section 309 of the IPC, was lacking.

Forty-two-year-old Sharmila’s agitation was a political demand through a lawful means of repealing a valid statue — Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 — and from her past conduct it seems she may continue with her fast till her demand is met politically by the government, the court said.

In the circumstances, the state government may take up appropriate measures for her health and safety such as nose feeding in case she decides to continue with her fast, the judge said.

She was being kept at the government hospital at Porompat here where a room was converted into a jail. She is being fed through her nose.

She is released and re-arrested every year as the law allows detention only for 364 days.

The state police had earlier filed cases under different provisions of the CrPC stating that Sharmila was attempting to commit suicide by fasting for more than 13 years. While Y Indira represented the government, Sharmila was represented by senior advocate and well-known human rights activist Khaidem Mani.

The activist had launched her fast after the killing of 10 persons allegedly by Assam Rifles in a suspected encounter with insurgents at Malom near the Imphal airport in November 2000. She has been under arrest since then and has been released from time to time but continued her fast for the past more than one decade. — PTI

Fasting since 2000

Rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila launched her fast after the killing of 10 persons allegedly by the Assam Rifles in a suspected encounter with insurgents at Malom near the Imphal airport in November 2000. She has been under arrest since then and has been released from time to time but continued her fast for the past more than a decade.

Death-row sisters make last-ditch appeal

Mumbai, August 19
Two Maharashtra women on a death row for murdering five children have lodged a last-ditch appeal after the President rejected their mercy plea, clearing the way for them to become the first women executed in post-Independence India.

Renuka Shinde and her step-sister Seema Gavit were convicted in 2001 of kidnapping 13 children, forcing them to join a gang of thieves and murdering at least five of them.

They were reportedly recruited into a life of petty crime as teenagers by their late mother, and used the children to distract their victims while the sisters robbed them.

Shinde, 45, and Gavit, 39, were found guilty of kidnapping the 13 children and are now jailed in Yerawada Jail near Pune. They were initially accused of murdering nine of their victims, but prosecutors were only able to prove that they killed five.

The Supreme Court upheld their sentence in 2006 and last month, President Pranab Mukherjee, who has the power to commute a death sentence, rejected their appeal.

Legally, the sisters have now exhausted all avenues to appeal against their sentence.

But on Monday, their lawyer said he would lodge a petition with the High Court in Mumbai, where they were originally convicted, on the grounds that the 13-year delay in carrying out the sentence was excessive.

“There has been an inordinate delay in carrying out the death sentence. So I will pray to the courts to commute the same into life behind bars,” said Sudeep Jaiswal, who has represented the two sisters since 2010. “I will file the writ petition today,” he said.

In a landmark ruling this year, the Supreme Court said “inordinate and inexplicable” delays in carrying out executions were grounds for commuting death sentences.

Indian courts use the principle of “rarest of rare case” to classify the crime before pronouncing the death sentence.

Earlier this year, a Mumbai court ordered three men to hang for their involvement in two gang-rape cases, the first death sentences to be handed down for multiple sex attacks since the law was toughened last year.

Their sentences must be confirmed by the Supreme Court. Indian courts only hand out death sentences for the rarest of crimes such as exceptionally heinous and cold-blooded murders. Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving terrorist of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, was hanged in November 2012.

The last person to be executed in the country was Kashmiri militant Afzal Guru last year over a deadly 2001 attack on Parliament. — AFP

Heinous crime

Renuka Shinde and her step-sister Seema Gavit were convicted in 2001 of kidnapping 13 children and are now in Yerawada Jail near Pune. They were initially accused of murdering nine children, but prosecutors were only able to prove that they killed five

The Supreme Court upheld their sentence in 2006 and last month, President Pranab Mukherjee, who has the power to commute a death sentence, rejected their appeal

Legally, the sisters have now exhausted all avenues to appeal against their sentence

Court stays non-bailable warrants against MP Anurag Thakur
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, August 19
The court of district and sessions judge at Dharamsala has stayed the execution of non-bailable warrants against BJP MP and HPCA president Anurag Thakur.

Anurag had moved a revision petition in the sessions court against the warrants issued by the chief judicial magistrate here on August 1.

District and sessions judge DK Singh has fixed the next date of hearing on September 9. The court had issued arrest warrants against Anurag and former state president of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha Narender Atri after the two leaders failed to appear during a hearing in a case registered against them for protesting outside the office of SP (vigilance), Kangra. The duo was booked under Section 186 of the IPC (obstructing public servant in discharge of functions).

During the first hearing on June 8, Anurag and other BJP leaders were granted bail.

Telangana survey raises fears of ethnic profiling
Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, August 19
Amidst fears of ethnic profiling and harassment of non-locals, a massive household survey was carried out today in Telangana covering nearly 85 lakh families spread over 10 districts, including Hyderabad.

The state government declared a holiday today as nearly four lakh enumerators, drawn from government departments and educational institutions, visited each and every household to gather socio-economic data.

Billed as the “mother of all surveys”, the day-long exercise was aimed at creating a scientific and reliable database of the households in the state to help identify the beneficiaries of welfare schemes.

While the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government maintained that the data would help in checking the misuse of welfare schemes, there are concerns that migrants from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of the erstwhile combined AP state would be targeted.

The enumerators gathered information about ration cards, electricity, water and LPG connections, family income and assets of the households, through a questionnaire.

The critics dubbed the survey as an attempt by the Telangana Government to exclude the names of people from Andhra Pradesh from welfare schemes. However, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao made it clear that there was no hidden agenda behind the survey and the only intention was to weed out bogus beneficiaries of welfare schemes. “We want to ensure that benefits of the government schemes reach the target groups,” he said.

The usually busy roads in Hyderabad today wore a deserted look. The offices, educational institutions, shops, petrol bunks, hotels, cinema halls and all other business units were closed as the government issued a warning stating that action would be taken against private institutions if they were found violating the holiday order. It exempted only emergency services.

Amar Singh meets Mulayam again, denies political ambitions
Tribune News Service

Lucknow, August 19
Despite reservation in a section of the Samajwadi Party, estranged SP leader Amar Singh’s return to the party fold appears to be imminent after his hour-long meeting with party national president Mulayam Singh Yadav today.

Though no official account of what transpired in the meeting was made available, speaking to reporters Singh made it clear that it was more than a courtesy call.

Downplaying the significance of the meeting in his typical flamboyant style, Singh parodied a popular ghazal: “Hungama hai kyon barpa? Mulaqat hi toh ki hai. Daka toh nahi dala,chori toh nahin ki hai (Why this noise over a mere meeting? I have not robbed or stolen anything.)”

“I have no political ambitions. I’m physically a wreck as well as heartbroken. This was no political meeting. Mulayam Singh ji and I share very close personal relations. I was determined to meet him only if he called me directly without any intermediary,” Singh said.

Evading a direct reply to a question regarding the timing of the meeting coinciding with the completion of his Rajya Sabha tenure on November 25, Singh said he would be travelling abroad later this month.

Hinting at the changing dynamics within the Yadav clan, Singh praised senior minister and Yadav’s brother Shivpal Singh Yadav for remaining in touch with him through thick and thin.

“He recently attended a function at my place and was there for three hours. That is why I first went to his place today, had breakfast and then went to Mulayam Singh ji’s house,” Singh said.

Later, the party chief brought Singh to the SP state headquarters where he remained huddled with Singh, CM Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav for an hour.

Singh, who had been expelled from the party along with the then sitting Rampur MP Jaya Prada in January 2010, was first seen sharing a dais with the SP supremo on August 5 at the inauguration of a park in memory of SP ideologue Jnaneshwar Mishra, triggering rumours of his return.

Incidentally, it was only yesterday that SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, who heads another camp within the Yadav clan, refuted reports of Singh’s return to the party fold.

Another senior minister and “Muslim face of the party” Mohammad Azam Khan is also believed to be upset at Singh’s recent closeness to the senior Yadav. Khan had quit the party in protest against the 2009 SP alliance with Kalyan Singh which had been brokered by Singh.

I&B Ministry decides to suspend censor board CEO

New Delhi, August 19
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has decided to suspend censor board CEO Rakesh Kumar, who has been arrested by the CBI in connection with a bribery case.

“A decision has been taken to suspend Rakesh Kumar and the order in this regard has been signed,” a senior official said.

He said Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had a zero tolerance approach towards corruption and the ministry was following set procedures in the matter.

Sharavan Kumar, CEO of the Children Film Society India (CFSI), will be given the additional charge as the censor board CEO till further orders, officials said.

Rakesh Kumar was arrested in Mumbai yesterday for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 70,000 for clearing a regional movie from Chhattisgarh. It was the third arrest in the case.

He was produced before the Special CBI court in Mumbai which sent him to three-day CBI remand for further questioning.

Producers of some recently released Bollywood movies that featured top stars allegedly paid money to Rakesh Kumar after he apparently threatened to stall their clearance over item songs, the CBI said today.

The agency said all movies cleared by Kumar were under the scanner for any irregularities. Mumbai's special CBI judge AD Karanjkar was told by the agency counsel that 33 costly watches of expensive brands such as Rolex, Rado, etc were allegedly found at his home and that he did not disclose how it came in his possession.

The agency told the court the matter was a “deep conspiracy” and there was a need to get to the bottom of it. — PTI

SP responsible for UP’s mess: Shah
Shahira Naim
Tribune News Service

Lucknow, August 19
BJP national president Amit Shah today proclaimed that his mission in Uttar Pradesh would be complete only when he was able to install a BJP government in the state.

Addressing party workers at Saraswati Shishu Mandir campus in Nirala Nagar in the state capital, Shah assured party workers that he would not consider his mission as BJP’s UP in charge complete till a BJP chief minister took charge in UP.

Acknowledging the contribution of UP in the formation of a majority BJP government at the Centre, Shah exhorted party workers to work with dedication till a party government was formed in the state.

Alleging that flawed policies of the Samajwadi Party were the main cause of the state’s miseries, Shah also blamed the Akhilesh Yadav-led government for rising communal violence in the state.

Earlier, he arrived to a rousing welcome at Amausi airport around 10 am. It took Shah more than two hours to cover the 13-km route to the BJP state headquarters across the Vidhan Sabha. Enthusiastic BJP workers had decked up the route with decorative gates and had set up stages where Shah was garlanded by hundreds of party workers.

Shah held a closed door meeting with the state party unit led by BJP state president Laxmikant Bajpai. Mayor Dinesh Sharma, who has found a place in Shah’s team at the national level, was also present.

BJP’s strategy for the upcoming bypoll to the 11 state Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat was reportedly discussed at the meeting. Shah then proceeded to attend the party workers meet at Saraswati Shishu Mandir.

Tomorrow, Shah will be in Varanasi, PM Narendra Modi’s constituency. There he will meet a cross section of people and attend a series of public functions.

Gujarat CM ‘violates model code’, Cong to approach EC
Manas Dasgupta

Ahmedabad, August 19
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel is facing the prospects of being questioned for the alleged violation of the model code conduct. She reportedly made some announcements to attract voters even after the Election Commission issued the schedule of the by-elections for the Vadodara Lok Sabha and nine state Assembly seats.

Patel, at a meeting in Deesa today, announced that the government had decided to supply machines to women to milk cows to help speed up the process and, thereby, increase the turnover. Taking strong objections to Patel’s announcements, the Congress said it would lodge protest with the EC for the violation of the model code of conduct.

Though the official notification for the by-elections was scheduled to be announced tomorrow, the model code of conduct has already come into force with the EC announcing the schedule for the by-elections on September 13. Deesa in Banaskantha district in north Gujarat is one of the nine state Assembly seats going to polls.

Both the Congress and the BJP have been caught napping for the unexpected early announcement of the by-elections and have been forced to hasten the process of selection of candidates. The leaders of both the parties admitted that they were expecting the by-elections to be held along with the state Assembly elections in Haryana or Maharashtra sometime in October or later.

The state Congress parliamentary board will meet tomorrow to finalise its recommendations to the high command to approve its panel of candidates, while the BJP has decided to “select” the candidates from “grassroots level”.

It has assigned each of the nine Assembly and the sole Parliamentary seat to a minister in the Patel Cabinet to go among the people in the respective constituencies and take their opinions about the “suitable candidates” and submit their report before the state parliamentary board by August 23.

New laws for road users soon, RTOs on way out to end graft
Centre plans to introduce Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill in Parliament
Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Mumbai, August 19
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today said the government would amend the Motor Vehicle Act to end corruption in regional transport offices (RTOs).

Inaugurating a meeting of the Indian Road Congress, the Union Minister said he would introduce the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill in the next session of Parliament to end malpractices in the RTOs across the country. “The Bill is being prepared. It will be based on the best practices of developed countries such as the US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the UK,” he said.

He said the Motor Vehicles Act had become obsolete and it needed to be changed. “The transport department will be linked to e-governance to bring total transparency and hassle-free services to people,” he said.

The minister said Regional Transport Offices that registered vehicles and issued licences would be phased out. “RTOs are places where lakshmi darshan (corruption) takes place every day,” Gadkari said.

“No work gets done in these offices unless bribe is paid to RTO officials... the common man is harassed and for even simple work such as obtaining learning driving licence, one has to make several rounds of these offices,” Gadkari said.

Gadkari said he had committed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Road Transport, Shipping and Inland Waterways would yield two per cent extra to the GDP of the country.

Talking about highways, Gadkari said it was passing through a bad phase and 19 of the 51 road projects had to be dropped. He said not even a single kilometre of highway network could be added in July.

Set up board to medically test Asaram: SC

New Delhi, August 19
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the constitution of a medical board to examine self-styled godman Asaram Bapu for trigeminal neuralgia, which causes severe headaches to those afflicted with the condition.

Asaram, 72, is presently in jail after a 16-year-old girl lodged a police complaint on August 20, 2013 accusing him of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Jodhpur.

An apex court bench headed by Justice TS Thakur directed the principal of Jodhpur-based SN Medical College to constitute a team of doctors that will examine Asaram for his ailment and the course of treatment required.

The court said the report of the medical board will be submitted to it by September 23, when the matter will be further heard. Meanwhile, Asaram Bapu will continue to remain in jail as the court said that his bail will only be considered after all the witnesses in the case have deposed before the trial court. — IANS

tata camelot project near sukhna lake
‘Agreement terminated, company can’t go ahead with construction’
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 19
PIL petitioners against the Tata Camelot township project near Sukhna Lake today pleaded in the Delhi High Court that the company had no right to go ahead with the construction as the Punjab Cooperative House Building Society (PCHBS) had terminated its agreement with the company.

The controversial project was to come up on the land of several outfits, including that of the company, the society and defence personnel. The petitioners, the Sarin Memorial Legal Aid Foundation and advocate Alok Jagga, said they had come to know that the PCHBS had revoked in June 2011 the power of attorney (POA) given to the company.

But the company had withheld this information from the HC and the SC, senior advocate PS Patwalia told the Bench. Also, the company had accepted the revocation of the POA as it had not resorted to any judicial remedy so far, he said. “Once the contract/agreement with PCHBS has been rescinded, the said project in any case cannot go on,” Patwalia said.

J&K special status: SC notice on PIL against Article 35A
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 19
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir Government on a PIL challenging the validity of Article 35A under which only the permanent residents of the state were entitled to buy immovable property, seek employment and do business.

A Bench comprising Justices HL Dattu and SA Bobde sought the two governments’ response on the PIL filed by a Delhi-based NGO, We the Citizens.

The petitioner contended that Article 35A was added to the Constitution by an order of the President in 1954 exercising power under Article 370(1)(d) of the Constitution. But a perusal of Article 368(i) would show that only Parliament had the power to amend, alter or repeal any part of the Constitution.

“Therefore, Article 370 empowering the President to amend the Constitution is ultra vires,” it pleaded.

It was therefore clear that the President had inserted the new Article 35A by exceeding his jurisdiction and power which was unconstitutional, the PIL said.

Acknowledging that three Constitution Benches of the SC had gone into the President’s powers under Article 370, the PIL said that every time it was confined to modifications to Constitutional provisions, not on adding a new Article.

The petitioner contended that people from other states could not be prohibited from seeking employment, doing business or acquiring property in the garb of Article 35A as there could not be a class within a class of Indian citizens.

Article 35A “cannot override the fundamental rights” contained in Part III of the Constitution and Articles 14, 19 and 21, it was pleaded.

Further, since the signing of instrument of accession in 1950 and adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution radical changes had been brought about in the socio-political scenario of the state and as such Article 35A “has lost its ground. The state of J and K is an integral part of India and therefore all the citizens have got equal fundamental rights,” it was pleaded.

To check Ebola spread, passengers will be categorised at airports

New Delhi, August 19
Stepping up its vigil against Ebola virus, the government has started risk categorisation of passengers from the affected countries at Indian airports as high, medium and low.

The quarantine-cum-isolation health facility at Delhi Airport has not admitted any suspect case for observation or testing today, the Health ministry said.

“It has been recommended that now onwards, the passengers from the affected countries would be categorised at airports to be high, medium and low risk,” it said in a statement.

High risk passengers would be those with symptoms and they would be admitted to an identified health facility while medium risk would be those passengers with a known history of contact with a case of Ebola and such passengers would be tracked, it said.

The low risk category would be asymptomatic passengers without any contact history. They would be provided information and they will report to a health facility if symptoms develop, it said.

The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) is tracking all passengers carrying any amount of risk. — PTI

ED attaches Rs 863 cr assets of Jagan, others

New Delhi, August 19
A special anti-money laundering court today attached properties worth Rs 863 crore of YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy and his associates in connection with its probe into alleged corruption and money laundering in an infrastructure project in Andhra Pradesh.

The court's orders came on a notice of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), issued in March, in which it had slapped separate notices against Jagan and Nimmagada Prasad whose companies were allegedly favoured by the then Andhra Pradesh government (when Jagan's father YSR Reddy was CM) in the Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Industrial Corridor.

The project's aim was to develop sea ports and a green field airport in coastal areas of the southern state and industrial corridors in Prakasam and Guntur districts. The current order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, has been the largest order for attachment of assets in this case. — PTI