Hisar, November 11
A day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against controversial godman Sant Rampal, the Satlok Ashram authorities today extended the ongoing religious congregation till November 17.

The court had directed the Haryana police to nab and produce him in the court on November 17.

The extension is apparently aimed at keeping the gathering at the ashram that is also ensuring security the godman. Rampal is facing murder charges besides contempt of court for repeatedly failing to appear in court.

Sources said that the district authorities are adopting a “wait and watch” policy and are hoping to nab Rampal after the gathering disperses. They are also pursuing other options to arrest him.

Raj Kapoor Dass, an ashram spokesperson, informed that they had extended the satsang till November 17 even though Sant Rampal would not be available for delivering the discourse. “Guruji is not in a condition to speak. So his recorded discourse would be played on the TV screens inside the ashram,” he added.

Asked if the satsang has been extended thwart the police, he said that they would not budge to any pressure. The Rastriya Samaj Sewa Samiti (RSSS) volunteers have thrown a security cordon around the ashram. “We would not surrender to the police or the courts. The RSSS chief, Ramkumar Dhaka, has called for a CBI inquiry in the cases registered against guruji. We are sure that a fair probe would reveal the truth indict the judges who are harassing Sant Rampal”, he said.

Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik refused to comment on the situation. It’s the duty of the SP to implement the court orders. So far, the situation is peaceful and the police have not asked us impose prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC at the ashram,” he added.

The police officers said they waiting for Rampal to get medically fit. Meanwhile, the security cordon by his followers continues with armed youths manning every corner of the premises while the women along with children were squatting at the gate of the ashram. 

Sirsa, November 11
Notwithstanding Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s resolve to end corruption in government offices, the attitude of some senior officers does not seem to have changed much with the change of the government.

One recent example was witnessed in the Forest Department, where an inquiry into the allegations of embezzlement of funds and irregularities in the plantation work was stopped at the eleventh hour reportedly by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Chhotu Ram Jotriwal without assigning any reason.

In a November 5 communication, G Raman, Conservator of Forests (Territorial), Rohtak, requested Vinod Bhatia, Conservator of Forests (Monitoring and Evaluations), to look into complaints of embezzlement of funds in the construction of a building in the Rohtak DFO’s office and asked him to submit his report within 15 days.

In another letter of the same date, Raman requested Bhatia to look into complaints of large-scale irregularities in the plantation work and pointed to the collusion between department officials and contractors.

Sonepat, November 11
Newly appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP), Rohtak range, Alok Kumar Roy, visited Gohana today and met victims of the bank heist in a branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB).

After listening to their grievances, the IGP assured them of constituting a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) to inquire into the case. Before talking to them, Roy asked police and administration officers to leave him alone with the victims so that they could express their views without hesitation.

They members expressed dissatisfaction over the police investigation and delay in the arrest of Rajesh, one of the four main accused. — OC

Hisar, November 11
Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure completion of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal and provide Haryana farmers their share of river water.

In a letter to the PM, the INLD leader claimed Punjab’s Termination of Water-sharing Agreement Act that denied Haryana its share of river waters was invalid and unconstitutional.

He referred to an order of the Supreme Court that quashed a law enacted by the Kerala Assembly and ruled that Parliament and Assemblies had no power to enact laws to nullify judicial verdicts based on facts and findings. The Kerala Assembly had enacted a law to nullify an SC verdict, allowing Tamil Nadu to store more water in Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar river.

Similarly, the Punjab Assembly had terminated the water-sharing agreements to deny Haryana its share of water. “Since the apex court had decided the SYL Canal issue in the favour of Haryana in 2002 and directed the Centre to ensure completion of one-fourth portion of the canal lying in Punjab, the SC verdict in the Mullaperiyar case makes it clear that the Punjab Termination of Water-sharing Agreement Act passed by the Punjab Assembly in 2004, too, is invalid and unconstitutional,” Dushyant added.

Ambala, November 11
A three-year-old child died after falling into an uncovered sewage tank in a public park here today afternoon.

Saizal, a resident of Housing Board Colony near Sector 9 in Ambala City, was playing football in the park that is near his house. His ball fell in the sewage tank. As he went to get it, he fell in.

His mother raised the alarm when she did not find him in the park. Neighbours rushed to the spot and noticed a ball floating in the tank. One of them spotted the child lying in the tank. He was taken out and rushed to the Civil Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Irate residents said Saizal died due to negligence of the HUDA authorities. The Deputy Commissioner has already directed heads of various departments to keep a close watch on open borewells and tanks for the safety of children.

According to information, the district administration has granted compensation of Rs 1 lakh to parents of the deceased.

Chandigarh, November 11
The Haryana government today urged the Union government to promptly resolve the pending issues of CST (central sales tax) for clearing the decks for ushering in an effective GST (goods and services tax) regime.

Speaking at a meeting of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers in New Delhi, Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu suggested that from 2014-15 onwards either the states may be compensated fully till the GST was actually rolled out or the CST rate be increased to four per cent.

The meeting was presided over by chairman of the Empowered Committee AR Rather and attended by ministers from various states and officers of the Government of India, state governments and the Empowered Committee.

Abhimanyu said the bitter experience of CST compensation had created a trust deficit among the Centre and the states. Therefore, Haryana proposes that the GST Council under the proposed article 279-A must be given a specific mandate to deliberate upon the losses in the state revenue post-GST and it should be mandated to devise ways to fully compensate for these losses.

He reminded that the states and Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers had earlier taken a consensus decision that settling of CST compensation was essential for creating an environment conducive for further discussion on GST. — TNS

Chandigarh, November 10
Following in PM Narendra Modi’s footsteps, Haryana CM Mahohar Lal today, held an informal meeting with his cabinet colleagues to discuss various pressing issues and arrive at a consensus on how to proceed.

Sources said he asked the ministers to attend secretariat two days a week to attend to the public as also office work. The ministers have been asked to be in office on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In a closed door meeting, the CM is learnt to have discussed the law and order issue arising out of non-bailable warrants issued against controversial godman Rampal. Sources said the CM sought the opinion of the ministers, some of whom have already issued statements saying the godman “must follow the court orders”.

Issuing a virtual gag order sources added that the ministers have been asked to exercise restraint in going to the media on any issues brought to their notice. Instead, they have been asked to discuss such issues with him. 

Karnal, November 11
Speculation over the shifting of Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMC) has been put to rest, with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar saying a new plan would be made soon to fast-track the ambitious project.

During his first visit to his constituency after assuming power on Saturday, Khattar said, “Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMC) is one of my projects. Formulating a new plan will take time. Till then, work will go on as scheduled.”

Political parties as well as Khattar too had raised the issue of shifting the Medical College from the city to Kutel village, whose panchayat has offered 100 acres for the project, during campaigning for the Assembly election. He blamed the Congress for betraying the people of Karnal and said the medical college would be constructed at a bigger place. But, the CM’s new statement has made it clear that the medical college is here to stay.

Nearly Rs 143 crore had already been spent on construction of the project and it would not be feasible to shift it at this stage, said a source. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had laid the stone of the project on November 18, 2012, and announced its completion in 25 months. The Rs 645-crore medical college will have a 500-bed hospital and 100 seats for the MBBS students and will come up over around 43.5 acres.

Director KCGMC Dr Surinder Kashyap said the government hired Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (HSCC) to build the project, which further hired three companies — Supreme Infrastructure, JMC and Nice. The detailed project report (DPR) was made on April 16, 2013.

Supreme Infrastructure is scheduled to construct the college, auditorium, residential and hostel block at a cost of Rs 137 crore by July 2015, while JMC will construct the hospital building and OPD block at the cost of Rs 286.81 crore by September 15, 2015. Nice is proposed to complete 40 houses at a cost of Rs 6 crore and work on this segment of the project is nearing completion, the director said.

“Supreme Infrastructure’s work is very slow and they are unlikely to complete the project as per schedule. I have written to the government for action against the company as per the contract,” Dr Kashyap said. 

Chandigarh, November 11
Senior IAS Officer TC Gupta today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for becoming a party in the multiple plot allotment case claiming that nothing was amiss in his matter.

The development is significant as two plots were allotted in the names of the the IAS officer and his wife. HUDA has been claiming that the affidavit given by Gupta was as per their allotment policy. The counsel for the complainant, Dr Surya Parkash, contended that the affidavit furnished by the officer, who has been the HUDA Chief Administrator was not as per requirement, “as there is no mention of plot allotted to the spouse in it”.

As the case came up for hearing today, HUDA told the Court that FIRs were not being registered in cases where lines were missing or columns were not filled. Cases were only being registered in cases where false averments had been made.

Opposing this, Dr Parkash argued that change in the language of the affidavits indicated mens rea, which means criminal intention or knowledge that an act was wrong.

Appearing for the State, Advocate General Baldev Raj Mahajan, sought additional time. The case will now be taken up on January 13 when the other side will file its response to Gupta’s plea for becoming a party.

The HC on the previous date of hearing had called for the existing and previous HUDA policies on allotment of multiple plots. Justice Daya Chaudhary had also directed the submission of a fresh status report on the FIRs registered and other related issues. The directions were issued after Justice Chaudhary was told that the condition of not allocating second plot, after the allocation of first to a spouse, was not in existence earlier.

The complainant’s counsel contended that the clause did find a mention when the plot was allocated to Gupta’s wife in 1998, indicating a change in the policy sometimes prior to the date of allocation. He also sought a CBI probe into the matter once again after contending that fair investigation could not be expected due to the involvement of high-ups.

Another counsel in the case Jasjit Singh Bedi had earlier submitted that some HUDA officials may be involved in the matter in view of the large number of multiple plots. He also argued that HUDA could not be expected to conduct fair investigations, as it was one of the respondents in this case.

Chandigarh, November 11
Less than two months after lack of evidence led to the acquittal of Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary and 11 others in the sensational Jyoti murder case, Haryana today filed an appeal before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The appeal came just a day after senior advocate Baldev Raj Mahajan took over as the State Advocate-General.

The trial court had said it was of the opinion that the prosecution had not been able to substantiate the charges against the accused. “Hence, all accused are acquitted of the charges framed against them while giving them the benefit of doubt.”

In the detailed 80-page judgment issued today, Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Roopam Singh, while terming the prosecution theory “shaky”, pointed out glaring flaws in the investigation. “There is hardly any legal evidence against the accused and doubts raised in the prosecution theory remain unexplained,” the judge said.

Chandigarh November 11
Chief Minister Manohar Lal has in consultation with PWD (Building and Roads) Minister Rao Narbir Singh has given consent to the Central Government for declaring seven roads in the state as national highways.

An official spokesman said here today that these roads included Ghaziabad-Noida-Faridabad-Sohna with a total length of about 75 km, excluding the portion on which a BOT project is already there, Nuh-Mandkola-Palwal-Jewar-Bulandshahar with a total length of 60 km, Sohna-Ballabhgarh-Tigaon-Gautambudh

Nagar-Deota-Sikandrabad with a total length of about 85 km excluding the portion on which a BOT project is already there, Palwal-Aligarh with a total length of about 83 km and Kaithal-Pehowa-Kurukshetra-Radaur-Yamuna Nagar road with a total length of 75km.

The spokesman said the Centre had already notified five roads as national highways.

Chandigarh, November 11
The Haryana Government today released another DA instalment of 7 per cent to the government employees and dearness relief (DR) to its pensioners with effect from July 1, 2014.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal said here today that the employees would now get DA at the rate of 107 per cent of their basic pay. He said the pensioners and family pensioners would now be given DR at the rate of 107 per cent of pension with effect from July 1, 2014, instead of 100 per cent.

The arrears of the hiked DA of 7 per cent from July, 2014, would be given in cash. He said the hiked DA and DR would put an additional burden of over Rs 465.94 crore annually on the state exchequer. — TNS

Kurukshetra November 11
A boy lost his life while three others sustained injuries when the Alto car, in which they were travelling, collided with an unknown vehicle near Ramgarh village on the NH1, in the wee hours today.

The boys: Raman, Tarun, Ashish and Lucky, students of Global Institute of Technology and Management, Faruukh Nagar, Gurgaon, were on their way to Chandigarh from Delhi.

Sources said, “Around 3:30 am the car collided with an unknown vehicle. After the incident, the victims were rushed to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital. While, Ashish, a resident of Delhi, succumbed to his injuries, Lucky, a resident of Jaipur, was referred to PGI Chandigarh.”

While, Tarun accompanied Lucky to PGI, Raman is undergoing treatment at the LNJP Hospital.

New Delhi, November 11
“My daughter was very hungry that evening,” recalls the mother of a nine-year-old girl brutally gang-raped and murdered on the night of October 31 at Narnaul’s Ateli Mandi, about three-hour drive from the National Capital.

Ten days have passed since her daughter’s body was recovered allegedly from outside the house of one of the four accused. “She had cigarette burns all over her body. She had been mutilated with objects … the physical injuries were too brutal for anyone to see. I almost collapsed when I saw her. She lay there in a pool of blood, unrecognisable...,” says the mother (35), whose search for justice brought her to the Congress headquarters here.

She sat in a secluded room in the party’s office, pouring her heart out every time someone came to see her. “I want death for my girl’s killers. I cannot tell you what they did to my child,” she said, demanding police action, arrests and trial of the accused.

CLP leader Kiran Choudhry demanded a judicial inquiry into the killing. The Congress accused the Haryana Government of doing nothing to help the hapless mother.

The case file brings out gory details of the murder, a chilling replay of December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape that stirred the national conscience, triggering amendments to rape laws.

None of those amendments were followed in the Ateli gang-rape case. When the mother went to the police to seek help for her missing daughter, they told her to wait for 24 hours.

“She had gone out to clear the mouse trap. When she didn’t return for hours, we went looking for her. The police didn’t register a case nor gave us personnel for search. She was being brutalised within 200 metres of our house. They had put cloth inside her mouth to choke her screams. The police failed us,” the mother said.

She said that after the body was recovered, the police attempted to remove it allegedly to destroy evidence. “The village came out to prevent any wrongdoing by the police. But they have not yet given me a copy of the post-mortem report. Everything is being done to shield the accused,” she said.

The Congress was quick to ask why Haryana Chief Minister, Home Minister or the local MLA had not cared to visit the family.

The girl wanted to be a doctor to end the woes of her parents — a polio-ridden father who can’t work and a mother who worked in homes all day to send her only daughter to school. The couple is medically unfit to have another child.

Yamunanagar, November 11
The police booked six members of a family for murdering Charanjeet Kaur of Ratauli village in Yamunanagar on Sunday.

Sarvjeet Singh of Dulebav village in Kapurthala district of Punjab, told the City police, Yamunanagar, his daughter Charanjeet Kaur (35) had been married to Asha Singh of Ratauli village on January 26, 2006.

He alleged that Charanjeet’s husband and in-laws had been torturing her for dowry ever since she got married. Sarvjeet alleged his daughter was strangulated by them on Sunday.

Sonepat, November 11
The police have arrested a man, impersonating as an Income Tax (I-T) officer, on the charge of looting cash and ornaments from a Gohana resident. The accused has been identified as Kuldeep of Kailram village in Kaithal.

The police have recovered Rs 3.68 lakh from the accused’s house. He was produced in court today and sent to judicial custody. Om Prakash Jain of Gohana lodged a complaint that on August 21, five persons, including his domestic servant Daulat, came to his house and claimed to be I-T officers. They allegedly took away cash and ornaments. — OC