Court rejects PIL for CBI probe against Lalu
http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/08/stories/2009010856851100.htm
J. Venkatesan
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a public interest litigation petition for a CBI probe against Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad for allegedly misusing his office to allow his family members to purchase several properties from landowners on the promise of providing jobs to them in the Railways.
When a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam told senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan that such a PIL could not be entertained, counsel withdrew the petition, filed by leader of Janata Dal (United) Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan. The Bench then dismissed it as withdrawn without prejudice to the petitioner’s liberty to approach appropriate authorities.
Investigation
Mr. Dhavan said there was a need for investigation by an independent agency like the CBI or the Central Vigilance Commission into the allegations as the Prime Minister’s office itself had referred the matter to the Railway Vigilance. He said the Vigilance Officer under the control of Mr. Lalu Prasad could not be said to be independent.
The CJI told the counsel: “You pursue the matter with the PMO. You can wait for the report of the Vigilance Officer. Why do you feel the report would be false? This court cannot direct a CBI enquiry. If we start entertaining these petitions, anybody can file any complaint against anybody.”
UT, Haryana to be impleaded as parties
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/UT_Haryana_to_be_impleaded_as_parties/articleshow/3949197.cms
8 Jan 2009, 0415 hrs IST, TNN
CHANDIGARH: Hearing a PIL filed by Resurgence India, a Ludhiana-based NGO, Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday directed that Haryana government and UT administration be impleaded as parties in the case. The NGO also filed a counter-affidavit, dated January 6, severely criticizing and doubting the bonafides of Punjab’s divisional commissioners’ reports over alleged misuse of Red Cross funds by deputy commissioners and others. The NGO counsel told the division bench of CJ Tirath Singh Thakur and justice Hemant Gupta that he had got the said reports under RTI and asserted that not all funds had been deposited with the PM’s Relief Fund as claimed in these reports. The judges made some scathing observations on the sorry state of affairs and observed that Red Cross Society management and funds in states of Haryana and UT should also be brought under HC scanner. The NGO had claimed in its plea that in addition to Central government funds, money collected locally for Kargil war, Orissa cyclone and Gujarat earthquake was found to have been misappropriated and used for other purposes like buying cars, mobile phones, furniture, crockery, furnishing, air conditioners, refrigerators, car fuel and paying telephone and mobile bills, besides hotel and restaurant bills. In its petition against the Union government, CBI director and secretary-general of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), the NGO also sought necessary action to ensure punishment to all involved in the case. Importantly, as was reported by TOI in May last year, as many as three DCs of Patiala division had deposited in the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund following HC directions.
Kargil scam: 'Operation Vijay now Operation Cover-Up'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kargil_scam_Operation_Vijay_now_Operation_Cover-Up/articleshow/3943593.cms
6 Jan 2009, 2035 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: After making a hue and cry over the alleged Rs 2,400-crore Kargil arms and ammunition purchase scam, the Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court about its inability to honour a nearly two-year-old direction for filing a status report of the CBI probe into various tainted purchases. Immediately after Attorney General Milon Banerjee expressed the Centre's inability to file a status report of the ongoing probe into the alleged corruption in purchases as pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), amicus curiae Rakesh Dwivedi said: "After Operation Vijay, now an Operation Cover-Up is underway." Objecting to the parroting of identical stand regarding inability to file a status report for more than two years, Dwivedi complained to a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam that even after 10 years of the scam, it was a pity that the government did not want to bring the guilty to book. He cited a privilege document given to him by the government on the scam and said though in seven cases a clear case of prosecution was made out, CBI had not yet registered a regular case. "If these seven cases were not to result in prosecution, where majors and colonels have cleared purchases of dead ammunition or those with little shelf life, then the CBI should close all cases investigated by it," he said indicting the manner in which the agency was proceeding in the matter. The government, which had earlier given a virtual clean chit in 19 of the 35 purchases, now appeared to prepare grounds to do the same in nine more cases, the document revealed. The Bench repeatedly asked whether any chargesheet had been filed by CBI in the 25 cases which were referred to it and in which it had registered preliminary enquiries (PEs). When no satisfactory answer came from the AG, the Bench gave six weeks time to the Centre and CBI to file the status report in these cases and posted the matter for further hearing on February 24. The UPA government had referred 48 cases relating to 35 purchases made during the previous NDA regime and promised to the court four years ago that the cases would be taken to the logical conclusion on the basis of adverse remarks of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The court monitoring of the cases had started after a PIL was filed by K G Dhananjay Chauhan seeking a comprehensive CBI probe into the cases mentioned in the report of CAG, which had accused the NDA government of making defence purchases without following rules and regulations. Among the 48 cases referred to CBI for investigation, the important ones pertained to: purchase of T-72 tank ammunition deal at Rs 402.7 crore, the casket deal, Rs 41.95-crore Hand-Held Thermal Imagers deal and the alleged irregularities in the purchase of TGM as well as coffins.
SC judge witness to cash-at-door?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/SC_judge_witness_to_cash-at-door/articleshow/3954529.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0423 hrs IST, Manoj Mitta , TNN
NEW DELHI: A judicial inquiry has conceded that a Supreme Court judge might have been present in the house of Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmaljit Kaur on the fateful evening when a bag containing Rs 15 lakh was delivered at her door on August 13, 2008. This sensational disclosure was made in a three-page letter written by another high court judge , Nirmal Yadav, on Wednesday to Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, responding to his notice of the inquiry finding that the money was actually meant for her. The notice issued on December 25 was accompanied by the report of a three-judge committee appointed by the CJI to probe the August 13 delivery of cash at Justice Kaur’s residence. In her reply, which is in possession of TOI, Justice Yadav said, “The committee itself records that a judge of the SC and a senior judge of the high court may have been present in the house at the time of delivery of the cash.” According to Justice Yadav, the committee’s finding on the presence of two other judges on the spot was borne out by call records related to them. Following the cash delivery, the SC judge’s son, for instance, made five calls to lawyer Sanjeev Bansal, who is alleged to have sent the money at the instance of businessman Ravinder Singh. Justice Yadav is aggrieved that the panel, however, did not draw any adverse inference against Justice Kaur for denying their presence at her house. “In spite of clinching evidence which establishes the falsity of the statement of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur with respect to the absence of these judges at her residence at the time of receipt of cash, the committee considered it unnecessary to go into that question, assuming that the enquiry was solely directed against me.” Justice Yadav went on to allege that “it is a patent case of travesty of justice that the judge from whose custody the cash is recovered should continue to sit on the bench and I should be made a scapegoat only because a judge of the SC and a senior judge of the high court are found to be interfering in the investigation and in creating a wrongful assumption by the committee that the enquiry is only required to be conducted against me.” Without naming the SC judge, Justice Yadav added, “Almost two decades old liaison between the judge of SC and the judge at whose residence cash is delivered, has been a talk of the town for all these years. It is on this ground that the SC judge’s wife sought divorce.” Listing what she called were “only some of the anomalies apparent on the face of the report,” Justice Yadav asked the CJI to supply her with the documents mentioned in it so that she could give her complete reply. “From the reading of the report without the documents,” she said, “all I can say is that I am shocked at the lopsided enquiry conducted by the committee.” The committee, appointed under the in house procedure of enquiry, consisted of Allahabad high court chief justice H L Gokhale, Gujarat HC chief justice K S Radhakrishnan and Delhi HC judge Madan Lokur.
Delhi HC refused to grant interim stay to Tata Power
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/Tata_Power_refused_interim_stay_by_HC/articleshow/3955724.cms
9 Jan 2009, 1213 hrs IST, Soma Banerjee, ET Bureau
DELHI: The Delhi High Court has refused to grant interim stay to Tata Power who had filed a petition challenging the government of India's decision to allow diversion of coal from Reliance Power's Sasan power project. The government of India was represented by the solicitor general G Vahanvati who said that Tata Power had supressed crucial facts and all bidders were aware of the surplus coal in the block. This will come as good news for Reliance Power which is developing the Sasan ultra mega power project and will avoid delays in the comissioning of the project.
HC issues notice, admn to hold Mohali MC polls
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/HC_issues_notice_admn_to_hold_Mohali_MC_polls/articleshow/3953943.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0513 hrs IST, TNN
CHANDIGARH: MC councillors have a reason to cheer as the administration has finally scheduled Mohali municiplal council polls for the post of vice-president and senior vice-president. The state government has reportedly decided to hold the polls, pending since past one year, on January 20. The decision comes in the wake of a PIL seeking directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for conducting election of MC senior vice-president and vice-president, deciding upon which Justice Ajay Lamba on Thursday also issued notices for January 29 to Punjab local government secretary. The issue had been brought before the court by Kuljit Singh Bedi, member of the council. It was pointed by his counsel that election to these posts, having a tenure of one year, had last been held on August 17, 2006. As such, fresh elections were due on August 16, 2007, but the state authorities had been putting it off on one pretext or the other, hence the plea for judicial intervention. Notices have also been sent to director, local bodies, Punjab, deputy commissioner and sub-divisional magistrate, MC, through its chairman and MC executive officer. Meanwhile, councillors have hailed the administrations move. An ecstatic Bedi said, “We are happy that elections will be conducted soon as the MC has already completed its one-year tenure. Work has suffered as these posts were lying vacant.”
SC judge witness to cash-at-door?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/SC_judge_witness_to_cash-at-door/articleshow/3954529.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0423 hrs IST, Manoj Mitta , TNN
NEW DELHI: A judicial inquiry has conceded that a Supreme Court
judge might have been present in the house of Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmaljit Kaur on the fateful evening when a bag containing Rs 15 lakh was delivered at her door on August 13, 2008. This sensational disclosure was made in a three-page letter written by another high court judge, Nirmal Yadav, on Wednesday to Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, responding to his notice of the inquiry finding that the money was actually meant for her. The notice issued on December 25 was accompanied by the report of a three-judge committee appointed by the CJI to probe the August 13 delivery of cash at Justice Kaur’s residence. In her reply, which is in possession of TOI, Justice Yadav said, “The committee itself records that a judge of the SC and a senior judge of the high court may have been present in the house at the time of delivery of the cash.” According to Justice Yadav, the committee’s finding on the presence of two other judges on the spot was borne out by call records related to them. Following the cash delivery, the SC judge’s son, for instance, made five calls to lawyer Sanjeev Bansal, who is alleged to have sent the money at the instance of businessman Ravinder Singh. Justice Yadav is aggrieved that the panel, however, did not draw any adverse inference against Justice Kaur for denying their presence at her house. “In spite of clinching evidence which establishes the falsity of the statement of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur with respect to the absence of these judges at her residence at the time of receipt of cash, the committee considered it unnecessary to go into that question, assuming that the enquiry was solely directed against me.” Justice Yadav went on to allege that “it is a patent case of travesty of justice that the judge from whose custody the cash is recovered should continue to sit on the bench and I should be made a scapegoat only because a judge of the SC and a senior judge of the high court are found to be interfering in the investigation and in creating a wrongful assumption by the committee that the enquiry is only required to be conducted against me.” Without naming the SC judge, Justice Yadav added, “Almost two decades old liaison between the judge of SC and the judge at whose residence cash is delivered, has been a talk of the town for all these years. It is on this ground that the SC judge’s wife sought divorce.” Listing what she called were “only some of the anomalies apparent on the face of the report,” Justice Yadav asked the CJI to supply her with the documents mentioned in it so that she could give her complete reply. “From the reading of the report without the documents,” she said, “all I can say is that I am shocked at the lopsided enquiry conducted by the committee.” The committee, appointed under the in house procedure of enquiry, consisted of Allahabad high court chief justice H L Gokhale, Gujarat HC chief justice K S Radhakrishnan and Delhi HC judge Madan Lokur.
Child can adopt caste of either parent, rules HC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Child_can_adopt_caste_of_either_parent_rules_HC/articleshow/3954346.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0320 hrs IST, TNN
CHENNAI: Ruling that a child born out of an inter-caste wedding is free to choose the caste of either parent, the Madras HC has put a smile back on the face of an AIADMK councillor, who was disqualified for having contested from a reserved constituency in Coimbatore. Justice A C Arumugaperumal Adityan, setting aside the disqualification of V Kasthuri, who was elected union councillor in Anaimalai panchayat union in 2006, pointed out that as per a government order dated June 27, 1975, children born to parents, one of whom belonging to a scheduled caste, can be considered to belong to the community of either parent. The 47-year-old Kasthuri’s father was from a backward community and her mother belonged to the Kudumban community, which is a scheduled caste. She had been elected president of the reserved Ramanamudalipudur village panchayat in 1996.
Legal hurdles may prevent Sanjay Dutt from contesting
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Legal_hurdles_may_prevent_Sanjay_Dutt_from_contesting/articleshow/3953279.cms
8 Jan 2009, 2103 hrs IST, Swati Deshpande, TNN
Mumbai: Sanjay Dutt's joy at the Samajwadi Party nomination may be shortlived. A quick double-check with his legal counsel would have told that his current position did not enable him to contest the Lok Sabha election. ( Watch ) Ace defence counsel V R Manohar, who represented the actor in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case, said: "His nomination will be rejected and he cannot contest unless the Supreme Court stays the conviction and suspends the sentence." But Dutt, who is out on merely on bail following his conviction in the blasts case, has not even initiated any step to get his conviction stayed by the Supreme Court. So his conviction stands and he is merely out on bail after getting three years' rigorous imprisonment. There is another hitch. The apex court may be less likely to suspend Dutt's conviction and sentence pending his appeal because -- despite his name being cleared of terror charges -- it is the blasts case that he is connected with, say legal experts. "Dutt's acquittal under the more stringent Tada may not be his ticket to contest if that and his release on bail are what he is banking on," Mumbai-based advocate Hitesh Jain, now representing an accused in the Malegaon blasts case, said. One near-parallel that comes to mind is cricketer-turned-politician Navjyot Singh Siddhu's case. He had to give up his Lok Sabha membership after the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside his acquittal on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He then appealed in the Supreme Court against his conviction and made a specific plea for staying his conviction to enable him to contest in the bypolls. The SC, just a day before the deadline for filing his nomination in 2006, stayed Siddhu's conviction in the road rage case and ensured that he could contest the Amritsar Lok Sabha bypoll. What the law says Under the Representation of the People Act, anyone sentenced to more than two years' imprisonment is barred from contesting elections till a court of law stays the conviction and sentence.
Get real info of HC cases on mobile
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/Get_real_info_of_HC_cases_on_mobile/articleshow/3954432.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0359 hrs IST, Vaibhav Ganjapure, TNN
NAGPUR: The High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Nagpur, has gone online. It has not only started its own user-friendly website (www.hcbanagpur.com) that provides case positions in all 13 courtrooms of Nagpur bench even on cellphones in real time. The HCBA Nagpur is first bar association in the country to provide this facility to the lawyers and litigants. Lawyers as well as litigants can see which case is going on in each courtroom at a click of the mouse or on mobiles. The lawyers or litigants only need to access the website either through a computer or a GPRS-enabled mobile handset. “The facility was started for lawyers shuttling between various courts like District and Sessions court, MAT, CAT, industrial and labour courts. While on the move from one court to another, they had to assign a person in the HC in case their case comes up for hearing. The new facility eliminates the need of this person and also saves on call charges,” Kishor Lambat, secretary of HCBA, told TOI. Lambat, the brain behind the project, added that the system also displays date and time in addition to number of cases. “Not only lawyers who are away, but also those working in the high court won’t have to wait hours for their turn.” The website is connected to court’s numbering system and is updated five seconds after a change is made in the system. The site will soon offer services like daily and weekly cause-lists as well as names and contact numbers of all lawyers. The website will be launched in February.
Govt's 2-stroke auto phase-out plan in HC today
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/Govts_2-stroke_auto_phase-out_plan_in_HC_today/articleshow/3954333.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0310 hrs IST, TNN
KOLKATA: It's easy to make out why the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government wants some more time to enforce the two-stroke auto ban. Not just because it feels for the auto operators but more because it needs to clear up the mess it created by overlooking all norms, whether on issuing of route permits or enforcing emission norms. Environment officials spent the whole of Thursday chalking out a phase-out plan for two-stroke autos and other old vehicles factoring in financial and administrative issues, if not political. And in all probability, the state government will place this plan to the high court without contesting the spirit of the ban order. "We won't pray for yet another deadline. We will place the facts and leave it the court to take call," state home secretary Ardhendu Sen said. At this critical juncture, green activist Subhas Dutta came as a god-send to the government found on a sticky wicket. "I don't know what the government will plead on Friday. But I will want the government to ascertain why it could not implement the ban. And in that case, the government has to submit a phase-out plan that has to be monitored by a high-level panel on the lines of the Bhuralal Committee," Dutta said. With Dutta by its side, the government is now working on a second plan of action after the environment department's notification on July 17, 2008, failed. The government notification announced a complete phase-out of two-stroke autos from December, 2008. The high court only put its seal on the notification and set a cutoff date - December 31, 2008. The tall claim fell through, as expected, because state officials did not do the homework for the last five months. During this period, some two-stroke autos got fresh registration from the PVD and the RTAs did not take stock of two-stroke autos in various routes. According to Sen, the state will go for the conversion in phases - 3,000 to 5,000 autos a month, which means that the government has to keep funds between Rs 3-5 crore ready for the auto owners, whom it promised to pay Rs 10,000 each. Given the present 11,000 applications, the government is likely to take at least two months to clear the lot. The applications may rise in the days to come till all the 38,000 legal autos in the city are converted into LPG mode. Consider the supply side. Automaker Bajaj industries can come out with 4,000 vehicles a month. And for each of the old autos, the company has to shell out Rs 6,000. Beyond these financial matters, there are other issues. The transport department has to ensure that the PVD and the RTAs won't register other than LPG autos, or issue fresh route permits before the conversion process is over. The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has to submit a comprehensive plan for pollution checking and monitoring of the pollution testing centres. And like in Delhi, all the local servers of the testing centres need to be connected with the central server of the PVD, so that the department can keep tabs on the emission testing rates. And above all, the transport department has to make specific submission about the upcoming LPG stations in the city, because the spurt in LPG demand without the supply may finally lead to a crisis in the household LPG supply.
Dalit Christians suffer caste prejudices: HC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Dalit_Christians_suffer_caste_prejudices_HC/articleshow/3953733.cms
8 Jan 2009, 2328 hrs IST, TNN
CHENNAI: Dalit Christians are suffering caste prejudices from not only caste Hindus but also converted Christians belonging to other castes, the Madras high court has lamented. Justice K Chandru, passing orders in a case relating to acquisition of land for a housing project for Christian Adi Dravidars, said the social condition of Dalits who had converted to Christianity was no different from the Adi Dravidars belonging to the Hindu fold. He also quoted a Supreme Court order highlighting the "plight of Adi Dravidar Christians," which had said that in South India if a person converted from Hindu religion to any other religion, the original caste, as a matter of common practice, continues to exist...If a person abjures his old religion and converts to a new one, there is no loss of caste." The petition pertained to a housing project launched under the Harijan Welfare Scheme in Villupuram district in October 1998. The sites were issued to 37 Christian Adi Dravidar beneficiaries. The petition was filed after the land-loser's objections were rejected by the authorities, who had notified the acquisition and even deposited the compensation sum in court. The original petitioner, M Gopal Goundar (deceased) who is represented by his son G Perumal, contended that Christian Adi Dravidars are not covered by the definition of the term Harijan.' Justice Chandru agreeing that the Tamil Nadu Act 31 of 1978 provided for land acquisition only for Harijans, who did not include Christian Adi Dravidars, said the Supreme Court too had held the definition constitutional. He further added that a larger bench of the apex court was still seized of a case against excluding Christian Adi Dravidars from the beneficial purview of Harijans. Though the judge set aside the acquisition under the state act, he said it would not preclude the authorities from resorting to acquisition under the Central Act 1 of 1894. After notifying the acquisition under the Central Act, the authorities could distribute the lands to the beneficiaries, he added.
Govt speeds up modernisation of prisons
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Govt_speeds_up_modernisation_of_prisons/articleshow/3951582.cms
8 Jan 2009, 1328 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: The government has speeded up the plan to modernise prisons and constructing additional jails to overcome congestion. According to a Home Ministry official, out of the total 168 new prisons proposed to be constructed across the country during the scheme, work on building 124 jails has already been completed. "Around 1,543 additional barracks were constructed out of a total of 1,730 proposed under the modernisation of prisons scheme," he said. The Union Government had in 2002-03 initiated a Rs 1,800-crore scheme on 75:25 basis for modernisation of jails with a view to de-congesting them and improving the condition of prisons, prisoners and prison personnel. It had then decided to spend Rs 1034.60 crores for construction of jails, Rs 284.60 crore for expansion and renovation, Rs 465.10 crore for staff quarters and Rs 48.20 crore for sanitation and others basic infrastructural works. "As many as 8,465 staff quarters have also been constructed during the scheme out of the proposed 8,965 houses," the official added. The government has also planned to acquire modern gadgets to strengthen security in and around prisons. "The Ministry has decided to increase electronic surveillance in the entire prison campus, including cells, under camera surveillance without intruding into the privacy of inmates," he said.
Child can adopt caste of either parent, rules HC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Child_can_adopt_caste_of_either_parent_rules_HC/articleshow/3954346.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0320 hrs IST, TNN
CHENNAI: Ruling that a child born out of an inter-caste wedding
is free to choose the caste of either parent, the Madras HC has put a smile back on the face of an AIADMK councillor, who was disqualified for having contested from a reserved constituency in Coimbatore. Justice A C Arumugaperumal Adityan, setting aside the disqualification of V Kasthuri, who was elected union councillor in Anaimalai panchayat union in 2006, pointed out that as per a government order dated June 27, 1975, children born to parents, one of whom belonging to a scheduled caste, can be considered to belong to the community of either parent. The 47-year-old Kasthuri’s father was from a backward community and her mother belonged to the Kudumban community, which is a scheduled caste. She had been elected president of the reserved Ramanamudalipudur village panchayat in 1996.
Four held for cheating HC lawyer
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=22&theme=&usrsess=1&id=239454
KOLKATA, Jan. 8: Four people were arrested on charges of cheating in various places of Belghoria police station area last night. Police said Sanjay Kumar Dey, Manas Karmakar, Arup Mukherjee and Subir Sen were arrested for cheating Mr Gautam Mitra, a lawyer of Calcutta High Court by withdrawing Rs 1 crore from his bank. Police said the mastermind of the theft racket, Subir Pal, a resident of Belghoria, is absconding. According to police, the money from a property suit was deposited in the bank account of Mr Mitra in August 2005. Subir Pal, Mr Mitra's clerk, used to handle his bank account. He forged Mr Mitra's signature and started withdrawing the money from the bank by issuing the account payeee cheque in the name of the four accused persons. He managed to divert the bank authority's attention, police said. His cheating came to light a month ago and Mr Mitra lodged a complaint against Subir Pal with Hare Street police station on 12 December, 2008. n SNS
Don't transfer staff only on basis of recommendation, HC tells state
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Dont_transfer_staff_only_on_basis_of_recommendation_HC_tells_state/articleshow/3953817.cms
8 Jan 2009, 2347 hrs IST, Shibu Thomas, TNN
MUMBAI: Transfer of government employees for political reasons are too well known. The Bombay high court recently cautioned the Maharashtra government against transferring its employees on the basis of recommendations or complaints of political parties. "Cases of transfer of employees before the normal period of three years on complaints of political parties should be looked into very cautiously and with close scrutiny,'' remarked a division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice S R Dongaonkar. "It is necessary to discourage counter proposals for and against the emloyees by political parties as the sole basis for transferring an employee,'' the court added. The court's orders came on a petition relating to the transfer of Omprakash Mudiraj, a superintendent engineer in the irrigation department, from Nanded to Nashik. R K Niturkar was appointed in his place at Nanded. Mudiraj approached the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) which ruled in his favour. The government challenged MAT's order in the high court. Mudiraj had claimed that an RPI leader had lodged a complaint against him, while an MLA and MLC had recommended Niturkar's transfer. The HC was, however, not convinced, and said that courts and tribunals should not normally interfere in an order of transfer unless it has been proved to be malafide or violating statutory provisions. "No government servant or employee has any legal right to be posted forever at one particular place or place of his choice since transfer is not only an incidence but a condition of service, necessarily in public interest and in aid of efficiency in the public administration,'' said the judges. According to law, government officers have a tenure of three years, and transfers should be done once a year in the month of April or May. The rules, however, allow the government to transfer an official due to special circumstances. The court said it was the government's job to decide who should be placed at what location and for how long. "Once transfer orders are effected on account of administrative exigency, it is for the competent authority to deal with the same as to who should be placed at what place and who should be transferred from one place to another and as to how long persons should be retained at a particular place.'' The government pleader pointed out that Mudiraj had been transferred on account of performance and due to the lower recovery of water taxes on his watch. The court agreed and reversed MAT's order. The judges, while agreeing that there was no political pressure to effect the transfer, thought it fit to caution the government to dissuade political parties from speaking in favour or against the transfer of a government employee. mailto:shibu.thomas1@timesgroup.com
HC clean chit to Ghai's company
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1220090
Anshika Misra
Friday, January 9, 2009 1:18 IST
Mumbai: After Bollywood director Subhash Ghai's latest film Yuvraaj bombed at the box office, the Bombay High Court has given him some reason to cheer. The HC on Wednesday gave a clean chit to Ghai's company Mukta Arts which was facing an inquiry for alleged financial irregularities.
Justice SC Dharmadhikari quashed an order issued by the Company Law Board (CLB) in 2005 directing investigations against the company on allegations of investing Rs64.88 crore collected through an initial public offer (IPO) in the stock market and its links with tainted stock broker Ketan Parekh and diamond merchant Bharat Shah.
In April 2001, Small Investors Protection Forum had lodged a complaint against Mukta Arts, which has produced hits like Karz, Taal and Iqbal. It was alleged that Mukta Arts had a common tie through Triumph International Finance India Ltd and Ketan Parekh Group of Companies (KPGC) and they were involved in price manipulation of shares.
It was alleged that the rapid enhancement in the company's capital to the extent of Rs11.28 crore and diversion of funds clearly indicated "the positive role of the company in the Ketan Parekh security scam."
Inspection reports of Ministry of Corporate Affairs revealed that Bharat Shah, who was arrested for underworld links and charged with foreign exchange violation, was the company's director between March 2002 and April 2003.
Noting that the CLB had erred in allowing an investigation, the HC noted that the increase in the company's share capital was due to the IPO and the allegations that proceeds of the IPO were invested in the stock market remained unsubstantiated. The HC also noted that Shah had no participation in the company's management and did not attend any of the eight board meetings held during his term.
HC refuses to extend Nanda's interim bail
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/HC_refuses_to_extend_Nandas_bail/articleshow/3956600.cms
9 Jan 2009, 1608 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a plea of BMW-hit-and-run case convict Sanjeev Nanda to extend in his interim bail which expires on Saturday. Justice Kailash Gambhir dismissed the petition of Nanda which means he has to surrender himself tomorrow. Nanda, undergoing five years jail term in the BMW hit-and-run case, was earlier on December 19 granted three-week interim bail to meet his ailing grandfather and former Naval Chief S M Nanda. "In order to help the 1971 war hero to meet his grandson, three weeks interim bail is granted to Nanda," the court had said while granting him interim bail. Nanda, son of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, was sentenced to five-year jail term on September 5 for killing six persons, including three policemen by his BMW car in the wee hours of January 10, 1999 at Lodhi Colony here.
BPO staff moves court against forced marriage bid
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Girl_moves_court_over_forced_marriage/articleshow/3953795.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0316 hrs IST, KALYANI SARDESAI, TNN
PUNE: A 24-year-old woman BPO employee here has sought the protection of the court against her parents and brother who allegedly want to get her married against her wishes. Anagha (not her real name) has filed an application before the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) court at Shivajinagar stating that she has left home because of her family's insistence on her marrying a man 10 years older to her and who earns less than half her salary. She has alleged that when she turned down the match, she was subjected to mental and physical harassment as well as emotional blackmail that her parents would end their lives. Anagha's lawyer Asim Sarode is seeking to use the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act, 2005, in the case. "The petitioner does not want anything apart from the court's protection. She is a self-reliant person and is already earning her own living. The parents' behaviour is an indicator of a deep-rooted social psyche that women are someone's property," he has stated in the application to the court submitted on Anagha's behalf. Anagha has also said in the application that her parents have threatened to "expose" her friend, who they allege has been a "bad influence" on her. She has alleged that her parents threatened to tell her friend's parents about her (friend's) relationship with a man. "My friend has a right to her privacy and she will tell her parents about her relationship at her own pace. My family has no business to threaten her," Anagha told TOI. Anagha left home on January 4 after a showdown with her parents and brother, who she alleged hit her and did not allow her to go to work. Sarode says she was released after he went to her house with an inspector and constable from the Dehu Road police chowky and mediapersons. Anagha said she went to the Rupeenagar police chowky to lodge a complaint. "However, the police tried giving me unwarranted advice instead of noting down my statement. My statement was finally taken when superintendent of police Ashok Morale intervened," she added. When contacted by TOI, Anagha's parents said that she first agreed to the match but later backtracked under her friend's influence. "We have been looking out for a suitable groom for her for a long time," the mother said. "Though the boy earns less than her, his basic qualifications are the same as hers. Besides, he has a permanent job and has family property as well. We wanted her to get married soon as we have a younger daughter to marry off as well." The mother denied having confined Anagha to her room. "I had simply asked her not to go to work. Even the policemen who came on that day saw that for themselves," she said. The mother says she will respond to the court's summons as and when she gets it. Anagha says she agreed to the match initially only because her parents had been threatening to expose her friend's relationship and because of the suicide threats. "They wanted me to agree to the match because of the boy's family property. But I want my prospective husband to earn more than I do. I earn about Rs 20,000 whereas he earns just Rs 6,000 or Rs 7,000," she said. SP Morale said that though Anagha's statement has been taken, no complaint has been lodged. But Sarode contends that the Domestic Violence Act is civil in nature, and does not require the intervention of the police. Anagha is now staying with a colleague and is looking for her own apartment.
RTI crusader clears 500 appeals in a month
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/RTI_crusader_clears_500_appeals_in_a_month/articleshow/3953879.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0005 hrs IST, Viju B, TNN
MUMBAI: RTI crusader Shailesh Gandhi, who now works as a Central Information Commissioner (CIC) in Delhi, has created a record of sorts by clearing more than 500 appeals and complaints in a month. But this is not about individual glory says Gandhi
. "The same model can be followed in Mumbai and Maharashtra to clear the backlog of cases threatening to defeat the very purpose of the Sunshine Act,'' he told TOI. Gandhi came up with a two-pronged strategy to reduce the number of appeals at CIC after he joined on September 18 last year. He studied the appeals in detail.
Where the public information officers (PIO) denied data without any valid reason, he sent them a notice urging them to provide the information in 30 days. In around 30%-40% of the appeals filed, the PIO responded within a week saying they had provided data to the applicants. In appeals that appeared before the CIC, Gandhi told his staff to type out the case details well before the hearing. "In most cases, I only had to type out a crisp one-page order adding briefly what happened during the hearing. This spared me a lot of red tape,'' he said. Gandhi was given appeals against 11 departments including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi government and HRD ministry with a total pendency of about 1,650 cases. In October-November 2008, Gan-dhi disposed of 333 cases and by December 508. City RTI activists said Gandhi's method of disposal should be attempted by other state information commissioners. Maharashtra has a backlog of around 15,200 cases and on an average the seven information commissioners dispose of 100-150 appeals every month. Though the RTI Act has been a runaway success in Maharashtra with over 3 lakh queries filed till date, the mounting number of second appeals and complaints filed with the SIC is killing the Act slowly. "We feel that the Gandhi model should be attempted by the information commissioners in the state to clear the backlog," said RTI activist Bhaskar Prabhu. Gandhi also had to deal with staff shortage. "The number of people sanctioned by the government was falling short for my work. So I recruited four interns and I pay them from my salary,'' he said. According to Gandhi, by April, he will bring back the pendency to less than 90 days. Taking a cue, his colleague, Annapurna Dixit, has disposed of 180 pleas in November and 301 in December.
Don't transfer staff only on basis of recommendation, HC tells state
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/Dont_transfer_staff_only_on_basis_of_recommendation_HC_tells_state/articleshow/3953817.cms
8 Jan 2009, 2347 hrs IST, Shibu Thomas, TNN
MUMBAI: Transfer of government employees for political reasons are too well known. The Bombay high court recently cautioned the Maharashtra government against transferring its employees on the basis of recommendations or complaints of political parties. "Cases of transfer of employees before the normal period of three years on complaints of political parties should be looked into very cautiously and with close scrutiny,'' remarked a division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice S R Dongaonkar. "It is necessary to discourage counter proposals for and against the emloyees by political parties as the sole basis for transferring an employee,'' the court added. The court's orders came on a petition relating to the transfer of Omprakash Mudiraj, a superintendent engineer in the irrigation department, from Nanded to Nashik. R K Niturkar was appointed in his place at Nanded. Mudiraj approached the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) which ruled in his favour. The government challenged MAT's order in the high court. Mudiraj had claimed that an RPI leader had lodged a complaint against him, while an MLA and MLC had recommended Niturkar's transfer. The HC was, however, not convinced, and said that courts and tribunals should not normally interfere in an order of transfer unless it has been proved to be malafide or violating statutory provisions. "No government servant or employee has any legal right to be posted forever at one particular place or place of his choice since transfer is not only an incidence but a condition of service, necessarily in public interest and in aid of efficiency in the public administration,'' said the judges. According to law, government officers have a tenure of three years, and transfers should be done once a year in the month of April or May. The rules, however, allow the government to transfer an official due to special circumstances. The court said it was the government's job to decide who should be placed at what location and for how long. "Once transfer orders are effected on account of administrative exigency, it is for the competent authority to deal with the same as to who should be placed at what place and who should be transferred from one place to another and as to how long persons should be retained at a particular place.'' The government pleader pointed out that Mudiraj had been transferred on account of performance and due to the lower recovery of water taxes on his watch. The court agreed and reversed MAT's order. The judges, while agreeing that there was no political pressure to effect the transfer, thought it fit to caution the government to dissuade political parties from speaking in favour or against the transfer of a government employee. mailto:shibu.thomas1@timesgroup.com
CBI chargesheet against CGHS doc
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Delhi/CBI_chargesheet_against_CGHS_doc/articleshow/3957763.cms
9 Jan 2009, 2341 hrs IST, Smriti Singh, TNN
NEW DELHI: The CBI has filed a chargesheet against a former chief medical officer of CGHS for allegedly issuing false medical slips prescribing expensive medical drugs under the names of various CGHS cardholders. Dr Suresh Kumar Jain, who was working as the CMO and in-charge of CGHS at Pusa Road from 2003 to 2007, has been accused of fraudulently gaining monetary benefits by forging emergency slips during his tenure. In the chargesheet filed before a special CBI court, the probe agency alleged that Jain entered into a criminal conspiracy with other people and issued false emergency slips prescribing costly medicines in the name of CGHS card holders "to generate false demands and also prescribing expensive drugs by issuing false and exaggerated indents''. As per procedure, those medicines which are not available in the stock of the dispensary are prescribed through the emergency slips. "Emergency slips from March 2005 to December 206 were collected from the patients to whom these medicines were prescribed,'' the CBI said. The agency added that in 11 cases, the patients in whose names the authorization was given, refused to receive the medicines. The probe agency has also submitted the statements of the patients under whose names the medicines were prescribed. The CBI investigation revealed that fake emergency slips remained with the CMO and the acknowledgement was also given by him. Jain has been booked under various provisions under Indian Penal Code including Section 420 (cheating), Section 120(B) (criminal Conspiracy) and Section 13(2), Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. smriti.singh@timesgroup.com
No court relief for Utsav Bhasin
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Delhi/No_court_relief_for_Utsav_Bhasin/articleshow/3957675.cms
9 Jan 2009, 2348 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has rejected the bail plea of Utsav Bhasin, teenaged son of a Haryana industrialist, accused of mowing down a man with his BMW car in south Delhi. Justice Veena Birbal dismissed the bail plea of 19-year-old Bhasin "considering prima facie evidence that he ran away from the spot... and the damages done to his BMW car.'' The court said that taking into account the gravity of the case and his conduct and the fact that the case is still at an initial stage, the accused doesn't deserve to be granted bail. Utsav was involved in an accident on September 11 last year, when his BMW car allegedly hit two men on a bike around 2.40 am near Moolchand flyover in south Delhi. One of the two victims succumbed to his injuries later while the survivor identified the accused. Seeking bail through his lawyer Manoj Taneja, Bhasin had argued he should be set free because he wasn't needed any more for investigation. But HC said charges were yet to be framed even as witnesses who identified him were being examined by the police. The court saw merit in charge of the prosecution that setting free Bhasin might try to influence the witnesses. Earlier, a sessions court had rejected his bail plea against which he approached HC.
Peripheral e-ways: Slow work irks SC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Delhi/Peripheral_e-ways_Slow_work_irks_SC/articleshow/3957399.cms
9 Jan 2009, 2342 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: The abysmally slow progress on ground on the construction of two major bypasses for Delhi -- the Western and Eastern Peripheral Expressways -- on Friday invited the ire of the Supreme Court, which sought a status report from the Centre and the Haryana government. Amicus curiae Harish Salve told a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia that the Bhure Lal committee has found that only 10% of the targeted work on the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE) has been completed because of the financial weakness of the contractor who now wanted central government guarantee for getting fresh loans from financial institutions. On the EPE, Salve said that despite clear cut directions from the apex court long time back to speed up the land acquisition process, the requisite land has not yet been acquired by the Haryana government. The Bench asked Solicitor General G E Vahanvati and the counsel for Haryana government to file status report on the statements made by Salve on the basis of the Bhure Lal Committee report. The apex court had cleared both the expressways as they would considerably reduce the truck traffic on Delhi's roads in the night as most of them use the Capital as a transit route for going to their destinations in other states. These trucks driving in the night on Delhi's roads are a major traffic problem and hazard for motorists, being involved in many fatal accidents.
Metro Rail PIL may be heard in Feb
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Bangalore/Metro_Rail_PIL_may_be_heard_in_Feb/articleshow/3953687.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0210 hrs IST, P Vasanth Kumar, TNN
Bangalore : The hearing on PIL challenging the validity of Namma Metro project is likely be delayed by a month. On November 21, the high court tentatively fixed January 6, 7 and 8 as dates for completing the hearing. But the petition did not come up either on Tuesday or Wednesday. And it hasn't been listed for Friday either. The reason: the petition is in the `part-heard list' and Justice V Gopalagowda, the other judge in the division Bench headed by the chief justice which has heard the petition before, is now in Dharwad circuit Bench. As per the system, the judges who officiate in circuit Benches come back after four weeks. Given that, the PIL filed by CMH Road Shopkeepers' and Residents' Association can only be heard in the first week of February, unless the petitioners move the matter citing urgency. The petitioners have challenged the Metro project under the century-old Mysore Tramway Act, 1906.
Madras high court judges to get Honda civic for official use
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Chennai/Madras_high_court_judges_to_get_Honda_civic_for_official_use/articleshow/3949188.cms
8 Jan 2009, 0247 hrs IST, A Subramani, TNN
CHENNAI: The government has allocated Rs 4.26 crore for purchasing 36 Honda Civic sedans for the official use of Madras high court judges. A government order, making the budgetary outlay, was passed by the Home (Courts) Department on December 26. In the next few days, a total of 36 Honda Civic sedans will be made available to the official use of the Lordships. A government order, making a budgetary outlay of Rs 4.26 crore, was passed by the Home (Courts) Department on December 26, and the copies were sent to the high court a couple of days ago. Pointing out that the proposal to buy Honda Civic cars came from the high court represented by its Registrar-General, the government order said a sum of Rs 4,25,88,000 had been allotted to purchase 36 cars. Each car shall cost Rs 11.83 lakh, it said. Though Honda Civic cars in the open market enjoy only two-year free maintenance, the company dealer, TVS, has thrown in two more years of extended warranty for this batch of vehicles. "It is almost maintenance-free arrangement, as the norms for government vehicles fixed in 2003 holds that a vehicle would be eligible for replacement if it either completes five years or logs one lakh kilometre, whichever is earlier," said an official. The new batch of 36 vehicles will replace as many Honda City cars, which are long past their prime. Now, the old vehicles will be used by the Public (motor vehicles) Department for internal allotment. "The old vehicles are in poor shape, and we send up a prayer each time we get inside these cars," said a judge, adding that heated exchange of ideas preceded decision on the new Honda Civic sedans. While some judges pitched in for Toyota Innova, a couple of Lordships wanted Tata Safari or Scorpio for all judges. "Honda Civic found favour with a majority of judges for its elegance and poise," said another judge. After a brief debate, the judges settled for a modest white instead of royal black suggested by some judges. The high court's sitting strength of judges as on date is 43. So, who will not get the new car? "The junior-most seven, of course," said a judge, adding that orders for more cars would be placed once the 14 new additional judges, whose appointment is expected in the next few weeks, assume charge. It was the then chief justice B Subhashan Reddy who ushered in an era of comfort and opulence in 2002, when he got a batch of 31 Honda City cars for judges. The state government had allotted Rs 1.78 crore for the vehicles. Though the then open market rate for the vehicle was Rs 7.5 lakh each, the court got it for Rs 5.75 lakh each, thanks to discounts by the company and tax waiver by the then government.
Court rejects bail plea in ISI conspiracy case
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Ahmedabad/Court_rejects_bail_plea_in_ISI_conspiracy_case/articleshow/3957977.cms
10 Jan 2009, 0014 hrs IST, TNN
AHMEDABAD: City sessions court on Friday rejected the bail plea moved by four accused in the ISI conspiracy case. They are Abdul Rahim CS Ramsundaram, Mohammed Abdul Bari, Saiyed Ifteqar-ul-Hasan Hashmi and Mohammed Shafiuddin Sunni, all from Andhra Pradesh. Recently, terror charges have been withdrawn from their case after SC ordered implementation of Pota Review Committee's recommendations. Additional sessions judge PR Patel denied bail to them holding that withdrawal of Pota does not lessen the gravity of their charges. Moreover, they have been booked under various provisions of IPC and their confessional statements were recorded under the provisions of CrPC too. Hence, removal of Pota doesn't make their case stronger, the court observed while rejecting the bail plea. Besides facing charges of terror conspiracy, Bari, Hashmi and Sunni are accused in Haren Pandya murder case, while Ramsundaram was considered a witness in the same case by CBI, the investigating agency. Trial against Bari and Hashmi is still pending, while Sunni was convicted by the special Pota court for seven years. His punishment is over, as the rest of his term is reduced following his good conduct in jail. But, facing the conspiracy charges, he is still languishing in jail. The judge didn't accept arguments by lawyers that these accused are facing trial in Pandya murder case, and they have been charged by city crime branch for conspiracy of the same. Therefore, as per Section 300 of the CrPC, two trials cannot take place for one charge.
All accused are equal for purpose of facing trial: SC
Published: January 9,2009
New Delhi, Jan 9 The Supreme Court today said no distinction can be made among accused persons for the purpose of putting the trial in criminal cases involving influential persons on the fast track.
"We cannot define who is an influential person. We cannot say that a person belongs to a particular class,"a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said during the hearing of a petition seeking laying down of guidelines for speedy probe and trial in cases involving important public functionaries.
Instead reasons have to be found out for delay into the investigation and trial of the criminal cases, the Bench said.
"You have to find out the reasons for delay which can be during the probe and trial of the cases. You have to find out whether the delay has been in investigation or in the courts,"said the Bench, also comprising Justice P Sathasivam.
The court adjourned the hearing taking on record the suggestions provided by advocate Prashant Bhushan on the issue asking the Centre to respond within four weeks.
The PIL filed in 2004 by advocate V K Ohri had cited the instance of Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren, who allegedly avoided the law in a criminal case registered against him in 1975 and held important public positions including the office of a Union minister.
Soren, who yesterday lost the by-election, was acquitted by the Jharkhand High Court as all the witnesses in the three-decade-old case had died, the advocate said.
Among the 11-point suggestions, the advocate had said that the trial of all the"influential persons"should be monitored by the designated judge of the concerned High Court and a cell in the High Court should collect information relating to the cases involving influential persons in trial courts.
Source: PTI
Petition in SC for declaring truckers' strike illegal
http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/0/0428E6358814900465257539002CAE17?OpenDocument
New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) A petition challenging the on-going nation-wide strike by truckers was filed in the Supreme Court today.A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan fixed January 12 to hear the petition which sought a direction to declare the strike as "illegal".The PIL filed by Sunder Khatri, an advocate, contended that the strike by the transporters was illegal under the Essential Commodities Act.He said that the strike by the All-India Motor Transport Congress and various other bodies of the transporters was causing difficulties to the common man as it had led to disruption supply of essential commodities.Truckers are on indefinite strike since Sunday midnight to press for their demands including a reduction in diesel prices by Rs 10 per litre, exemption in service and toll taxes and a single permit for nationwide transportation. PTI
EMRI ambulance services will not be affected
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Goa/EMRI_ambulance_services_will_not_be_affected/articleshow/3954088.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0514 hrs IST, TNN
PANAJI: With Ramalinga Raju's Satyam in the limelight for the wrong reasons after Raju's confession of a fraud, the spotlight is now on the Emergency Management and Research Institute's (EMRI) 108 ambulance service that has been patronised by 12 state governments across the country, with eight handpicking it for ambulance service without even floating tenders. The question is whether the EMRI 108 service, which was started with much fanfare in the various states, including Goa, go bust. "There is no scam in EMRI as we are not making money or profit. Every expenditure is being audited by the state government, which gives 95 percent funding," said Gobind Lulla, EMRI's chief operating officer, Western Zone. Just five percent funding comes from Satyam. Health Secretary Anand Prakash said, "EMRI officials met us on Thursday and assured that they would continue with the ambulance services. There are doing a good job and there is no fraud here. If required the state government can fund 100 percent." EMRI has entered into a 10-year MoU with Goa government in September 2008, with the state government handpicking it for its credibility'. There are already 18 EMRI ambulances running in the state and 9 more would be added soon. EMRI officials maintain that the developments at Satyam will have no impact on the ambulance services in the state. "Developments in Satyam will have no impact on the EMRI's current and future services. We have 12,000 employees and 1540 ambulances running in eight states and every job and EMRI service is secure," said Lulla. However, critics of EMRI, while pointing out that Satyam created the software as part of its Corproate Social Responsibility, questioned why the software was being sold and not given for free. "Each state has to pay at Rs 10 crore just for the software. Every service, including transportation of their faculty to reach the site is charged and each of these expenses are met by the government," they stated. A public interest litigation filed in the Supreme Court last year alleged that the EMRI ambulance service reeked of a Rs 5,600 crore scam. The PIL by two NGOs, Ambulance Access Foundation India (AAFI) and Transparency in Contracts (TIC), filed in November 2008 claimed that EMRI had signed MoUs with eight states to provide ambulance and emergency response services without any tender process. It said funds for operating ambulance and emergency response services, to be operationalised by EMRI, would be provided by states from the central grants it receives under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The court in November had issued notices to various state governments and EMRI. "We are yet to submit our reply to the court," EMRI chief executive officer (CEO) Sudhakar Nukala told TOI. The case is scheduled to come up for hearing in the last week of January. Sudhakar Nukala also said that EMRI was "not a part of Satyam". "Satyam is giving only technology support to us," he maintained.
Satyam slapped with 2 class action suits in US
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/Satyam_slapped_with_2_class_action_suits_in_US/articleshow/3954227.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0211 hrs IST, TIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES
While thousands of small investors in India have been helplessly watching their shares in Satyam turn into dust, their counterparts in the US have promptly initiated two class action suits against it for its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). They were able to go to the court for damages because, unlike in India, the law of torts is highly developed in US. The 1934 securities exchange Act gives shareholders over there the right to bring a private action in a court to recover damages they had suffered as a result of a securities fraud. Since a large number of shareholders would be similarly affected, they are entitled to take recourse to class action or representative action, which is roughly the American equivalent of the Indian PIL. Two law firms, Vianale & Vianale LLP and Izard Noble LLP, have announced that they have filed class action suits alleging that Satyam and its top executives violated federal securities laws by issuing false and misleading financial statements, the law firms said in separate releases. Besides, the US authorities suspended trading in Satyam's ADRs before the opening of the market on Wednesday. Izard has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, while Vianale's suit is pending in the Manhattan federal court. One hitch however for the ADR holders is that the judgments passed in these civil proceedings in US are not necessarily or automatically enforceable in India.
Metro Rail PIL may be heard in Feb
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/Metro_Rail_PIL_may_be_heard_in_Feb/articleshow/3953687.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0210 hrs IST, P Vasanth Kumar, TNN
Bangalore : The hearing on PIL challenging the validity of Namma Metro project is likely be delayed by a month. On November 21, the high court tentatively fixed January 6, 7 and 8 as dates for completing the hearing. But the petition did not come up either on Tuesday or Wednesday. And it hasn't been listed for Friday either. The reason: the petition is in the `part-heard list' and Justice V Gopalagowda, the other judge in the division Bench headed by the chief justice which has heard the petition before, is now in Dharwad circuit Bench. As per the system, the judges who officiate in circuit Benches come back after four weeks. Given that, the PIL filed by CMH Road Shopkeepers' and Residents' Association can only be heard in the first week of February, unless the petitioners move the matter citing urgency. The petitioners have challenged the Metro project under the century-old Mysore Tramway Act, 1906.
Too confusing, say parents about complaint system against schools
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/too-confusing-say-parents-about-complaint-system-against-schools/408433/
Chinki Sinha
Posted: Jan 09, 2009 at 0252 hrs IST
New Delhi Almost a fortnight after the Delhi High Court instructed the Directorate of Education (DoE) to come up with a complaint mechanism against schools found violating rules on nursery admissions, parents are still confused on the way to go about to file a complaint in the city.
The DoE had informed the court as well as issued a circular to schools about putting in place a complaint mechanism, wherein parents could access the ‘mail’ option on the home page of the authority’s website to file their complaints. However, upon clicking on the ‘mail’ option, one is navigated to a Management Information System login, where one needs create a login identity and a password to enter the system.
R Baladevan, the associate director of the Centre for Civil Society (CCS), which had earlier filed a public interest litigation (PIL) asking the court to intervene in the chaotic nursery admissions process in the city, said they were considering filing yet another complaint against the government for failing to carry out the court’s orders.
“One has to know how to file a complaint at the website. People don’t know,” Baladevan said. “The website has, in fact, not even been updated. Even if we want to write a mail to the deputy directors, most of the email ids are of people who are no longer working there.”
The DoE’s website www.edudel.nic.in does have a “complaint status” for the admissions process, where people can view the status of their complaints. However, without a complaint number, one has to scroll down among all the registered complaints to find theirs.
Baladevan said the CCS had filed about 60-70 complaints as part of the PIL, but these complaints were handed in person and were not registered online. He said most of the complaints had been sent to the respective deputy directors as per the status update.
A circular issued by the DoE last month directs schools to put up the breakup of allotted points on their notice-boards and to respond to admission-related complaints within five working days to the concerned district deputy director.
Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said the government had received the complaints and all were being considered. He added that the complaint mechanism was in place.
This not the only point of contention CCS has with the DoE. While the court had asked the government to ensure that private, unaided schools follow the schedule as mentioned in the DoE circular, the government’s notification sent to the schools on December 21 does not mention anything about the admissions schedule to be followed by these schools.
In the petition filed on behalf of parents, legal counsel Vikramjit Banerjee said a DoE press release dated December 18 does not state whether the compliance of the time limit set in the guidelines would be ensured by the DoE as directed by the court.
Schools were required to communicate their schedule for nursery admissions to the government by December 14, failing which they would have to adhere to the DoE’s schedule as set by the DoE guidelines.
The DoE has also not disclosed how many schools have actually informed the body about their admissions schedule, Baladevan said.
SC stays demolition of corporator's alleged illegal structure
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Pune/SC_stays_demolition_of_corporators_alleged_illegal_structure/articleshow/3953807.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0336 hrs IST, TNN
PUNE: Amid much drama, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Tuesday abandoned plans to demolish an alleged illegal construction by NCP corporator Surdas Gaikwad after the Supreme Court (SC) stayed the action till January 16. Last week, the civic body had said that the construction, on a plot reserved for a primary school in Phugewadi near Kasarwadi, would be razed on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the PCMC's anti-encroachment squad, with 70 policemen and labourers, reached the spot around 12 noon. The squad, however, could not undertake the action as it was awaiting the SC's decision in a case pertaining to the alleged illegal structure. Tension prevailed in the area for nearly two hours as a large crowd gathered at the spot. The squad finally withdrew from the spot after NCP group leader Jagdish Shetty submitted a fax copy of the SC's stay order on the demolition to executive engineer Vitthal Mahadik. The SC stayed the action until the next hearing in the case on January 16. Gaikwad had appealed to the SC against a Bombay high court (HC) ruling giving the go-ahead to the demolition. The case had been filed in the HC filed by Padminiraje Mohite, Gaikwad's opponent in the last civic elections.
Noida rape: Gangster Act imposed on 6
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=239377
Noida, Jan. 8: Six youths arrested in connection with the gangrape of a MBA student have been booked under the stringent Gangster Act as hunt was on to nab the other four absconding youth accused in the case. Police has already fanned out several teams to nab the four youths in connection with the shocking incident that occurred when the 21-year-old victim was returning home with her friend in their car after shopping at a mall in Sector 39 here on 6 January.Taking strong note of the alleged rape of a girl in Noida, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms Mayawati to ensure the safety of women in the state, specially the suburbs adjoining the capital. In a letter to Mayawati, NCW chairperson Ms Girija Vyas has said being a woman, the UP CM was in a better position to understand the problems being faced by women. n PTI
Live-In Relationships in India Accorded Legal Status
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/11/14/livein-relationships-india-accorded-legal-status
Deepali Gaur Singh on January 8, 2009 - 8:00am
A couple of years ago, India witnessed a very poignant moment which till then was uncommon in the Indian psyche -- despite the huge foreign troop presence in the neighborhood, the Taliban-sponsored unrest in two countries of the continent and India's own long history with Afghanistan. The incident was the execution of an Indian engineer, apparently by the Taliban, which had so far targeted mostly Americans and Europeans. It was, however, not the first tragedy of its kind and neither was it going to be the last. And yet what stood out about that heart-rending scene was how the anguish of his spouse so quickly turned into anger, snatching from her even the last grieving moments over a lost partner. What surfaced was the second secret family of the worker hitherto unknown to everyone - his other wife and child. Accusations flew even as the man who actually broke the law (bigamy is an offense in India), cheated on one wife and led a surreptitious life with another, lay dead. And as the horrific death was soon forgotten (to be replaced by the memory of his tragic, divided life) one cannot help but think about the people in these complicated relationships - their choices and circumstances. Who really are the victims here?
Despite the existence of the anti-bigamy law, there are just too many examples of it all around, whether from the almost revered celluloid world of filmstars, the powerful politicians or the general populace. Often the cheap trick of conversion has been used to by-pass the law since the Muslim personal law does not come under this jurisdiction (India does not have a uniform civil code and since Muslim personal law allows polygamy, Muslims practicing polygamy cannot be penalized by the Indian civil law). Most of the time the first wife does not even file a case against the husband and continues to cohabitate in a tenuous compromise with the ‘other' woman or second wife.
The Indian Supreme Court's (SC) decision that a live-in-relationship should be treated as equivalent to marriage is set to change the dynamics of such relationships. The court's proposal was followed by similar suggestions from the National Commission for Women (NCW), which in seeking to change the definition of ‘wife' recommended that women in live-in relationships should be entitled to maintenance if the man deserts her.
The Mumbai High court recently followed suit and is ready to sanctify live-in relationships and the Maharashtra cabinet approved a proposal which seeks to give the status of a wife to a woman involved in a live-in relationship.
What makes this proposal interesting is that despite the need to have marriages registered, Indian marriages have hinged so heavily on symbolism that even the exchange of garlands at a temple, application of the sindoor (vermilion worn by women on the forehead as symbols of matrimony) or the mangalsutra (worn around the neck) were enough to prove marriages in the country for, at least, the majority Hindu community. And this is what made deceiving an illiterate girl or her family into a fake marriage and subsequent abandonment very easy. Besides, there have been innumerable situations where the second wife/woman is often not aware of the existence of another wife until much later into the relationship; where the woman was led to believe that the man was either unmarried, divorced or widowed and went ahead with the formalities required by- or customs governing - marriage laws. The threats of exposure and stigma attached to such a relationship not only prevent women from seeking redress but very often, by extension of the same threat, are coerced into remaining in the relationship.
As a way of countering this, the NCW suggested that even if a marriage was not registered a woman's claim would stand if she provided enough proof of a long-term relationship. Thus, by removing the stigma accorded to live-in relationships, the provision takes into account the plight of women who have been tricked into marriage (or by the promise of marriage) and into what are stigmatized, socially ambiguous, sexually exploitative relationships.
While the argument very often used is that live-in relationships are not part of the Indian culture, you have innumerable narratives indicating the existence of the practice of men having more than one wife and/or also what is commonly and disparagingly referred to as a mistress. While the former, despite being a common cultural practice, has been deemed illegal the latter is a practice that has been ignored so far by any law. While women in certain pockets of urban India could pressure and negotiate to change the nature of such a relationship into a marital one - thus involving a divorce from the first to be able to legally marry the next - most of the solutions (like circumventing the law by ‘instant' conversions to Islam, or else a tenuous compromise between both the wives) actually indicate a disregard for a law meant to protect from bigamous or polygamous marriages.
When the bigamy law is invoked it invariably means abandonment of the ‘other woman' who in the presence of the wife is not recognized by law; and while the wife still has avenues to seek redress (though it is often not used) in case of abandonment by the husband, the ‘other' woman is both socially and legally abandoned. Also, despite the tacit social acceptance of second marriages/second families as a right of the man in rural India or amidst the urban poor, it is only when the man dies that women in these relationships really face the brunt of society since nothing legally accords them even the status of a widow. In effect, this is the protection that the law gives such women.
The proposal takes a step forward and states that children born to such parents would be called legitimate. Moreover, these children will have a right to their parent's property. The stigma attached to illegitimacy has often prevented the acknowledgment of such a child and hence accorded a socially peripheral status to such children.
However, while the amendment covers the interests of women involved in polygamous or live-in relationships, the catch here is that the 'reasonably long period' is yet to be specified. On the flip-side, it raises the questions of pitting one woman's right to legal protection against another's? And what really happens to the bigamy law? If bigamy is illegal how is a live-in relationship equal to a marriage? This amendment is bound to bring up issues and cases that in turn are bound to be far more complex depending upon the social circumstances and contexts of the parties involved. There is a vast divide that exists between urban cosmopolitan India, towns and cities struggling between modernization and traditionalism, and remote rural India.
The recent ruling is only the latest in a series of recommendations by various bodies seeking equal rights for both the married woman and live-in female partner. When the Domestic Violence Law came into force in October 2006, it did not distinguish between a woman who is married and a woman who is in a live-in relationship. The Delhi High court also, earlier in the year, upheld a rape case against a man since the sexual relationship between the two hinged on the promise of marriage by the man - indicating a recognition of the protection that even women, not necessarily within the realm of a traditional marriage, require.
There have been cases in the past century even in pre-independence India when judgments have been made in favor of women/persons in live-in relationships, so the Supreme Court proposal is not without precedent. What the proposal does, in effect, is to make a Your browser may not support display of this image.distinction between immoral and illegal/law and morality. And yet, because the legal sanction for live-in relationships is meant to work to the advantage of women who become victims of their circumstances, even if it was a matter of choice, it is based on the assumption that the relationship is not between equals; therefore women need protection by the courts from the patriarchal definition of marriage and such relationships too. Such protective sanction is bound to raise extremely prickly questions especially with regard to the agency of women. And this really is where the extreme divide between cosmopolitan India and the rest of the country comes into play. By giving live-in relationships the status of a marriage it defeats the very reason why most urban, financially independent individuals - men and women alike - opt for this as opposed to the institution of marriage. For those for whom it is a willful rejection of the stereotypes and inequalities that the institution of marriage has come to represent, this legal sanction puts it back into the same trap, albeit by giving legal protection to the woman. It implies that live-in relationships are bound by the same rules and structures as a marriage.
For most of semi- and illiterate India, just as divorce (or abandonment in most cases) socially tends to be harsher for a wife, the estranged female partner (in the live-in relationship) will continue to face the same social ostracism since acceptance for such relationships when it comes to the woman is still low. While the law attempts to protect those who direly need this protection, what is required more is a rigorous restructure of gender imbalanced social structures - those customs and practices that govern and differentiate how girls and women - sisters, wives, mothers and daughters - are treated.
Deepali Gaur Singh's blog
Asif's hearing may be shifted back to India
http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/0/93F98652DF4025FB65257539001B5726?OpenDocument
Karachi, Jan 9 (PTI) The flip flop over controversial Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif's hearing in the Indian Premier League doping case still continues with the IPL drugs tribunal contemplating of shifting back the venue of the hearing to India.Asif's was scheduled to appear before the drugs tribunal in London on January 24 following a request from the pacer and his lawyer Shahid Karim to shift the hearing to a neutral venue after Mumbai terror attacks escalated tensions between India and Pakistan.However, Asif told PTI that the IPL had recently suggested shifting the hearing back to India."Yes the IPL tribunal has suggested we have the hearing in India but my lawyer has still not given them an answer on this," he said."Now they are having second thoughts about it, but we still believe that it would be better if the hearing is held in London," he added.Sources close to the bowler said the IPL tribunal had sent an email in which they pointed towards the growing stability in relations between India and Pakistan and suggested to hold the hearing back in India.Asif is presently facing suspension from the Pakistan Cricket Board from all forms of the game, including domestic cricket, as he awaits a decision from the IPL drugs tribunal on the doping case. PTI
Changes proposed to Tourist Act
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Goa/Changes_proposed_to_Tourist_Act/articleshow/3954102.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0531 hrs IST, Joaquim Fernandes, TNN
PANAJI: Some travel agents in Goa, illegally operating as recruiting agents, are duping job seekers of large sums of money and although around 17 cases have been registered with various police stations in Goa, not a single conviction has been obtained. Perturbed at the police tardiness, the NRI Cell has proposed amendments to the Goa Tourist Trade Act 1982 under which these travel agents operate. The NRI Commissioner Eduardo Faleiro told TOI on Thursday, "We have recommended amendments to the Goa Tourist Travel Act to specifically prohibit travel agents from recruiting people for overseas jobs unless they fulfill the conditions of the central Emigration Act 1983. Under that Act, only the Protector General of Emigrants can grant license to recruit labour for overseas jobs." Although the NRI Cell had written to the directorate of tourism last year, nothing had come out of the exercises so far. But sources in the Directorate of Tourism on Thursday confirmed that the amendments have already been incorporated and will be sent for the cabinet's consideration before the amendment bill is put before the next legislative assembly. Sources in the NRI Cell said that over 17 complaints have been filed against travel agents illegally operating as recruiting agents and duping prospective job seekers by extracting huge sums of money from them by promising them jobs abroad. At least one such case has been filed against the brother of a senior cabinet minister in Goa, sources said. The NRI Commissioner had even raised the matter before the Protector General of Emigrants, who wrote to the Director General of Goa to take up follow up action way back in September 2007. Faleiro has also taken up the issue before the union ministry of overseas Indians and the police. Faleiro said, "A major cause of our labourers abroad in terms of poor salaries, long working hours, lack of leave and holidays, are the recruiting agents in India. One case is that they have no license from the Protector General of Emigrants and are therefore illegal. The other case is they have license from the PGE but do not fulfil the conditions of the license. So they charge higher fees then prescribed or do not certify the service contract or flout any of the rules." Sources in the NRI Cell said it has made efforts at raising public awareness by raising regular advertisements in the print media cautioning the public not to fall prey to fake agencies and to ensure that the recruiting agent is registered and has a valid permit to recruit manpower for overseas employment.
Human rights violations by paramilitary forces almost double
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/49231.htm
Jan 9th, 2009 By Sindh Today Category: India
New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) Human rights violations by paramilitary forces have almost doubled in the last five years, the home ministry has acknowledged in response to a Right to Information (RTI) Act query.
In response to queries filed under the RTI Act, it was revealed that the total number of human rights violations in 2003-04 were 95 which increased to 180 by 2007-08.
Providing the information, an official of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) told IANS: ‘The data is not maintained force wise (in the paramilitary) or gender wise. But there has been an increase in the violations. In 2006-07 there were 173 violations, which increased to 180 as recorded on Jan 1, 2008′.
The violations have been of various kinds. Arbitrary use of power, abduction or kidnapping, rape, abuse of power, custodial death, custodial rape, custodial torture, death in shootout, fake shootout and illegal detention are some of them.
As per the latest data, the maximum number of violations, 52, have been of arbitrary use of power. Twenty one cases of death in firing and 10 cases of fake shootouts are the other two most often committed violations in 2007-08.
‘In all there have been 591 cases of human rights violations by the paramilitary forces in the last five years. NHRC has taken cognizance of five cases and has recommended a compensation amount of Rs.750,000,’ the NHRC official said.
On their part, in 2007-08 the paramilitary forces have disposed of 56 complaints alleging human rights violations. They closed 15 cases after considering reports received from the concerned authorities and rejected 68 more.
In all, over the past five years, the paramilitary forces have disposed of 93 cases after considering reports from concerned authorities, 228 with direction; 196 cases were dismissed without consideration and one has been transferred to the state human rights commission.
HC issues notice, admn to hold Mohali MC polls
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Chandigarh/HC_issues_notice_admn_to_hold_Mohali_MC_polls/articleshow/3953943.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0513 hrs IST, TNN
CHANDIGARH: MC councillors have a reason to cheer as the administration has finally scheduled Mohali municiplal council polls for the post of vice-president and senior vice-president. The state government has reportedly decided to hold the polls, pending since past one year, on January 20. The decision comes in the wake of a PIL seeking directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for conducting election of MC senior vice-president and vice-president, deciding upon which Justice Ajay Lamba on Thursday also issued notices for January 29 to Punjab local government secretary. The issue had been brought before the court by Kuljit Singh Bedi, member of the council. It was pointed by his counsel that election to these posts, having a tenure of one year, had last been held on August 17, 2006. As such, fresh elections were due on August 16, 2007, but the state authorities had been putting it off on one pretext or the other, hence the plea for judicial intervention. Notices have also been sent to director, local bodies, Punjab, deputy commissioner and sub-divisional magistrate, MC, through its chairman and MC executive officer. Meanwhile, councillors have hailed the administrations move. An ecstatic Bedi said, “We are happy that elections will be conducted soon as the MC has already completed its one-year tenure. Work has suffered as these posts were lying vacant.”
Get real info of HC cases on mobile
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Nagpur/Get_real_info_of_HC_cases_on_mobile/articleshow/3954432.cms
9 Jan 2009, 0359 hrs IST, Vaibhav Ganjapure, TNN
NAGPUR: The High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Nagpur, has gone online. It has not only started its own user-friendly website (www.hcbanagpur.com) that provides case positions in all 13 courtrooms of Nagpur bench even on cellphones in real time. The HCBA Nagpur is first bar association in the country to provide this facility to the lawyers and litigants. Lawyers as well as litigants can see which case is going on in each courtroom at a click of the mouse or on mobiles. The lawyers or litigants only need to access the website either through a computer or a GPRS-enabled mobile handset. “The facility was started for lawyers shuttling between various courts like District and Sessions court, MAT, CAT, industrial and labour courts. While on the move from one court to another, they had to assign a person in the HC in case their case comes up for hearing. The new facility eliminates the need of this person and also saves on call charges,” Kishor Lambat, secretary of HCBA, told TOI. Lambat, the brain behind the project, added that the system also displays date and time in addition to number of cases. “Not only lawyers who are away, but also those working in the high court won’t have to wait hours for their turn.” The website is connected to court’s numbering system and is updated five seconds after a change is made in the system. The site will soon offer services like daily and weekly cause-lists as well as names and contact numbers of all lawyers. The website will be launched in February.
About Me
- Kamal Kumar Pandey (Adv. Supreme Court of India)
- Lawyer Practising at Supreme Court of India. Court Experience: Criminal, Civil & PIL (related to Property, Tax, Custom & Duties, MVAC, insurance, I.P.R., Copyrights & Trademarks, Partnerships, Labour Disputes, etc.) Socio-Legal: Child Rights, Mid Day Meal Programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Women Rights, Against Female Foeticide, P.R.Is, Bonded Labour, Child labour, Child marriage, Domestic violence, Legal Literacy, HIV/AIDS, etc. Worked for Legal Aid/Advise/Awareness/Training/Empowerment/Interventions/Training & Sensitisation.
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