Patiala Judge Murder Case

Lady doc among 2 convicted 

Accused Ravdeep Kaur and Manjit Singh come out of the district courts in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Chandigarh, March 28
After seven years of trial in the case relating to murder of a senior Patiala judge, Chandigarh Court today convicted two accused including a lady doctor.
The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge VP Sirohi convicted Dr Ravdeep Kaur and Granthi Manjit Singh under Section 302 of the IPC. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Friday.
The murder occurred on October 13, 2005 when Vijay Singh, who was the Additional District and Sessions Judge, was attacked with swords while he was on a late night walk in the high-security area of the Polo Ground in Patiala. He was stabbed repeatedly by the accused. Vijay (42) was holding the charge of presiding officer of the Chandigarh Labour Court at that time. He was son of former chairman of Punjab Public Service Commission Amarjit Singh.
Four days after the murder, the Patiala police had arrested two persons — a lady doctor working with a private hospital, Ravdeep Kaur, for masterminding the murder and Manjit Singh, who was a contract killer and executed the crime. He was paid an amount of Rs 5 lakh for executing the murder, police had said. The trial was transferred from Patiala to Chandigarh Court as no counsel in Patiala was willing to represent any of the accused in the case pertaining to murder of the judge. The case was transferred to Chandigarh in February 2006.
While establishing the motive behind the crime, the prosecution stated Dr Ravdeep had an affair with Vijay and was compelling him to marry her and divorce his wife. Vijay had three children and he refused to tie the knot with Ravdeep, following which she turned bitter against him and hatched a conspiracy to kill him.
Public prosecutor from Punjab Vijay Singla said strong circumstantial evidence led to the conviction. Call details of Ravdeep proved that she took an add-on connection three months prior to the murder, which was used to maintain contact with Manjit. She was in touch with him before and after the murder. Bloodstains and DNA samples of the victim matched with the blood stained clothes of accused Manjit.
The prosecution also stated Ravdeep made anonymous complaints against Vijay to the Chief Justice. It was proved that the anonymous letters were written by Ravdeeep. The police had also recovered Rs 4 lakh cash hidden in the harmonium of Manjit.

UT Estate Office fails to recover service tax

 

Chandigarh, March 25
The UT Estate Office has failed to recover lakhs of rupees as service tax on ground rent of prime commercial properties in Sector 17.

Pointing out the anomaly, the office of the Accountant General Punjab and UT in a communication to the Chandigarh Administration has pointed out that despite the laid down rules on ‘renting of property services’, the estate office has failed to recover service tax to the tune of around Rs 20 lakh.

While examining the record of the Estate Office in respect to 23 shop-cum-offices (SCOs) and booths of Sector 17, the AG office in its observation has pointed out that while the Estate Office received the ground rent of Rs 91,33,500, no service tax was paid by it. But the Estate Office has failed to file a reply.

Similarly, it has been pointed out that in respect to two commercial properties in Sector 43, the Estate Office failed to pay the service tax on ground rent along with interest amounting to Rs 10.21 lakh. Though the Estate Office raised a demand for the service tax, the amount was not recovered.

Many similar cases on non-recovery of service tax to the tune of lakes of rupees exist in the record of the Estate Office, sources said. The observations have been pointed out during an inspection of the office record in 2011. The sources reveal that renting of property services has been made liable to service tax. The renting of immovable property include renting, letting, leasing, licensing or similar arrangements of immovable property for use in the course of furtherance of business or commerce.

Shivalik hills up for sale?

Dealers illegally carve out farmhouse sites after levelling hillocks

Mirzapur (Kurali), March 25
On the pretext of levelling agricultural land that has been freed (de-listed) from the provisions of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900, unscrupulous property dealers have virtually put the eco-fragile Shivalik hills here for sale.
In a bid to make quick money, the land mafia is selling farmhouse sites to outsiders after cutting undulating hillocks. The investors are being taken for a ride as they are being sold the land that cannot be fragmented under the latest guidelines of the Revenue Department. Moreover, the nature of the land in the forest area cannot be changed. But at certain places there were traces of uprooting of trees in complete violation of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA).
In connivance with villagers, property dealers have started levelling small areas on both sides of a seasonal rivulet, which passes through the Shivalik hills. A visit to the site revealed that locals had been engaged in levelling of small chunks of land and huts were being erected.
To lure outsiders, milestones painted in white have been erected on both sides of the paths leading to the farmhouse sites. Some of the investors were being shown a site plan with a promise that in a few months a metalled road would be constructed to the farmhouse sites.
Revenue officials at Majri tehsil said that shares of local residents in the forest area were being illegally transferred despite a ban on it.
Divisional Forest Officer, Mohali, Vishal Chauhan said after the issue came to his notice, a particular property dealer had been stopped from doing any illegal activity. He claimed that no violation had taken place in the area under the PLPA. The claim of landowners that their land had been de-listed was being verified.
Activities such as felling of trees, construction, levelling of land, laying of new roads, etc stand banned in the area under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, Forest Control Act, 1980, and the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900. Also, these Acts empower forest officials not only to stop construction work, but even arrest violators, if any, and confiscate their machinery.
Locals lament that despite complaints, forest officials were adopting a wait and watch policy and were not acting against property dealers who were flouting rules and could be seen roaming in the area.
Last year, the Forest Department was caught napping when a politician-turned-property dealer had carved out roads for farmhouse sites in Majri block comprising five villages - Bhagindi, Gurdha, Kasauli, Jyanti Majri and Karaundewala.
"It is a systematic scam in which unscrupulous elements in connivance with revenue officials are tampering with land records to encroach upon others' share and then level hillocks for monetary gains. It cannot happen without the blessings of politicians and senior officers," said a local resident.

Bill soon to allow more Indians to visit US

New York, March 25
Amid Indian IT firms' concerns over restrictive US visa policies for their employees, a top American senator has assured that he is working on a bipartisan bill that will reform immigration laws and allow more Indians to come to America.

Influential US Senator from New York Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met noted Indian-American hotelier and Chairman of Indian-American Democrats Sant Singh Chatwal at his Manhattan hotel here on Friday.

During the nearly hour-long meeting, the three discussed India-US bilateral relations, with Chatwal raising concerns of Indian IT corporations regarding problems faced by them in obtaining work visas like H1B and L1 for their employees.

Reid and Schumer expressed appreciation for the contribution made by the growing Indian-American community to the American economy, saying concerns regarding the visas are being addressed and taken care of.

"I am working to try and change the immigration laws so more Indians can come (to the US). One of the things that Harry and I care a lot about is changing the visas. So more Indians can come here to travel," Schumer told PTI after the meeting.

He said while Indians, Chinese, Russians are keen to come to the US, "the visa laws are a little bit too restrictive so we are working on a bipartisan bill. Harry Reid is going to try to help us get it passed very fast."

Chatwal said Schumer assured him that concerns of Indian firms regarding work visas for their employees are being taken care of and that more visas would be issued to Indian businesses and corporations for their employees.

He said Schumer is keen that more Indians come to the US not only on work visas but also as tourists, thereby contributing to the economy here.

CONCERNS BEING ADDRESSED

Influential US Senator from New York Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed appreciation for the contribution made by the growing Indian-American community to the American economy, saying concerns regarding the visas are being addressed and taken care of

2 booked for hacking facebook account

Chandigarh, March 23
The UT police has booked two residents of Karnal for hacking the facebook account of a person and posting obscene comments and pictures on it. Sahil Pandhir and Neeraj Pandhir, both residents of Old Housing Board Colony, Karnal (Haryana), have been booked for hacking the account of the complainant’s son and posting obscene comments of her daughter on it.
A case under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act has been registered in the police station of Sector 17.
The hacking came to light when the brother of the woman in Sector 22 started receiving dirty phone calls and then noticed comments of facebook visitors on his account.
Neeraj Pandhir is the husband of the woman.
The police said a matrimonial dispute between Neeraj and his wife was already pending with the crime against women cell (CAW) of the Chandigarh police. Though Neeraj is pursuing his engineering in a private institute at Rohtak, co-accused Neeraj is studying in Chandigarh. Police sources said the suspects had hacked the his brother-in-law’s facebook account from their computer in Rohtak. 

PU Syndicate Meeting

Chandigarh, March 23
After a series of amicable meetings, Saturday Syndicate is expected to be stormy, especially, for the Vice-Chancellor (VC) who seems to have run into trouble with the Chatrath Group over with the faculty change issue after their letter to VC, 11 senators of the GK Chatrath group have approached Chancellor Hamid Ansari accusing the Vice-Chancellor, RC Sobti, of disrupting the democratic set up of the PU Senate.
Accusing Sobti of actively participating in Senate politics by intentionally helping a particular group, the senators, in their letter, have claimed that the permission to change faculty is against all the norms and that of PU calendar.
“The VC has no authority to grant any such permissions and the unlawful act is aimed to help handful of people in forthcoming Senate elections. How can we justify people changing their faculties after four years in house and selecting syndicate? It has never happened before and arbitrary attitude of RC Sobti is disrupting democratic set up of academic bodies,” reads the letter, which seeks immediate intervention of Chancellor.
In addition to the issue of the university giving two hoots to propriety and going ahead with recruitments despite search committee being framed for the new VC will also rock the house. While the VC claims to be continuing with recruitment as per directives of last syndicate a majority of syndicate members refuse to take it.
“He should have done only urgent and need based appointments but going by the current trend it appears that we are trying to adjust as many people as we can before change of power which is unethical. Not only the VC search panel has been declared but also the Senate election has been scheduled, so any fresh appointment is against propriety. We can understand one or two appointments but hundreds of screenings is unacceptable,” said a syndic.
Interestingly, the skeletons will also tumble out of cupboards with syndics ready to take up the issue of deteriorating condition of the HSJ Dental College. In its latest letter, Dental Council of India has threatened to disaffiliate the PU’s BDS course in a view of ailing infrastructure and staff crunch. Interestingly, the PU had recently bypassed syndicate and senate and proposed to the council allowing it to start the MDS; the council however, felt that organisation is not fit to even have the BDS course.
“We granted them recognition when former Director Dr Guaba was in his exit mode. They proposed to have the MDS but our visits to the college have revealed that they are currently not even fit to have the BDS course. The number of the OPD patients has dropped from 400 to 70 patients everyday. There are no proper equipments and skilled teachers even the current head is not from the subject. We have given the PU three months time to work out the things failing which we will have to disaffiliate its course,” said a member of the Dental Council of India.

Navratra Fair: 80,000 throng Mansa Devi Temple

Panchkula, March 23
More than 80,000 devotees paid obeisance at the Sri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine, near here, on the first day of the ‘Chaitra Navratra’ festival that began with traditional fervour today.

A devotee crawls towards the temple

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda accompanied by his wife Ashaperformed a yajna and paid obeisance at the holy Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Complex.
Principal secretary to Chief Minister Chattar Singh, political adviser to the Chief Minister Prof Virender Singh, principal, OSD, MS Chopra, MLAs DK Bansal and Zile Ram Sharma, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chief Administrator, Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, Panchkula, Ashima Brar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Manish Chaudhary and City Magistrate Ashwani Malik also participated in the yajna.
The shrine is one of the 51 shakti peeths mentioned in the ‘Tantra Chudamani’ and it is believed that the forehead of Sati fell at this place. The sacred temple was got constructed by Maharaja Gopal Singh, son of King of Mani Majra Garib Das years ago.
Meanwhile, the shrine board has received cash offerings of Rs 16.15 lakh, besides 10 and 163 items of gold and silver, respectively. However, no foreign currency was received on the first day.
DP Dattana, chief executive officer (CEO), Shri Mata Devi Shrine Board, said special arrangements were made to deal with huge rush of devotees. A team of doctors was also deployed to deal with any emergency.