CBI registers case in army immigration racket

New Delhi, Nov 30 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday registered a case against a senior army official and others for allegedly misusing their official passports for the purpose of human trafficking.

"A case has been registered against Lt. Col. H.P.S. Bedi, posted in the ceremonial and welfare directorate of the army, Harleen Chadda, wife of Lt Col. K.S. Chadda of the same directorate, and Lance Naik Suresh Babu, under the appropriate sections of law," a CBI spokesperson said.

"The case was registered after the defence ministry filed a written complaint before the agency requesting a probe into the matter," the official said.

Earlier this week, the CBI had asked the defence ministry to file a complaint before it so that a case could be registered into an alleged immigration scam involving army officials.

"In our letter to Defence Secretary Vijay Singh we have asked the ministry to file a complaint so that a case can be registered to initiate investigations into the matter. We have also asked them to provide all necessary documents pertaining to the case," a senior CBI official told IANS.

The alleged immigration scam involving army officials came to light earlier this month after four people were detained at the Delhi airport. They were held while trying to leave the country on official passports issued to the Army Headquarters Band for a performance in Germany.

Preliminary investigations by the army revealed that Suresh Babu, a soldier responsible for preparing travel documents, had made and sold four "extra" passports for Rs.50,000 each.

Shocked by the incident, the defence ministry asked the CBI to carry out the probe.

In March this year, parliamentarian Babubhai Katara was arrested at the airport while trying to smuggle out of the country a woman and a boy on his family's diplomatic passports.

Delhi HC asks for high-rise fire safety report

New Delhi, Nov 30 The Delhi High Court Friday asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to file a status report within six weeks on the lack of fire safety measures in over 600 high-rise buildings in the capital.

A division bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Veena Birbal after considering a report of the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) that revealed 688 commercial building in the capital lacked minimum fire safety measures, passed the directions for the civic agency.

According to the report, 2,337 commercial complexes in the city were either ill-equipped or lacked fire-fighting measures.

Of these, 688 building owners were said to have asserted that they were under no obligation to install fire-fighting equipments on their premises as the height of their buildings did not exceed 15 meters.

The fire department said, with a view to resolve the dispute, it has now asked the MCD to ascertain the height of these buildings.

On being informed that the response from the MCD was awaited, the court said, "Why do you seek help from the MCD, as you can do this exercise on your own".

Counsel for the DFS then said the various sanctions regarding the constructions were granted by the MCD and hence only the civic agency was empowered to carry out the exercise. This prompted the court to issue directions to the MCD in this regard.

Around 450 building owners had decreased the height of their building below 15 meters, the fire department said.

Delhi government issued notice on phasing of old vehicles

New Delhi, Nov 30 The Delhi High Court Friday issued notice to the Delhi government on a public suit seeking phasing out of commercial vehicles more than 15 years old from the capital's roads in compliance with the Supreme Court orders.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice M.K. Sarma fixed Dec 5 for hearing arguments after the petitioner submitted additional documents and government policy.

The petition filed by advocate Sugriv Dubey said the directorate of transport, flouting the Supreme Court directives of 1998, has issued a circular to allow 15-year-old commercial vehicles to ply on the roads as Radio Taxis provided they were fitted with gas (CNG) kits.

The Supreme Court had directed phasing out such commercial vehicles by December 2000. But due to inefficiency of the authorities many vehicles were still plying, said the petition.

"The engines are not efficient, the body and doors are making noise leading to noise pollution in the city," the petition said.

Despite the permissible limit of noise being at 0.45 decibel, the city noise level was 12 to 14 decibel. These vehicles were the main culprits of noise pollution in the city, said Dubey in his petition.

He pleaded that direction should be given to the government for issuance of licenses only to new vehicles. - IANS

Supreme Court grants bail to Sanjay Dutt

Nov. 27 - Sanjay Dutt granted bail by Supreme Court today. The apex court had earlier deferred the hearing of the bail plea on November 20.

A bench comprising Justices K.G. Balakrishnan, R.V. Ravindran and J.M. Panchal granted bail to the actor who has been serving his sentence in Pune's Yerwada Jail.

Dutt had approached the apex court following his conviction for illegally keeping arms - an AK 56 rifle and a pistol, relating to the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

Dutt’s lawyer argued that the apex court should grant him bail on the ground of his conduct, and that he has never broken the law in the past one decade since he was first granted bail in connection with the case.

Sanjay Dutt, son of late Sunil Dutt, who was one of the best actors the country has produced and a Congress party leader has challenged his conviction by TADA court late last month. He has sought bail until the petition was heard.

Make delivery of justice affordable to all: president

New Delhi, Nov 24 The concept of social and economic justice may not mean much to the poor, President Pratibha Patil said Saturday, calling for making the delivery of justice affordable to all.

"There are a large number of people living below the poverty line in the country," said Patil and asked, "What does social and economic justice mean to them?"

Patil made the remark while addressing a gathering of international legal luminaries and jurists on the occasion of National Law Day function. Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan also attended the gathering.

"In a country with the size and magnitude of India, there remain many challenges in providing social justice as well as justice to the marginalized sections of the society," Patil said.

"High cost of judicial remedy is a cause of concern that needs rectification."

Towards that end, the president exhorted lawyers and jurists "to contribute to helping the needy who knock on the door of justice".

"Alternative dispute settlement systems need to be encouraged," she added.

She also wanted the courts "to make legal procedures as simple as possible to help common citizens gain access to it".

The president noted the existence of an institutional mechanism for providing legal help to the poor, but she said the quality of free legal aid is not up to the mark.

"Even though free legal aid is guaranteed for the weaker section of the society, it should be remembered that the quality of legal aid plays a very important role," the president observed.

Patil expressed concern at the inordinate delay in adjudicates of cases by the judiciary and said: "Sometimes justice delayed can become justice denied, and hence the need to ensure speedier disposal of cases.

"Justice should not only be done but it must also be seen to be done," she said.

Chief Justice Balakrishnan dwelt upon the intrinsic quality of the Indian constitution that he said had helped India weather many crises without affecting its rule of law and its vibrant democratic system of governance.

He said that after winning freedom from colonial rule, many countries had started out as a democracy, but they were not able to sustain that form of governance because they did not have a fine constitution like India's to support them in the hour of crisis

Delhi High Court to decide on trying Karunanidhi

New Delhi, Nov 22 The Delhi High Court Thursday called for documents from a trial court that had dismissed a petition seeking action against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for his controversial remarks on Hindu god Ram. Justice B.B. Gupta directed the lower court to submit the documents by Dec 11 to decide whether or not a case was made out. Advocate and petitioner Monika Arora challenged the decision of the district court before the high court saying that the trial court judge had erred in appreciating the evidence produced in the petition. The petition said Karunanidhi had hurt the sentiments of millions of Hindus by making derogatory statements against lord Ram and he should be punished in accordance with law. "He also described lord Ram as a mere myth having no roof of his existence," said the petition. During the height of the controversy earlier this year on the construction of the Sethusamudram shipping canal, the DMK chief had ridiculed some Hindu groups for opposing the project and also made controversial remarks against lord Ram in a public statement at Chennai on Sep 21.

CBI probe into irregular allotment of Noida plots upheld

New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday upheld an order for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the irregular allotment of 1,250 residential plots in Noida to a host of prominent personalities in 2005.

Upholding an October 2005 ruling of the Allahabad High Court, a bench of Justices H.K. Sema and Aftab Alam also endorsed the cancellation of plots and holding of a fresh draw.

In late 2004, the Noida Authority had mooted a housing scheme for common citizens of the country and had invited applications for the allotment of 1,250 plots - of various sizes ranging from 100 sq m to 500 sq m in various sectors in the satellite town on the outskirts of the national capital.

The application fee for the applicants was fixed at Rs.100,000 or more depending upon the size of the plot. There was overwhelming participation with a million applicants.

The draw for allotment was supposed to be held within three months of the last date of application, Dec 31, 2004. But when it was eventually held after repeated postponements, only the influential from amongst the executive, the legislature and the judiciary and a few from the media could make it.

People who were allotted the plots included former chief justice of India Y.K. Sabharwal's daughter-in-Law Sheeba Sabharwal, Samajwadi Party MPs Toofani Saroj, Rewati Raman Singh, Rasheed Masood and Jai Prakash.

Others included state legislators, senior bureaucrats, police officers and lawyers.

Following a hue and cry in the media, Noida Authority cancelled the entire allotment. On some public interest lawsuits, the Allahabad High Court ordered a CBI probe into the matter to fix the criminal liability of officials and politicians in the scam.

Supreme court refuses to interfere with judicial service exam

The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking a change in the age criteria for candidates appearing for the Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service examination.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.V. Raveendran and J.M. Panchal refused to entertain the plea, saying the bench would not interfere in the matter on the eve of the examination - beginning Friday.

The petition was filed by a candidate, Sanjay Aggarwal. His counsel Jasbir Singh Malik argued that a 2007 amendment to the 1975 rules for the Uttar PradeshHigher Judicial Service provided that the candidate must have seven years of experience as a practicing lawyer to appear for the examination.

The rules, however, stipulated that to appear in the examination being held in 2007, the candidate should complete seven years of experience on a date in 2008.

Counsel told the bench that the Allahabad High Court had earlier struck down the rule, saying that it violated the constitutional provisions for appointment in judicial services.

But, later on an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Supreme Court suspended the high court's ruling, Mailk said, pleading that the suspension be revoked.

But the bench refused to accede to his plea.

Sentencing in Uphaar case Friday

New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) A city court will pronounce sentences on the 12 convicts, including real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal, in the Uphaar cinema hall fire tragedy case Friday afternoon.

After hearing the arguments from both sides Thursday, Additional Sessions Judge Mamta Sehgal said she would pronounce the sentences at 3 p.m. Friday. The 1997 fire in the south Delhi cinema hall had claimed 59 lives.

Prem Kumar, counsel for Gopal Ansal, continued his arguments over the quantum of sentence as they remained inconclusive Wednesday. He stated that his client was innocent as he was not directly involved in the tragedy.

He also pleaded that a person could be reformed even without putting him behind bars, adding that Gopal and Sushil Ansal have contributed a lot to the country's economy and as civilized citizens should be released on probation.

The Central Bureau of Investigation's counsel Vikas Bawa expressed his wish to argue on the quantum of sentence, but the court refused to hear them. He later submitted a written submission to the court.

For Neelam Krishnamurthy, who lost her two children in the fire, it was like light at the end of a tunnel after leading a legal battle for the past 10 years.

"I am feeling very nervous now. I want the accused to be given the maximum punishment as they have taken 59 innocent lives. I will not be able to sleep tonight and am eagerly waiting for tomorrow's judgement," she said.

The court has convicted theatre owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) -- 304 A (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life) -- and section 14 of Cinematographic Act. Similar charges were imposed on N.D. Tiwari and Shyam Sunder Sharma.

The other convicts are Radhakrishnan Sharma, Nirmal Singh Chopra, Ajit Chaudhary, Manmohan Unniyal, Brij Mohan, Anand Kumar Gera, Vir Singh and Har Swaroop Pawar. They were convicted under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC, read with section 36.

Originally, 16 people were named accused in the case, but four of them have died in the last 10 years.

In a strange sideshow, just before the court proceedings could start Thursday, a man came and submitted a written statement claiming that the Uphaar fire tragedy was not caused by human negligence but by the US military force, which used satellite-based laser weapons.

In his application, a copy of which is with IANS, Rajat Bobal stated that it was a well-thought out agenda of "ethnic cleansing of Hindus and destroying India". "The US military has indulged in such acts and caused fires across India in houses, industries and commercial buildings," he told the court.

The court refused to admit the application, stating it should have been submitted earlier.

Apex court extends stay on radio jockey Nitin's arrest

New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) Red FM radio jockey Jonathan Brady alias Nitin was granted immunity from arrest by the Supreme Court Monday till his petition challenging a criminal case against him over his alleged insulting remarks about "Indian Idol" Prashant Tamang is decided by the court.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice J.M. Panchal exempted Nitin from arrest, extending its last week's order till Monday.

The Red FM jockey faces arrest following registration of a case in Siliguri, West Bengal, accusing him of inciting communal violence and creating hatred between the Nepalese Gurkha community and others by his remarks during a radio show.

He has also been accused of hurting feelings of the Nepalese by his jocular remarks during a live radio programme that "shopkeepers will now have to make their own security arrangements as Gurkhas have taken to singing".

He made the remark on his new programme, "Khurafati Nitin", on Red FM in the wake of Tamang emerging as winner of the "Indian Idol" television talent show.

The remark triggered clashes between Tamang's fans and locals in Siliguri and the police had to resort to firing to contain the mob.

The police registered a case against Nitin for inciting communal violence and a Siliguri court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.

The radio jockey subsequently moved the Calcutta High Court seeking anticipatory bail and quashing of the criminal proceedings. But the high court dismissed his petition and he approached the apex court in appeal.

Delhi Metro gets high court notice

ew Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Monday asked the government and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to file their replies to a petition of south Delhi residents who have objected to plans to construct an elevated rail track in the area.

A division bench headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal asked the authorities to state the reasons for constructing the elevated track, whereas the practice in the world has been to construct the metro underground.

Residents of several south Delhi colonies petitioned the high court seeking a direction to the DMRC to take the underground route for its proposed corridor between Jangpura and Badarpur.

The Residents' Welfare Associations (RWAs) of Greater Kailash, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Kailash Colony and other localities through which the corridor would pass are concerned that an elevated corridor would adversely impact their neighbourhood, while residents from Jangpura to Kalkaji said the elevated track would threaten the green cover in their areas, besides adding to the noise pollution.

The high court has also asked the DMRC to make a survey for construction of four subways near the historic India Gate, as the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has refused to construct them on the plea these would pose a security threat in the VIP area.

The Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) in an application said that four subways were planned in 1993 but they could not be constructed, as the government did not accord clearance.

SC refuses to cancel bail of Amarinder's son

New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday refused to cancel the bail granted to former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh's son Raminder Singh, who is facing prosecution for his alleged role in a land scam in Ludhiana.

A bench of Justice A.K. Mathur and Justice Markandey Katju refused to accede to the Punjab government's plea to cancel Raminder Singh's bail on the ground that he was not cooperating with the investigative agency.

Raminder Singh was earlier granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The apex court bench said if Raminder Singh was not cooperating with the police in the probe of the case, the state government was free to approach the high court to seek the cancellation of his bail.

Raminder Singh is an accused in the what has come to be known as the Ludhiana City Centre scam, involving loss to the state exchequer worth several billion rupees following irregularities in allotment of prime plots of land to a few builders by the erstwhile Amarinder Singh government.

Amarinder Singh himself had ordered the probe into the matter before the 2006 assembly elections in the state in which his Congress party was defeated by the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance.

He too now faces the probe into the case along with his several relatives, including son Raminder Singh.

Appearing for the state government, Ravi Shankar Prasad contended that the high court had passed a blanket order of bail to Raminder Singh. He pointed out the high court should have given bail to Raminder Singh only in some particular case or against a particular first information report (FIR) lodged, and not in all cases already registered or are likely to be registered in future as offshoots of the scam.

Acceding to this plea, the apex court asked the high court to amend its bail order.

Supreme Court dismisses petition on Nandigram

New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday refused to entertain a petition seeking its intervention in West Bengal's violence-hit Nandigram.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan refused to entertain the petition saying it cannot issue direction to the central government to act in accordance with West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi's report on the situation there or direct it to impose president's rule in the state.

The bench dismissed the petition by Kedarnath Yadav as it had also partly lost its relevance. The petition had been filed over three months back.

At least 34 people have been killed this year in police firing and clashes between the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist activists and an anti-land acquisition group in Nandigram, in East Midnapore district.

As the matter came up for hearing, the chief justice told the petitioner that the state governor has already sent his report to the central government.

Three jurists seek dismissal of high court judge

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) Levelling serious allegations of corruption against a sitting high court judge, three eminent jurists Friday urged leaders of all political parties to initiate parliamentary proceedings for his dismissal.

In a jointly signed statement, former law ministers Shanti Bhushan and Ram Jethmalani and constitutional expert Fali S. Nariman accused Justice Jagdish Bhalla of the Chhattisgarh High Court of serious judicial impropriety and misconduct and levelled serious charges of corruption against him.

In their statement, to be sent to leaders of all political parties, the three jurists said it should be signed by their parliamentarians to set in motion the parliamentary process of impeachment of Justice Bhalla, who is now tipped to become Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

They have alleged that Justice Bhalla, utilizing his influence, procured at a throwaway price a huge piece of land measuring 7,200 sq m in a posh locality of Noida on the outskirts of the national capital.

The three jurists, who had documentary evidence as proof, said the land bought by Justice Bhalla in the name of his wife Renu Bhalla was actually government land, grabbed by a land mafiaso.

They said land shark Moti Goel had sold several pieces of illegally grabbed land to many influential people, including Justice Bhalla, to evade the law. The land that Goel sold to Justice Bhalla's wife for a mere Rs.500,000, is officially worth Rs.72 million.

They said as a senior judge of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, Bhalla had helped Reliance Energy get a favourable judicial verdict because his son Arohi Bhalla represented Reliance Energy as its legal counsel.

Another allegation was that Bhalla utilized his influence to have several plots allotted to his relatives in Lucknow's posh localities.

The three jurists supported their allegations with documentary evidence.

As per prevalent laws, a sitting judge of the higher judiciary can be removed from service only through a cumbersome parliamentary proceeding of impeachment, which can be set in motion only after a requisite number of MPs sign a memorandum seeking his removal.

The memorandum then has to be presented to the Lok Sabha speaker or the Rajya Sabha chairman, who, in turn, constitutes an enquiry committee to probe the authenticity of the charges.

Once this committee recommends removal of the judge, it has to be passed by two-thirds majority of parliament members, present and voting in the house on the motion for dismissal of the judge.

Adoption Law Amended - Non Hindus now at par

The Centre has changed the law to allow non-Hindu parents to claim full parenthood instead of just "guardian" status that they were allowed till now.

The changes in law also seek to encourage adoption by simplifying procedures.

Under the new guidelines issued under the Juvenile Justice Act 2000, notified on October 26, the rules significantly increases the “legal rights of both adopted children and the couples who give them a home,” says the Times of India in a report Saturday

Under the law so far, only Hindu couples who adopted children could claim to be "parents". Non-Hindus were just guardians to their adopted children. This led to the children being denied rights to inherited property besides creating procedural hassles for parents at the time of school admissions etc.

Some clarifications may still be needed on whether the changes would apply to Muslims as the community has its personal laws. These will be cleared in the guidelines to be framed by Central Adoption Research Agency. The new law also makes adoption by inter-faith couples easier.

Under the new guidelines issued by the women and child development ministry under the Juvenile Justice Act 2000, amended last year and notified on October 26, the new rules will also cut red-tapism in adoption procedures while increasing the number of recognised adoption agencies.

No harm in taking oath in name of Allah: Supreme Court

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) There is no harm if elected legislators and parliamentarians take oath in the name of Allah, the Supreme Court has observed.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan made the observation Friday while dismissing a public interest lawsuit questioning the legality of the oath of office taken in the name of Allah by 13 Kerala assembly legislators in 2006.

The bench, which also included Justice R.V. Raveendran, dismissed the petition, saying "What's the problem if one takes the oath in the name of Allah?"

"Allah is an Arabic word. Translated into English, it means god and the constitution permits one taking oath in the name of god," the chief justice told Madhu Parmala, while dismissing her petition.

The petitioner had contended that at the time of filing of nomination papers, the 13 MLAs had sworn in the name of god about the veracity of the facts mentioned.

But after their election, they took oath in the name of Allah, which the petitioner contended rendered their oath constitutionally invalid. She said that without taking a constitutionally valid oath they could not be treated as members of the assembly.

Dismissing her contention, the bench said: "If a person cannot read English and the prescribed form of oath is translated into the language he or she understands, will it be a violation of the constitution."

The chief justice chided the petitioner, saying, "You too have filed this petition for popularity."

Nithari Killings - Main Witness backtracks

The main witness in the Nithari killings, Nand Lal, on Thursday retracted from his statement by giving a clean chit to the prime accused Moninder Singh Pandher.

Pandher is one of the main accused in the case.

Nandlal, father of one of the victims, retracted his statement about witnessing Pandher paying bribe as a cover-up bid.

Moreover, he also cleared the name of co-accused Noida Police CO Dinesh Yadav.

He also said that Pandher did not help in recovering the saw.

Deposing before the court, Nand Lal denied his statement that the saw was recovered from the bathroom of Pandher's house in his presence and that it had been used for "cutting" up the victims.

In a turn-about from his earlier statements, he said that no bribe had been paid to DSP Yadav by Pandher's manager in his presence during the probe which was carried out by CBI.

Campaign warns Punjabis against immigration, marriage frauds

Chandigarh/Jalandhar, Nov 15 (IANS) In Punjab, where the ambition of nearly half the population is to go abroad, the government has started an advertisement campaign warning against immigration, marriage and job frauds being carried out by unscrupulous travel agents.

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is running the campaign through Punjabi channels and vernacular newspapers and asking young Punjabi men and women to guard against false travel and immigration agents and also NRIs wanting to dupe them by offering foreign dreams.

"Supne dekhne chhado, haqiqat val dhiyaan deyo (Stop dreaming and look at reality)" is the punch line of the ad campaign launched by the ministry last month to make people aware about immigration frauds.

These frauds include illegal immigration, the absence of a work permit, not having employment visas, marriage frauds and 'holiday marriages'. The last of these are sham marriages entered into by NRIs with young women from Punjab with the promise of taking them abroad later.

Holiday marriages are also entered into by NRIs coming to Punjab on a holiday and getting married to local girls without telling them of their earlier marital status.

This is said to be the first such sustained ad campaign against immigration frauds.

"It is a well-oiled immigration industry in Punjab where people are losing billions of rupees annually by falling into the trap of fraud travel agents. These agents take advantage of loopholes in the law and no strict penal action on them," points out former central minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia.

His Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) has been running a campaign against unscrupulous travel agents and for helping duped youth in the state in the last one decade.

Facts on Punjab's illegal immigration industry compiled by the LBP speak for themselves:

Over 500 unscrupulous travel agents have cheated youth of over Rs.20 billion in the last one decade. Complaints worth Rs.2.5 billion, involving nearly 50,000 duped families, are already pending with the LBP.

There are over 15,000 Punjab youth languishing in the prisons of various countries after being duped and dumped by travel agents. Only a few hundred have returned home in the last couple of years to tell their tale of woe.

Nearly 1,500 youth are languishing in inhuman conditions in the Kiev prison in Ukraine alone.

Even VIPs, from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara to singers Daler Mehndi and Dolly Malkit, have been accused of illegal human trafficking of youth from Punjab.

Over 1,500 youth have already been killed or are missing after being sent abroad, especially to Iraq and some Middle East countries.

Nearly 15,000 abandoned brides are waiting in their homes across Punjab for their NRI husbands to take them abroad. In some cases, the wait has been over 10 years.

The Punjab government recently posted an additional director general of police (ADGP) rank officer to probe immigration and NRI marriage fraud cases. Not much outcome has come from it even as travel agents continue to dupe youth.

"We will not allow travel agents and others to have a free run. We are bringing a law in the state assembly shortly to bring these agents under the ambit of stricter laws," Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had said recently.

But this talk is of little solace to many.

The family of Baljinder Kaur, who is in her mid 20s and hails from Badni Kalan village Moga district, is regretting not only marrying her to a NRI from Italy but also paying him a dowry of Rs.1.5 million. The case is being probed by the Punjab Police.

A couple of years ago, Punjab Police mooted a rule to register rape cases against NRI grooms indulging in sham and holiday marriages. But no such case has been registered so far despite the rising number of frauds being committed on young women.

"There are several black sheep among travel and immigration agents. Their activities bring a bad name to the whole industry. They are looting millions of rupees from unsuspecting youth," pointed out Jalandhar-based immigration agent Onkar Singh.

Delhi HC bans strikes in government hospitals

New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) Terming strikes by doctors as illegal and against the public interest, the Delhi High Court Wednesday issued directives to both the central and Delhi governments to take action against medicos striking work.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice M.K. Sarma said that going by earlier orders, strikes by doctors in both the central and state government hospitals in the capital were illegal.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday banned strikes in all government hospitals in the national capital, saying that they were against the interest of the public.

They felt that such an order would stop the health professionals from going on strike unmindful of the needs of poor patients using public hospitals.

Advocate Sugriv Dubey had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) asking authorities to ban strikes in hospitals.

Doctors of many government hospitals had resorted to strikes and inconvenienced patients in past few months, the petition said.

The junior doctors of the Safdarjung Hospital had struck work last month and also early this month to protest the "misbehaviour" of a patient's relatives with one of the physicians.

There had also been reports of emergency services being halted in a strike by doctors at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital after incensed relatives of a patient allegedly manhandled some doctors.

The resident doctors of the premier All India Institute of medical Science (AIIMS) had struck work over the delay in the signing of their degrees, which were distributed later.

Supreme Court has more "Chuttis" than working days

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS) Ever wondered what is common between school-going children and the high priests of judiciary? Saturdays, Sundays and "a lot of fun-days", feel a section of lawyers.

As per the Supreme Court's calendar for 2007, out of the 365 days a year, the Supreme Court has only 176 working days. The remaining 189 days - more than half the year - are holidays.

They include roughly 104 Saturdays and Sundays, nearly two-and-a-half months of summer vacation, a fortnight of winter vacation besides several other offs, ranging from a day to a week. And all this in the backdrop of a huge backlog of cases.

"Even the highest US court, where individual judges do not have to adjudicate more than 150 cases a year, does not have more than three to four months of holidays," said senior advocate K.K. Venugopal.

The Supreme Court is currently on a weeklong Diwali vacation, which began Nov 5. The apex court will reopen Oct 12.

The ongoing apex court vacation has come barely a fortnight after the Dussehra break from Oct 15 to Oct 20. Beginning Dec 17, the Supreme Court will have the usual fortnight-long winter break till Jan 1.

The British legacy of a nearly two-month-long summer vacation - the mother of all vacations of the apex court - continuing year after year since Independence can leave even children bored to death. The apex court had its summer vacation from May 21 to July 8 this year.

Its holiday calendar compares well with the vacations of Delhi schools. For instance, Delhi's Somerville School like most schools in the national capital had a summer vacation from May 15 to July 1, only a day's holiday on Dussehra and a two-day break for Diwali.

As per the provisions of the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958, besides the apex court's holidays and vacations, its individual judges are entitled to their own quota of leaves.

Depending upon the number of years a judge puts in the service, he -- there is no female judge at present in the apex court -- is entitled to certain days of leave on full salary, certain other offs on half salary and some more days off on one quarter salary.

"True, the apex court does have a lot of Sundays and fun-days. But what is worse is the fact that some judges have no qualms in going on foreign jaunts in the middle of hearings of important cases," senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan told IANS.

The long vacations continue in the Supreme Court despite the fact that in recent times, the backlog of cases has registered a rising trend.

Data from the Department of Justice reveals that the total number of cases pending in the apex court had come down to 19,806 in 1998 from a whopping 104,936 in 1991. But it's rising again. In the beginning of 2006, it had risen to around 29,000 and by the end of October 2007, it had gone up to 45,290.

Despite the rising number of pending cases in the Supreme Court, senior lawyer P.P. Rao defended the long vacations saying: "One has to remember that apex court judges have tremendous work pressure.

"Every day a bench of two to three judges hears around 50 matters. The cases listed on Mondays go up to 70 while it's around 40 on Fridays. They also have to read the voluminous files every evening before hearing them the next day," said Rao.

"They also need time to write judgements, which cannot be written in open courts. And they end up doing all this work during holidays or vacations, which they very much deserve."

But Venugopal said: "It's true that Supreme Court judges end up doing a lot of work at home and in their chambers when they are not in the court rooms. Yet, the apex court needs to arrest the rising trend of a backlog in cases and reducing their long vacations may be one way out."


By Rana Ajit

In Britain, it is illegal to die in parliament

London, Nov 7 (IANS) Did you know that there is a law in Britain that prohibits people from dying while in the houses of parliament? That law has topped the list of the most ludicrous pieces of legislation in a poll held by a television channel.

The law that won the dubious second place states that it amounts to treason if you use a postage stamp upside down. Nearly 4,000 people selected the ludicrous laws from a shortlist of bizarre rules in the poll conducted by UKTV Gold.

Experts say that the law that prohibits people from dying while in the Houses of Parliament is actually a bizarre misunderstanding of a genuinely anachronistic law still on the statute books.

The 1887 Coroners Act, re-enacted by the 1988 Coroners Act, created a separate Coroner of the Queens Household. He still has to hold the inquest into the death of anyone whose body is lying "within the limits of any of the Queen's palaces; or within the limits of any other house where Her Majesty is then residing".

As parliament is still classed as a royal palace, any death of an MP would in theory have required members of the royal household to sit as the coroner's jury. As this would have raised all sorts of questions of parliamentary privilege, the polite convention arose that no parliamentarian dies until they are safely in the ambulance to a hospital.

A total of 27 percent of those questioned thought the law against dying in the houses of parliament was the most absurd, while seven percent voted for the legislation banning placing postage stamps upside down.

In third place, with six percent, came a law stating that only a clerk in a tropical fish store has permission to be topless in public in Liverpool. The BBC reported that other lesser-known laws making the top 10 included one banning eating mince pies on Christmas Day and another stating it is illegal to enter the houses of parliament wearing a suit of armour.

Last year, the Law Society revealed other bizarre laws that are still in existence on the statute book. They included a ban on firing a cannon close to a dwelling house (Met Police Act 1839); a ban on the use of any slide upon ice or snow (Town Police Clauses Act 1847); and the prohibition of driving cattle through the streets of London (Metropolitan Streets Act 1867).

The top 10 most ridiculous British laws listed in the polls were:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 percent)
2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down (seven percent)
3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (six percent)
4. Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned (five percent)
5. If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter (four percent)
6. In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (four percent)
7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen (3.5 percent)
8. It is illegal not to tell the taxman anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (three percent)
9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour (three percent)
10. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (two percent)

By Prasun Sonwalkar

Fake TV sting: Teacher sues TV Channel

New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) Uma Khurana, a schoolteacher who was acquitted of the charge of forcing her students into prostitution and pornography, Monday filed a criminal suit against the owners of the TV channel, Live India, and its reporter for defaming her with their fake sting operation.

"We filed a criminal suit against the Adhikari brothers (owners of the Live India channel), the channel's chief executive officer Sudhir Chaudhary and Prakash Singh, the reporter who carried out the fake sting expose," said Khurana's counsel Vivek Sharma.

"The suit was also filed in the Tis Hazari court against Rashmi, a freelance journalist, and Virender Arora, a businessman, for their collusion with Prakash in deliberately defaming Khurana and her family," Sharma told IANS, adding that the date of hearing was not fixed by the court yet.

Earlier in the day, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alok Aggarwal granted bail to Prakash and Virender. The duo was asked to submit their passports in the court.

The TV channel in its 'exposé' two months ago had purportedly shown Khurana, a 41-year-old mathematics teacher at the Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya on the Asaf Ali Road in central Delhi, as forcing her girl students into prostitution and pornography.

Following the telecast, an angry mob attacked the school, torched several vehicles parked on the road, and manhandled the teacher. She was dismissed from service by the Delhi government Sep 1 and arrested the next day.

However, it was discovered a week later that the operation was a hoax and the "victim" shown in the sting was, in fact, not a student but an aspiring journalist - Rashmi.

Khurana was granted bail on Sep 11. Last week the court absolved her of all charges.

Prakash was arrested and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to cheating and criminal conspiracy.

Consumer Court asks ICICI Bank to pay 55 lakhs

New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) Coming down heavily on ICICI bank for employing goons to beat up a consumer for recovery of a loan, a consumer court here has fined the bank Rs.5.5 million.

The Delhi Consumer Commission passed the ruling while ordering the bank to pay Rs.500,000 compensation to a consumer who was beaten up by recovery agents who took away a loaned car from him.

"No civilised society governed by rule of law can brook such kind of conduct," the commission's president Justice J.D. Kapoor said, describing the methods adopted by the recovery agents as a serious violation of human rights.

The commission held the bank guilty of "unfair trade practice" and expressed its ire on it for flouting the Supreme Court's direction that restrained financial institutions from employing musclemen to recover loans.

The commission issued notices to ICICI and the CEO of the recovery agency, seeking explanations for violation of the apex court's directions.

Its order came while hearing a complaint by Tapan Bose, whose loaned car was taken away by recovery agents after they beat up his friend's son with iron rods on Jan 8, resulting in serious injuries.

RTI can re-engineer society

60-year-old activist believes RTI can re-engineer society

By Frederick Noronha

Mumbai, Nov 5 (IANS) Shailesh Gandhi is a widely heard name when you're discussing Right to Information (RTI) issues here.

"How RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi knocked out a rapist cop" or "A life devoted to RTI" are some of the headlines you come across together with Gandhi's name.

Gandhi, 60, has been working hard to train and cajole more people into using this potent two-year-old law that many across India are waking up to. He feels if tens of thousands start questioning misgovernance in India, the battle against corruption is certainly winnable.

An engineer trained at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, he says as a student he was "fairly vocal and active in being critical about society".

"Some years back, at an alumni get-together, an old professor asked me my opinion about society. I opened my mouth to voice my discomfort about the way society is going. I also closed my mouth just as soon, since the thought occurred to me that, 'I am society, and am responsible for the state of the society'," Gandhi told IANS.

As an entrepreneur, he had created jobs for 500 people directly. But he decided "it was time to actively move on to make an effort to get the society we desire".

He learnt about the RTI Act in 2003 - some states had their own legislation before the central 2005 Act - and realised its potential "to get us the Swaraj (full independence) we had missed". He sold his business and for the last two years has been working only on RTI issues.

Gandhi has done some fascinating digging-up with the RTI, focusing on how the state privatises public lands, the "near-insolvency" status of governments like the one in Maharashtra, the plight of under-trials languishing for years in jail, lawlessness among police, the way IAS officers' postings are politicised and more.

"There are some hurdles and pitfalls (in the central RTI Act), but it is still showing the potential of changing the face of governance and empowering citizens to make this into a true participatory democracy from the present elective democracy.

"The culture of citizen empowerment and transparency will take some time to sink in. Information commissions and citizens should use the act as it is. Instead, everyone is eager to make some changes supposedly to improve the act or its working. This could become a Trojan horse," he argues.

Delays at commissions is the other danger, he feels. State-level information commissions have mostly been tardy in even disposing the cases before them.

He believes there is a lack of any proper data and comparisons in various states, which could become benchmarks and also be used to push those who are laggards.

"I think citizens have done a fantastic job in popularising and spreading the act. In Maharashtra, it appears there is a 40 percent growth in a year in terms of RTI applications, and most of this is due to the creation of greater awareness by many individuals and organisations."

This appears to be true across the country too.

"At this pace, it is poised to become a significant part of our governance monitoring in a few years time," he says.

Even internationally, he believes, India's law is a "pretty good Act". In certain ways, it is able to tackle our ruler's natural tendency to flout the law, argues Gandhi.

(Frederick Noronha can be contacted: fredericknoronha@gmail.com)

For Latest News Headlines on RTI Act Click here

Giving bribe equally unlawful: Allahabad High Court

Lucknow, Nov 3 (IANS) While hearing a petition against the greasing of palms for securing a government job, the Allahabad High Court said that giving and accepting bribe are equally illegal.

"Succumbing to the demand for bribe is as unlawful as the demand itself. Those who give bribe in exchange of some favour were as much responsible for the committing of crime as those who accept bribes," Justice A.P. Sahi observed while hearing the bail petition of an accused in a bribery case Friday.

The judge directed the principal home secretary as well as the director general of police to issue necessary instructions to all concerned police officers to also take bribe givers into the ambit of their investigations.

In a joint petition, four people alleged that they had paid Rs.90,000 each to one Tapas Kumar Chakravarty and his wife Gopa who had promised to get them government jobs.

However, the petitioners - Pradeep Kumar Yadav, Jitendra Singh, Shailendra Singh and Kuldeep Singh - said they neither got the jobs nor was the money returned to them.

Sahi directed the police to take action against the petitioners in the same manner as they had done against the accused.

"People who gave bribe to get a job clearly motivated others to adopt the same means as those who took the bribe. This disease needs to be checked or else it would play havoc with the lives of helpless unemployed youth as well as their families," he said.


Related links : Prevention of Corruption Act 1988