IT Chandigarh

Chandigarh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been hauled up by the Court of Special CBI Judge, Jagdeep Jain, in an ongoing case of corruption against Bikramjit Singh, former Principal Secretary, Punjab.

The CBI had accused him of “amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income”. The CBI had alleged that Singh had maintained a fleet of cars and a number of credit cards besides a large number of bank accounts and property. A case against him was registered by the CBI in 1997. The charges were framed against him in 2006.

The judge came down heavily today on the CBI for summoning unnecessary witnesses in the case. Taking digs at the CBI for causing delay in the case by summoning witnesses who are not even required in the case, the judge has given last opportunity to the CBI to close its evidence by April 1. The CBI also earned the wrath for causing undue inconvenience for witnesses. In one such instance, the judge observed that a witness residing in Guwahati was summoned by the CBI to testify, which could have been easily verified by some other witness. It is pertinent to mention here that the CBI Judge had been giving strict directions to the CBI since 2006, but to no avail.

The court further observed that instead of summoning the investigating officer of the case, who has not appeared in the case, the CBI was summoning unnecessary witnesses, which was in turn causing delay in the case. The CBI has been given last opportunity to close the evidence by April 1.

Source: ENS

Chandigarh: The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of the UT Administration, whereby it had challenged a CBI inquiry ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to search the accused who were declared Proclaimed Offenders in the 1991 bomb blast case.

Director of Punjab Vigilance, Sumedh Singh Saini, who was also attacked in the bomb blast, had also come under the scanner of the High Court.

“This case has intra-state ramifications which the Chandigarh and Punjab Police will not be in a position to investigate. Further, Sumedh Singh Saini was at the helm of affairs at Chandigarh Police. Since he is holding an important post today, he can influence the investigations if it is handed over to Punjab Police or even Chandigarh Police. Since UT Police have now woken up to the fact that POs have to be brought to justice, there is no need for a Special Investigation Team (SIT),” read the final order of the High Court which was given on October 5 last year.

In yet another significant direction, Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice A N Jindal had directed the CBI to look into allegations of the false encounter of Balwant Singh Multani (one of the POs in the case) levelled by his father Darshan Singh Multani, a retired IAS officer, Punjab. Taking a strong note of Multani’s affidavit, in which he had accused the police of eliminating his son, the High Court had directed the CBI to find out the police officers responsible for false encounters.
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Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the District and Sessions Judge to personally enquire in the murder case of Inderjeet Singh.

The directions were passed by the High Court on a petition filed by Allah Singh, an old man battling for justice for nearly 23 years. The High Court observed that the process server was in league with the accused.

The body of Inderjeet Singh was found hanging at his rented house in Sector 34 D on July 1, 1985. Allah Singh, Inderjeet’s father had lodged a complaint against Hardev Singh and Harpreet Singh, owners of the house where his son was staying. Singh accused the duo of involvment in his son’s murder, and refused to believe that his youngest son had committed suicide.

Allah Singh had moved the High Court demanding action against the orders of the Special CBI judge, Jagdeep Jain, who had dismissed his application seeking directions to summon two more accused persons in the case.
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Pay-scale issue

Chandigarh: In an order expected to benefit as many as 44 Chandigarh Transport Undertaking employees, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today disposed of their petition with a direction that they “shall be deemed to have been granted revised pay scales with effect from January 1, 1986, instead of November 3, 1989.

Pronouncing the orders in an open court, the Bench, comprising Justice Ashutosh Mohunta and Justice K.C. Puri, added: However, the petitioners shall not be paid the arrears of difference of pay scales, but will be entitled to all other consequential benefits.

In their petition through counsel R.C. Chathrath, Kanhaya Lal and 43 other employees had sought the grant of benefit of enhanced pay scale with effect from January 1, 1986. The petitioner had claimed that the UT Administration had adopted the pay scales of the Punjab Government.

Once Punjab Roadway’s employees of workshop category had been granted pay scales with effect from January 1, 1986, the modifications in pay scales would also be applicable in case of the UT Administration workshop category employees.

Source: TNS

Chandigarh: In the ongoing litigation of ‘controversial’ Haryana Civil Services (HCS) examination which stands challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, senior advocate Mohan Jain, counsel for the complainant, has alleged that a number of glaring irregularities had surfaced after inspection of the records of candidates.

Karan Singh Dalal, a sitting MLA of the Republican Party of India from Palwal, had filed a PIL in the High Court challenging the HCS selection process on the grounds that candidates receiving fewer marks in the written test were given more in the interview and vice-versa.

Taking note of the serious allegations, the High Court had allowed the inspection of records pertaining to the exam. Jain, after carrying out the inspection, alleged that a candidate, Roll No 12254, sister of an IAS officer who was the then Managing Director of HSIDC and wife of Additional District Judge (ADJ) presently posted at Karnal, was awarded 583 marks, 493 marks in the written test and 90 in the interview.

Jain further said that after inspection of her answer sheets, it was found that in three papers of English/English Essay, Hindi/Hindi Essay and General Knowledge, she was given abnormally higher marks, not in consistence with her performance, clear from the flow, language and clarity of expression. Her scores in English were 111, in Hindi/Hindi Essay, 105 and in General Knowledge, 123 whereas in other subjects they were very low — Political Science 36, Sociology 58 and Public Administration 60.
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Chandigarh: A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while acquitting a murder convict, strongly advised use of extreme caution in cases where circumstantial evidence was the only evidence.

Mangat Ram, a resident of Haryana, was acquitted by the High Court after it found that life imprisonment was awarded to him merely on the basis of ‘inconclusive’ circumstantial evidence. Dispensing away with the judgment, the High Court held that “Undoubtedly, a conviction can certainly be based on circumstantial evidence. However, in a case based on circumstantial evidence alone, it should be tested on the touchstone of law relating to circumstantial evidence laid down by the Supreme Court”.

The Supreme Court had also held in the past that in cases, where circumstantial evidence was the only evidence, there was always a danger that conjecture or suspicion may take the place of legal proof.

Mangat Ram was accused of murdering his friend Madan Pal in the year 1995. Both Ram and Pal would often drink together. As per the prosecution, Ram had visited Pal on October 25, 1995 and taken him out for drinks. A few hours later, Pal’s brother was informed that his body was lying on the roof of Ram’s house. The post-mortem report stated that Ram had been strangulated.
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CHANDIGARH: Taking a global view on capital punishment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court bench refused to hand down death sentence to Satish, a serial killer. Disposing the appeal filed by Haryana government, the division bench of justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and SD Anand concurred with the verdict of a trial court against awarding death sentence to serial killer Satish Kumar of Bahadurgarh district in Jhajjar. However, the bench has stated that the convict must stay behind bars for a total of 20 years and not be released in any case before the term is completed. The state had sought enhancement of sentence by awarding him death penalty.

Satish was arrested in 1998 in connection with an FIR registered on Sepember 7, 1998, at police station, Bahadurgarh, on the complaint of a woman whose six-year-old daughter had gone missing some days before and whose body was later found. The accused used to rape and kill minor girls, and he was awarded rigorous life imprisonment in eight such cases. While deposing before the magistrate after arrest and having undergone polygraph test, he confirmed having done this to 14 victims.

Justice Goel speaking for the bench observed that though the crime committed by the accused is very heinous indeed, and may be one of the rarest of rare cases, but after weighing all circumstances and taking a global view, the extreme sentence of death sentence is not called for.
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Chandigarh: Expressing shock over a series of attempt to rape, rape and murder of girls by a serial killer, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today upheld his life imprisonment.

Dispensing away with the judgment against an appeal filed by the serial killer, Satish, a resident of Haryana, a Division Bench headed by Justice A.K. Goel of the High Court held that the accused should be made to stay behind bars for a minimum of 20 years. Satish was booked on charges of rape, murder, molestation and abduction. He was held guilty by the trial court in as many as nine cases of raping and murdering nine girls, all below 10 years of age.

Satish, who is behind the bars for more than 10 years, had moved the High Court in appeal, seeking that his conviction be set aside. It may be mentioned here that Satish was held guilty by the trial court after he had confessed to his heinous crimes before a Judicial Magistrate. Satish had moved the High Court, taking the plea that he had not confessed anything and all the confessions made were not recorded properly.
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Chandigarh: In a significant judgment which may well be used as a guideline in lower courts, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today held that mere absence of an independent witness cannot make the case of prosecution doubtful.

The orders were passed by a division bench headed by Justice J S Khehar in a narcotics case, where the acquittal of two accused was set aside and they were awarded ten years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

Those who have been held guilty under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act are Dharampal Singh of Ferozepur and Major Singh of Faridkot.

They were booked by the Punjab Police on charges of possessing 100 gms of opium in 1994 and acquitted by the trial court on May 7, 1997, which held that in the absence of an independent witness, false implication could not be ruled out.
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Panchkula: Continuing with the protest against demolition of their sheds at the local court complex on the second day, lawyers here blocked the road to the mini-secretariat by parking their cars near the court complex today. Later, hundreds of them marched towards the residence of deputy commissioner Rajinder Kataria where they burnt an effigy while raising slogans against the district administration.

Meanwhile, work at the local courts remained suspended as advocates were on strike throughout the day. The president of Panchkula Bar Association Lalit Kumar Gupta said lawyers in many other courts in Haryana and Punjab would also join the strike soon. On the other hand, the DC has asked lawyers to find a peaceful solution to the problem through negotiation.

In a press release, Kataria said the sheds were demolished as per orders of the Punjab and Haryana high court. In a civil case, members of District Bar Association had assured the high court that they would remove their sheds from the said land.
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