The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Manav Mangal students secure top positions
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 27
As many as 18 students of Manav Mangal School, Sector 11, have earned a place among the first 10 per cent students who qualified for the first National Cyber Olympiad held at the all-India level in October.

The results of the test organised by the Science Olympiad Foundation were declared, here today. Out the 18 students who are eligible for the silver merit certificates, 12 students are among the first 10 positions in Haryana in their respective groups.

A student of Class VIII, Prabal Goyal, has stood third in Haryana and is among the first 100 students in India and will be getting cash scholarship from the Science Olympiad foundation.

The Administrator of the School, Mr Sandeep Sardana, said the students had been able to give the examination their best shot on account of the facilities available in the school. “Despite having two computer labs and trained staff at the school, we have planned another more sophisticated lab to give the best to our students,” he said.

COURTS

ANNUAL ROUND-UP: HIGH COURT
Few Judges; more dowry death cases
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 27
Even as the shortage of Judges in the Punjab and Haryana High Court increased in 2001, several steps were taken by the authorities and the Judges to bring down the pendency of cases. Not only were “frivolous petitions” dismissed by the Judges after imposing heavy costs, the constitution of a special cell was also recommended for chalking out a programme for listing old cases on a priority basis.

Earlier during the year, the strength of Judges was reduced to 26, against the sanctioned strength of 40, after the appointment of Mr Justice R.S. Mongia as the Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court and the transfer of Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal to the Delhi High Court.

The number, however, rose to 40 with the appointment of Mr Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Mr Justice Ashutosh Mohunta, Mr Justice Jasbir Singh and Mr Justice M.M. Kumar as Judges of the high court in July this year.

The number was again reduced to 26 with the retirement of Justice S.S. Sudhalkar, Justice A.S. Garg and Justice K.S. Kumaran, besides the transfer of Justice V.K. Jhanji to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, at the fag end of the year.

The problem of pendency, created due to the shortage of Judges, would have been largely solved in 2001 only with the appointment of seven members of the Bar as judges, but, according to highly-placed sources in the high court, their names were referred back for further comments. The new Judges will now be administered oath only in 2002.

The shortage not only forced the overburdened Judges to work till late in the afternoon, it also resulted in an increase in the backlog. Sources claimed that civil cases dating back to the mid-80’s remained pending in the high court, while criminal appeals against the orders of acquittals were pending since mid 90’s.

This was not all. As per a report released by the Press Information Bureau in June this year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had the second highest number of dowry death cases in the country. As many as 842 such cases were awaiting disposal when the report was released. The Rajasthan High Court, with 926 cases, topped the list.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to bring down the number of old cases pending in the courts, the high court, recommended the constitution of a special cell for chalking out a programme to list old cases on a priority basis. A committee of three Judges also suggested that “two officers of Punjab and Haryana Superior Judicial Service may be appointed for the purpose”.

The committee further suggested that the cases pending before the subordinate courts, in which the high court had issued stay orders, “may be listed for hearing on a priority basis before all Benches on Fridays”. Two Benches could be left out of the process for deciding urgent bail matters after hearing the arguments, the committee recommended.

It also requested the Judges “not to give fresh dates for Fridays so that old cases could be taken up for hearing”. The authorities were also directed to prepare “a consolidated list of cases in which proceedings had been stayed by the high court, but cases were still pending before the subordinate courts”.

For discouraging “frivolous” petitions, the high court came down heavily on organisations and litigants filing such petitions. In a large number of cases, fine ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000 was imposed on the litigants for filing meaningless petitions, including public interest litigations.

HIGH COURT
Consider ad hoc teachers for exam
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 27
Taking up three writ petitions challenging an advertisement issued on November 14, 1999, changing the combination of subjects at the BA level for the posts of social studies masters and mistresses, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed that ad hoc masters and mistresses in service as on May 12, 1998, shall not be considered ineligible for any examination likely to be conducted.

Delivering the verdict on three petitions filed by Mr Randhir Singh of Hisar district and other petitioners, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice R.L. Anand and Mr Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, clarified that the order would apply to teachers in service before May 12, 1998 and were serving till November 14, 1999.

In their detailed order, the Judges observed: “We are not inclined to quash the combination because it is always in the domain of the government to change the qualifications for candidates, but here is a case where the petitioners are in service on a ad hoc basis prior to May 12, 1998 (the date on which the rules came into force). They have rendered service running into years. It will certainly be great hardship for those teachers working on a ad hoc basis if they were made ineligible as per the advertisement dated November 14, 1999”.

Notice to KU

On a petition filed by Mr Balwinder Singh, a stenographer in Punjab Advocate-General’s office, a Division Bench of the High Court has issued notice of motion to Kurukshetra University’s Vice-Chancellor and its Registrar for April 2 next year.

In his petition, Mr Balwinder Singh had alleged that he had passed sociology paper at the graduation level but the university declared him absent in the examinations and the degree was not sent to him.

Dry cleaners’ plea to Consumer Forum
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 27
The Chandigarh Dry Cleaners and Dyers Association at its meeting yesterday urged the Consumer Forum to fix their liabilities in case a customer claims damages.

The association has alleged that most of the time they suffer when garments get damaged during the dry cleaning process. There are many factors and most of them are out of their control by which clothes may get damaged during the process. Mr Jagjit Singh Lali, President of the association said quality and age of the cloth could not be known when customers bring them for dry cleaning. He said sometimes garments got damaged during dry cleaning because of poor quality of stitching thread used or moth-eaten clothes develop holes when subjected to chemicals apart from several other factors.

The association members also claim that they get signature of the customers on the receipt mentioning terms and condition before clothes are accepted for dry cleaning. The association also urged the Consumer Forum to state the status of the receipts. It also urged the forum to use services of a garment specialist while dealing with complaints against dry cleaners.

Shafaatullah Khan to perform in city
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 27
The world renowned sitar, surbahar and tabla player, Shafaatullah Khan, will perform on December 29, 2001, at Tagore Theatre, Sector-18, at 6 PM.

In the rich history of Indian classical music, Shafaatullah Khan is the first known artist to have attained simultaneous excellence in performing on three different instruments, sitar, surbahar and tabla.

Shafaatullah Khan’s lineage can be traced back over 500 years to the golden age of the arts under the reign of the great Mughal Emperor Akbar. He began his career at an early age on sitar and surbahar under the guidance of his father Ustad Imrat Khan who along with his brother Ustad Vilayat Khan comprises the two legendary maestros of the India sub-continent.

Later on, Shafaatullah Khan developed a passion for tabla and hence studied under a well-known master of the most rare and ancient tabla compositions of the varying regional styles, Ustad Ibrahim Khan.

In addition to performing in the King’s Lynn Festival opened by the Queen Mother of Great Britain, Shafaatullah Khan performed in numerous festivals and concerts. He also led lecture-demonstrations and conducted workshops at Harvard University, U.C.L.A., Carnegie Mellon, Princeton University and SPIC MACAY Institute of India and the USA. He also taught at the Department of South Asian Regional Studies, University of Pennsylvania, for three years.

A number of recordings of Shafaatullah are available on Nimbus, Edelweiss, EMI, Lyrichord and Music of the World Labels of Late, he released three historic CD recordings (produced by Dr. Deepak Chopra) upon which he performed on sitar, surbahar and accompanied himself on tabla—a first in the history of Indian classical music.

Besides performing in the USA, he performed in several cities of Canada, Russia, England, Germany, Greece, Austria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, France, Holland, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Poland, Cyechoslovakia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Malaysia and Japan.

Disco based on Egyptian theme
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 27
The Mansa Devi complex at Panchkula has acquired a new haunt for the young, a disco based on the Egyptian theme.

Christened “The Gizeh”, it is claimed to be the only of its kind in this part of the country. The disco is set against the backdrop of pyramids and Pharaoh conceived by Johnny, Rajinder Singh, Anoop Singh and Tarlochan Singh. The project was executed by Achhar Pal Singh, architect, Vijay Sharma, light and sound consultant, Sanjeev Kaushal, art and artefacts designer.

It is quipped with the top-of-the-line music system from Martin Audio (UK) with special light effects, laser lights, hand scanners from SGM Italy.