Harassment at highways

With reference to Mr R.S. Galhotra's letter, "Traders' harassment at highways" (June 10), I want to state that Rajasthan provides the worst example of what the writer has aptly described as "terrorism on the roads". The sales tax authorities of Rajasthan resort to illegal detention of vehicles and goods as a matter of daily routine in flagrant disregard of the underlying spirit and clear-cut dictates of the sales tax law, and thus cause agonising harassment and heavy financial loss to the goods transporters, particularly those carrying retail goods in or through Rajasthan.

The provisions in the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994, relating to the inspection of goods in movement are quite clear, specific, illustrative and well-settled, and these leave no scope for any doubt or ambiguity. Section 78 (3) of the Act empowers all the officers of the rank of ACTO and above to stop any vehicle on the road, and to inspect the goods under transport with reference to the accompanying documents. Section 78 (4) of the Act, inter alia, provides that if any goods are found, during the checking, without documents or are covered by false or forged documents and the matter needs further enquiry or verification, then, as the first alternative, a direction may be issued to the transporter to keep such goods in safe custody and not to part with or deliver the goods to either the consigners or the consignees till such enquiry or verification is completed. A time-limit of seven days has been prescribed for such verification to be made by the officer, so that the transporter is not kept waiting and wondering for a long period, and the free flow of trade is not unduly hindered.

The well-defined provisions of section 78 of the RST Act, 1994, make it amply clear that the stage for the seizure of goods comes only after the inspection or checking when certain goods are detected without any supporting documents or without genuine documents. But in complete reversal of the lawful process, the inspecting officers stop any vehicle which comes their way on the roadside, impound all the documents relating to both the vehicle and its contents without granting any receipt, forcibly take the loaded vehicle to the sprawling multi-storeyed Kar Bhawan at Jaipur. The vehicle is kept there in illegal custody for days and weeks together without passing any detention orders and without conducting any physical checking of goods.

We had sent a detailed representation to the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Rajasthan, on 26.4.99 by registered post against these malpractices being freely indulged in by the inspecting officers, but even its receipt was not acknowledged. Our association, the Delhi Transporters Association, sent another representation to the Chief Minister on May 8, but no action seems to have been taken so far. Our terrible ordeal at the hands of the sales tax authorities continues.

GUNJIT SINGH
New Delhi

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Senior citizens in Haryana

This is to invite the attention of the Chief Minister of Haryana to the demand of senior citizens for a fare concession in Haryana Roadways buses. There are examples set by the UT Administration, Chandigarh, and the Punjab government.

It is learnt that the Punjab government has allowed women aged 60 years and above free travel by Punjab roadways buses, and that the UT Administration has allowed a 50 per cent concession to the senior citizens for travel in CTU buses in Chandigarh. Besides the central government has allowed the senior citizens a 30 per cent concession in rail fare and a 50 per cent concession in Indian Airlines flights.

The UN has declared 1999 as the International Year for the Older Persons. The Haryana government should use the occasion and announce various facilities for its older people.

R.K. JAIN
President
Senior Citizens Council
Jagadhri

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Pakistan’s mischief

Mr M.L. Kotru in his article "Line of Control: Pakistan's cunning loss of memory" (12.6.99) visualises: "It is quite likely that the Pakistani establishment, goaded by the ISI and the army, has misread India's sincerity in its attempt to resolve outstanding bilateral issues, including Kashmir. It has in the bargain miscalculated that the decade-old insurgency (read militancy) in J & K has softened the Indian State."

Those given to brutalisation of life at different levels are sure to make such facile assumptions. It is endemic to Pakistan's mental make-up, for without this they would not venture to embark upon aggression, let alone their taking for granted our generosity. But one must pause to wonder what has happened to the sensibilities of Pakistan's Western well-wishers who had appealed to India's magnanimity in the aftermath of the Bangladesh war of 1971, particularly with reference to the 92,000 and more prisoners of war held by India? Do they think that their role ends with supplying Pakistan — in the name of the Afghan civil war and what not — the latest weaponry and various missiles? Or, worse still, do they think that this is the hour to wink at Pakistan's mischief and to avenge India's espousal of nonaligned values and goals pursued during the Cold War era?

It is good to hear of US Senate lifting sanctions slapped in the wake of Pokhran-II, and also President Clinton exhorting India and Pakistan to honour the Line of Control in Kashmir. But why this equi-distance? Does this apparent sense of fairplay end with the appeal to Pakistan to observe the LoC, whereas in the case of the Iraq-Kuwait confrontation, the USA jumped in with all its paraphernalia of Stealth bombers, Cruise missiles and incessant bombing from its aircraft carriers, to halt the so-called aggressors.

While India surely wants to settle all disputes with Pakistan bilaterally, those who have laced the latter with advanced weapon systems should not get away with having ordered an enquiry some time back into the distribution/withdrawal of Stinger missiles supplied during the Afghan civil war, but should be able to move fast forward in the recovery of the unwarranted military hardware from its once frontline state that Pakistan has been.

J.N. NARANG
Chandigarh

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Cabinet: clarification

The news-item "Cabinet expansion stalled?" (June 6) states that the Governor had reportedly expressed his reservations on the reinduction of Dr Dharamvir Yadav at a meeting with the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, when the latter called on the former here on June 3.

The report is baseless. In fact, the Chief Minister did not discuss the issue of Cabinet expansion at all with the Governor. The question of the Governor harbouring any reservations on this account does not arise as this matter was not discussed during the said meeting with the Governor. The story is an exercise in kite-flying.

The decision for the expansion of the Cabinet was actually taken by the Chief Minister on the morning of June 7 itself.

R. K. KHULLAR
Director, PR, Haryana
Chandigarh