Tuesday, September 21, 1999
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weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Kalyan meets PM, Advani |
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EC observer to Amethi removed NEW DELHI, Sept 20 — The controversial Election Commission observer to Amethi D.K. Rao was today removed from his assignment in the Lok Sabha constituency from where Congress President Sonia Gandhi is contesting.
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Supreme Court deplores
states’ laxity Cheema asked to campaign for Karan
Singh Governor seeks poll
officials’ removal Governor’s behaviour
unbecoming: CPM Three dead in train mishap |
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Kalyan meets PM, Advani NEW DELHI, Sept 20 (PTI) — The BJP leadership today summoned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh to discuss the party's election strategy in the next phase of polling in the state amidst reports that he was sulking and not campaigning effectively. Mr Kalyan Singh met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K, Advani at the Prime Minister's residence as they reviewed their strategy in the wake of reports that the party was set to take some knocking in U.P. The Chief Minister told mediapersons after the meeting that the strategy covered the key constituencies of Amethi, Rae Bareli and Akbarpur where Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Mr Arun Nehru and Ms Mayawati are among the important candidates. However, party sources said the meeting assumed significance in the context of reports that Mr Kalyan Singh was unhappy over the denial of ticket to his supporter Sakshi Maharaj from Farrukhabad who had since joined hands with Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and was actively campaigning against the party. Mr Singh said to have
been peeved over the denial of ticket to his son Rajvir
Singh from Aligarh, Mr Kalyan Singh has not been
attending any election meeting being addressed by the
Prime Minister or other important party leader in the
state. |
BJP asks EC to be firm NEW DELHI, Sept 20 — The BJP and two of its allies, the Janata Dal (U) and the Samata Party, today cried foul over the Election Commission’s failure to act on their complaints of election malpractices in Bihar and urged the electoral referee to take firm action to ensure a free and fair poll in the state. In separate briefings to the Press, the three parties stopped short of expressing “no confidence” in the Election Commission but made clear their displeasure with the way the constitutional authority had been handling the situation in Bihar. The BJP also took exception to the EC’s Central Observer in Amethi, Mr D.K.Rao, calling on Mrs Priyanka Vadra, during her campaign tour in the constituency and urged that he be recalled. The BJP spokesman, Mr Arun Jaitley, said Mr Rao was questioned in the infamous tandoor case as he was an associate and friend of the prime accused in the case. The EC should have looked into the bureaucrat’s antecedents before posting him as the Central Observer in Amethi, he said. He said the BJP General Secretary, Mr M.Venkaiah Naidu, has written a letter to the EC saying the conduct of Mr Rao, by calling on Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s daughter at Amethi, was totally unbecoming of an election observer, who was expected to distance himself from all political parties and persons involved in the election. “This single instance is enough cause for us to have a reasonable apprehension that this observer cannot be expected to be impartial in his work”, the letter said. Mr Naidu pointed out that there were also complaints from the party’s Amethi candidate, Mr Sanjay Singh, that Mr Rao had been selectively intimidating BJP workers. On the situation in Bihar, Mr Jaitley said the attempts at institutionalised electoral rigging in Bihar during the third round of polling was a challenge to India’s democratic polity and the conduct of free and fair elections. Raising an accusing finger at the EC, Mr Jaitley said first there was the case of duplicate ballot boxes in Bihar and the Governor of the state had pointed this out to the Central Election Commission. The state’s Chief Electoral Officer gave an unconvincing reply and the CEC, equally unconvincingly, said that the ballot boxes had been wrongly numbered, he added. Mr Jaitley also pointed out that a huge number of ballot papers meant for Bihar were printed at a printing press in Calcutta, controlled by the CPM, an ally of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. He said in the past, Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer had favoured this press with lucrative orders in violation of rules. The Janata Dal (U) General Secretary, Mr Mohan Prakash, and the Samata Party General Secretary, Ms Jaya Jaitley, also reiterated the allegation and alleged that the Calcutta press had been getting orders despite it not participating in the tender process. Mr Arun Jaitley said there was also large-scale booth capturing, violence and murder in Bihar during the third round of polling and the murder of 38 persons, including security personnel and polling officials, was electoral “anarchy”. Drawing attention to the Bihar Governor’s assessment of the situation, Mr Jaitley urged the EC to remove police and administrative officials whose conduct during the third round was clearly “suspect” and “undesirable”. The JD (U) spokesman, Mr Mohan Prakash, said the EC had given an assurance to the Supreme Court that it would initiate steps to ensure a fair and peaceful election in the state. However, he felt that the EC had done little to control the situation in Bihar and it was defensive about the actions of the RJD. Mr Mohan Prakash alleged that several RJD workers had tried to set fire to JD (U) leader and former Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar’s ancestral house in Barh constituency. At the time of the attack, Mr Kumar’s aged mother and his brother’s family were at home, Mr Prakash alleged. He also charged the CEC with delaying an inquiry into the issue of fake ballot boxes and taking no action against Returning Officers against whom complaints were pending. Ms Jaya Jaitley of the Samata Party, who was also present at the BJP briefing, said the Bihar High Court had asked both the EC and the Intelligence Bureau to file an affidavit on the ballot papers issue. The BJP spokesman when
asked if the interference of a state Governor in the
electoral process was justified, said in the case of
Bihar there was an unprecedented situation and one must
look at the substance of the Governor’s concern. |
EC observer to Amethi removed NEW DELHI, Sept 20 (PTI) — The controversial Election Commission observer to Amethi D.K. Rao was today removed from his assignment in the Lok Sabha constituency from where Congress President Sonia Gandhi is contesting. Election Commission sources said Rao, an IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, had been removed from duty pending verification of certain allegations levelled by some political parties against him. The Commission is sending a substitute observer and an additional observer to Amethi where polling is due on October 3. The BJP had yesterday complained to the Commission that Rao had called on Priyanka Gandhi who has been campaigning for her mother in the constituency. The party also charged
that Rao had been "selectively intimidating"
BJP workers and demanded his immediate replacement. |
George’s reference to IB chief NEW DELHI, Sept 20 — The Congress today condemned the Defence Ministers, charge that the Director of the Intelligence Bureau had confirmed that excess ballot papers had been printed in Bihar and petitioned the President on the matter. The party also took objection to the Bihar Governor, Mr B.M. Lal writing a letter directly to the Union Home Secretary asking for replacement of a poll official. A delegation of Congress leaders, including Mr Arjun Singh, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Ahmed Patel and Mr Kapil Sibal called on the President and handed over a letter expressing concern over the developments. The party spokesman, Mr Sibal, said today it was reliably burnt that the IB chief had denied he had made any such confirmation or that he had any role in the ballot box controversy. He said the Director of the Intelligence Bureau did not report to the Defence Minister and asked Mr Fernandes since when had he made it possible for the IB to play a role in the elections. The party alleged the Defence Minister had made use of a Research and Analysis Wing aircraft with the help of a former chief and ferried Ms Jaya Jaitly, General Secretary of the Samata Party, on “at least one improper trip, thereby converting the RAW into some kind of a private taxi service”. The Congress demanded that the Prime Minister or the President must sack Mr Fernandes for “seeking to pervert established procedures” and charged that the move was aimed to postpone elections in Bihar “now that there is a creeping realisation that the ground reality does not favour either the BJP or the Samata Party of their new-found Janata Dal (United) friends”. The Congress also said it wished that the acting Governor of Bihar had addressed his missive to the appropriate constitutional authority. The party said it was of
the view that constitutional offices should not be made
the subject-matter of public controversy and debate. |
Inquiry reports NEW DELHI, Sept 20 (UNI) — The Supreme Court has expressed its anguish over the manner in which the reports of the commissions of inquiry are being taken by various states in the country. The anguish of the court was expressed by a three-Judge Bench comprising Chief Justice A.S. Anand, Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Mr Justice R.C. Lahiti while directing consigning to records of the court a PIL seeking a direction to the UP Government to take follow-up action on the report of Mr Justice C.D. Parakh Commission, which went into the Meerut riots of September 20, 1982. The court direction came following an affidavit from state Home Secretary N. Ravi Shankar stating that the state Cabinet with a view to “maintaining religious and political harmony in Meerut city and to avoiding any flare-up in any particular class or community,” had decided not to take any further action on the basis of the Parakh Commission report which itself did not identify any particular person responsible for the riots nor fixed responsibility for dereliction of duty on any official. “The state government having considered the reports and taken a decision, this petition does not require any further consideration and is consigned to records.” The court noted that in this case, it had taken more than a decade for the state government to take notice of the report of the commission headed by a former judge of the Allahabad High Court. “On account of such inaction for a long period of time, the very purpose of the constitution of a commission of inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, gets frustrated and the argument that such commission are appointed under the Act only as an eyewash acquires credibility,” the court observed. It is appropriate, the court said, that when in a matter of “definite public importance,” a commission of inquiry is appointed under the Act, the state government should examine the report expediously and decide what action, if any, is required to be taken on that report promptly. “To keep a report pending for years together and as in this case for a decade does no credit to anybody. Reports of the commission of inquiry should not be allowed to gather dust for years together as it reflect adversely on the utility of such commission and would affect the credibility of the entire exercise,” the judges emphasised. The court said it was a fact that between the period when the riot took place in September 1982 and the final decision taken by the commission in 1998, a number of governments had changed in the state. “But...it still remains that prompt notice of the report, which was accepted, to be taken of was not taken. This is not a healthy trend and delay gives rise to avoidable suspicion about the motives for delay. It is best avoided. We hope that we shall not have any other occasion to say this in any other case,” the judges observed. The court directed that a copy of this order should be sent to the Union Home Secretary with a request to bring these observations to the notice of all the state and union territory governments. HC powers In another case the Supreme Court has ruled that the high courts cannot pass orders of dismissal, removal, reduction in rank or termination from service against members of the subordinate judicial service. “The high courts are vested with disciplinary as well as administrative control over the members of the judicial service exclusively, but that does not mean that they can also pass orders of dismissal, removal, reduction in rank or termination from service. A formal order to give effect to such decisions has to be passed only by the Governor of the state on the recommendation of the high court concerned,” the court clarified. The ruling was handed down by a five-Judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice A.S. Anand, while disposing of appeals by the Registrar of the Orissa High Court against a judgement of a Division Bench of that high court, declaring as “bad” an order of the full-court of the high court (on the administrative side) compulsorily retiring three members of the states’s subordinate judicial service. The other judges on the Bench were Mr Justice K. Venkataswami, Mr Justice G.B. Patanaik, Mr Justice S.P. Kurdukar and Mr Justice M.J. Rao. “By way of a note of caution, we may add that the control vested in the high courts over the subordinate judiciary though absolute and exclusive, it has to be exercised without usurping the power vested in the executive under the Constitution,” the judges observed in their 23-page judgement. The judges said the high court could not itself have passed the order of compulsory retirement, which amounted to termination of service going by the plain language of Articles 233, 234 and 235 — particularly of Article 235 read with Article 311 of the Constitution. Illegal migrants The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it would file a comprehensive affidavit dealing with issues relating to illegal Bangladeshi migrants in North-Eastern States, including West Bengal. The three-Judge Bench, comprising Chief Justice A.S. Anand, Mr Justice M. Srinivasan and Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti, allowed eight weeks time to the Centre to file the affidavit, keeping in mind the contensions raised by the North-Eastern states in this regard. The Bench observed that it was a matter of serious concern and the Central Government should take steps to stop illegal migration into these states. The Assam Government in its affidavit had stated that certain provisions of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act had posed problems for the state with regard to deportation of migrants and pleaded that the Centre should repeal the Act. The Bench was hearing a
public interest litigation by the All India Lawyers Forum
for Civil Liberties which had alleged that the government
was doing nothing to stop the large-scale illegal
migration from Bangladesh posing danger to the demography
of the North-Eastern states, including West Bengal. |
Cheema asked to campaign for NEW DELHI, Sept 20 — The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has asked Mr M.M. Singh Cheema,a veteran trade Union leader, to campaign in the Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency for the Congress candidate, Dr Karan Singh. Dr Karan Singh is contesting against the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, a BJP candidate. The polling will be held on October 3. The AICC General
Secretary, Mr Oscar Fernandes MP, has requested Mr Cheema
to concentrate particularly in the labour-dominated
segments. |
Governor seeks poll officials’ removal NEW DELHI, Sept 20 (PTI) — Bihar Governor B.M. Lal today stepped up his campaign for the removal of poll officials of “dubious and doubtful character” by calling on President K.R. Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and pressing for it. Mr Lal, who also had a meeting with Home Minister L.K.Advani, apprised them of the widespread violence in Bihar during the first phase of the Lok Sabha poll on Saturday and was believed to have sought the deployment of additional security forces to ensure peace in the remaining phases on September 25 and October 3. The Governor’s meetings assume significance in the backdrop of his letter to the Home Ministry with a copy to the Election Commission in which he had sought the removal of the police and administrative officials of “dubious and doubtful character” who were on poll duty on Saturday. Shortly after his meeting with the President, leaders of the Congress, the CPI and the CPM separately met Mr Naryanan and expressed concern over the Governor’s letter to the Centre. Congress spokesman Kapil
Sibal told reporters that constitutional offices should
not be made the subject matter of public controversy and
debate. |
Governor’s behaviour unbecoming:
CPM NEW DELHI, Sept 20 — The CPM today criticised Bihar Governor B.M. Lal saying that it was “unbecoming” of him to question the competence and authority of the Election Commission in conducting a free and fair poll in the state. In a strongly worded statement, the CPM Politburo said it was unbecoming on part of the Governor to publicly release the communication which he had sent to the Union Home Ministry on his assessment of the law and order situation in the state during the first phase of the Lok Sabha poll in state held on September 18. The statement said the
Governor should have first brought it to the notice of
the duly elected state Government. He should not have
by-passed the state government, the Polit Bureau said. |
Three dead in train mishap SAMASTIPUR, Sept 20 (PTI)— Three persons were killed and 15 others wounded in a train mishap near Teghra Railway station of the North-Eastern Railway on Sunday, official sources said. The sources said the
accident occurred when three coaches of the
Patna-Darbhanga 539-up Kamla inter-city express derailed,
Railway officials told PTI. The sources said senior
officials of Sonepur division along with a team of
doctors have rushed to the site of accident. Rail traffic
on the Barauni-Teghra section had been completely
disrupted. |
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| 9 die in jeep-bus
accident JAIPUR: Nine persons, including a woman, were killed and four injured when the jeep in which they were travelling collided head-on with a private passenger bus in Rajasthan’s Ganganagar district on Sunday, the police said on Monday. All jeep-borne passengers, including the driver, died on-the-spot when their vehicle, on way to Gogamedhi from Nohar, collided with the bus coming from the opposite direction, the police said here. Three gravely injured persons have been sent to Hisar for treatment, the police added. — PTI Husband
killed by wife Freedom fighter
dead Actress
Rajakumari dead |
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