Excelsior... Nation

Government should publish White Paper on economy: Rajnath ...

Congress leaders from Telangana searching for ‘escape route’...

Size of corruption Rs 1,555 thousand cr in last decade: study...

Disclose names of official with dubious integrity: CIC to CBI...

Land acquired for public purposes can’t be re-alloted: SC

NEW DELHI, July 17: Land acquired for public purpose cannot be re-alloted to other beneficiaries, the Supreme Court has ruled castigating politicians and authorities for perpetuating a land racket in Jaipur city which witnessed litigation for over two decades.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly also chided the Rajasthan High Court for upholding the allotments despite the Supreme Court’s earlier rulings that the Land Acquisition Officer under the Act (Land Acquisition) has no power to allot land but can only grant monetary compensation to the claimants.

It regretted that the Government and the High Court chose to misinterpret recommendations of a panel headed by the Urban Development Minister for allotment of the land measuring 552 bighas to certain vested interest despite the fact that there was no statutory sanction.

It was a "crude attempt by the concerned political functionaries of the State to legalise what had already been declared illegal by this Court," the bench said.

The controversy related to acquisition of land on May 13, 1960 by Rajasthan Improvement Trust to acquire 552 bighas of village land at Bhojpura and Chak Sudershanpura for planned development of Jaipur city including a building for the State Legislative Assembly

It was alleged that initially a committee headed by the then Urban Development Minister Ms Kamala in the early 1970s suggested the Land Acquisition Officer decided to allot the same land to certain vested interest at the rate of Rs.8/- per square yard, instead of using the land for the stated public purpose.

The allotment, which was challenged in various courts, lingered till 2000 wherein the High Court also approved the allotment.

In the meantime a recommendation was made on December 6, 2001 by an official panel headed by the Urban Development Minister for legalising the allotment though no such executive order was passed to the effect.

Yet, the allotment was made and the High Court approved it. Aggrieved the Jaipur Land Development Authority challenged the move.

"It is difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend as to how the division bench could rely upon the so called policy decision taken by the Government in flagrant violation of two judgements of this Court wherein it was categorically held that transactions involving transfer of land after issue of notification under Section 4 were nullity and the Land Acquisition Officer did not have the jurisdiction to direct allotment of land to the awardees/sub awardees, their nominees/sub-nominees," the bench said.

"The basics of judicial discipline required that the division bench of the High Court should have followed the law laid down by this Court in Radhey Shyam’s case and Daulat Mal Jain’s case and refused relief to the respondents," the bench said.

The apex court said the division bench despite taking cognisance of the fact that people having connection in the power corridors and economically affluent had illegally taken possession of the acquired land and raised construction, it had approved the so called policy.

"What the High Court has done is to legitimise the transactions, which were declared illegal by this Court and this was clearly impermissible. The High Court’s understanding of the so called policy framed by the Government was clearly erroneous," the bench said.

The bench said the letter written by Deputy Secretary (Administration), Urban Development Department to Secretary, Jaipur Development Authority, Jaipur cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be treated as a policy decision taken by the State Government.

"No document was produced before the High Court and none has been produced before us to show that the recommendations made by the Committee of Ministers had been approved by the State Government culminating in issuance of a policy circular.

"It is trite to say that all executive actions of the Government of India and the Government of a State are required to be taken in the name of the President or the Governor of the State concerned, as the case may be [Articles 77(1) and 166(1)]

"That letter merely speaks of the discussion made by the Committee and the decision taken by it. By no stretch of imagination the same can be treated as a policy decision of the Government within the meaning of Article 166 of the Constitution," the court said.

The bench said that even if the instructions contained in the December 6, 2001 could be treated as policy decision of the Government, the High Court should have quashed the same because the said policy was clearly contrary to the law declared by the apex Court.

"Although, we are prima facie satisfied that execution of lease deeds by the appellant in favour of some persons in 2002 and 2003 is a clear indication of deep rooted malaise in the functioning of the appellant and is also indicative of sheer favouritism and nepotism, we refrain from pronouncing upon the legality of those transactions because the beneficiaries are not parties to these appeals," the bench said.

The apex court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on two of the claimants- Vijay Kumar Data and Daya Kishan Data for prolonging the litigation. (PTI)

Can’t hear disputes relating to armed forces: CAT

NEW DELHI, July 17: The Central Administrative Tribunal has held that it has no jurisdiction to decide disputes relating to recruitment and service in armed forces, including the central police organisations.

"The Administrative Tribunals Act does not apply to matters relating to recruitment and service matters of members of the armed force of the Union," a principle bench of the CAT, headed by Justice M L Chauhan, said.

"The jurisdiction of this tribunal is ousted to decide the matter relating recruitment to paramilitary forces, central police organisations," it said.

The bench dismissed the petitions filed by Mamta Chaudhary and Namrata Singh, challenging their non-selection to central paramilitary forces, saying it is not the "proper" forum to adjudicate the matter.

Justice Chauhan relied on a 1993 full bench order of the tribunal to dismiss the pleas which held the Administrative Tribunals Act does not apply to matters relating to recruitment and service matters of members of the armed forces.

The bench noted that the central police organisations CRPF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and BSF are admittedly recognised as armed forces.

The petitioners had assailed a Staff Selection Commission’s decision of not selecting them to the post of Sub-Inspector in CISF and CRPF, despite qualifying the written examination, physical endurance test and medical test on the ground that they did not fill up the preference of service in their application form.

The bench, dismissing their pleas, however, mentioned that mere membership of the armed forces does not oust its jurisdiction.

"Mere membership of the armed forces is not enough to oust the jurisdiction of the tribunal and what is necessary is whether the dispute relates to recruitment to the armed forces (or service matter)," it said.

The bench asked the petitioners to approach the "proper forum" for redressal of their dispute. (PTI)

DA case: Chautala given last chance
for argument on charges

NEW DELHI, July 17: Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, facing prosecution in a disproportionate assets case, has been granted the "last opportunity" by a Delhi court to conclude the argument on charges levelled against him.

Irked by Chautala’s counsel seeking one more date for summing up of the arguments, special CBI judge P S Teji posted the matter for July 26 with a clear cut direction that the arguments has to be concluded on that particular day.

"Counsel for the accused (Chautala) has filed the written arguments on charge and submitted that one date is required for the summing up of the arguments on charge.

"At request of the counsel for the accused, matter is adjourned to July 26 for summing up arguments on charge. This being last opportunity," the court said.

During the previous occasion also, the court had to defer hearing of arguments in the case due to non-availability of Chautala’s counsel.

The court had earlier dismissed a plea by 75-year-old Chautala for a direction to the CBI to hand him over some additional documents relating to a disproportionate assets case against him.

The judge had dismissed the plea accepting the CBI contention that the same had been made to delay the trial of the case.

The CBI had on March 26 last year issued charge sheet against Chautala, indicting him for allegedly possessing assets worth Rs 6.09 crore, far exceeding his known sources of income between 1993 and 2006.

It is roughly 189 per cent of his income of Rs 3.22 crore during the period, the CBI said in its charge sheet.

Chautala had last held the chief ministerial post of Haryana between July 1999 to March 2005.

The CBI had registered the case against Chautala in April 2006 and had searched his 24 premises in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh. It had seized Rs 13 lakh in cash besides freezing five bank accounts having Rs 1.34 crore.

The probe agency had earlier filed the charge sheets against Chautala’s two sons Ajay and Abhay, both Haryana MLAs, on grounds of possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. (PTI)

UP polls: RLD open to alliance with Congress, SP

NEW DELHI, July 17: With the poll atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh set to gather heat, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is keeping its options open on having an alliance with Congress or Samajwadi Party for the next year’s Assembly elections but ruled out any tie-up with BSP and BJP.

RLD chief Ajit Singh, who could possibly play a ‘king-maker’ in the event of a fractured verdict, says if a "combination" of parties contest against BSP, they could sweep the polls.

"We will have no tie-up with BJP or BSP. For the rest, like Congress and Samajwadi Party, options are open," Singh, whose party wields significant influence in western Uttar Pradesh, said.

He, however, went on to add that there has been "no significant initiative or talk" with these parties yet.

Asked how hopeful he was of having an alliance with Congress or SP, the prominent Jat leader quipped, "It takes two to tango."

He predicted that BSP would lose power in the coming Assembly polls even if all parties contest separately. "But, a combination of parties contests against BSP, it (combination) will sweep," he contended.

In 2007 Assembly elections, RLD won 10 seats, mostly in Jat-dominated areas.

Singh insisted that BSP had antagonised all sections of the society through "rampant corruption" and "forcibly snatching" land from farmers. (PTI)

Govt plans to regulate groundwater extraction

NEW DELHI, July 17: The government is planning to regulate over-extraction of groundwater for irrigation and industry which is seriously affecting drinking water supply in rural India, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said.

He said drinking water security was facing multiple threats including drying up of groundwater sources due to its unregulated over-extraction.

"80 per cent of drinking water supply schemes of rural India are depending on groundwater sources and these sources are drying up due to unregulated over-extraction of water for industry and irrigation," Ramesh said.

"It is a serious issue. We are planning to regulate over-extraction of groundwater for irrigation and industry," the minister said.

Ramesh was given additional charge of the Drinking Water and Sanitation portfolio after Gurudas Kamat refused to take the charge as Minister of State with Independent charge and quit the government.

According to the Ministry, drinking water supply schemes are being affected as perennial water sources are becoming seasonal. They are also getting contaminated by chemical contaminants found in the earth like arsenic and fluoride.

Leaching or fertilisers, untreated industrial effluent and sewage are also threatening the safe and sustainable drinking water.

The goal of the central government’s National Drinking Water Programme is to provide every rural person with safe water for drinking, cooking and other domestic needs on sustainable basis. (PTI)

23 trees to be felled for hi-tech flats for MPs

NEW DELHI, July 17: The proposed construction of a residential block for Rajya Sabha MPs will come at a price -- 23 full grown trees, mostly neems, will have to be felled for the multi-story building in the heart of the capital.

Coming up on a 6,000 sq m covered area at Talkatora Road, the block will have 14 modern multi-storey flats for Rajya Sabha MPs and 28 quarters for domestic helps, besides a health club with gym and other amenities.

Estimated to cost about Rs 20 crore, each flat will have four bedrooms and two servant quarters.

"This is for the first time that a full-fledged health club with gym and other modern facilities like hi-tech security system will be part of the eight-storey building meant for MPs," a senior Urban Development Ministry official said.

There are about 23 trees, mostly neems, in the area which will be felled to make way for the flats.

However, the official said, "We will plant 10 times more than the number of trees to be cut as per the norm."

About the mandatory permission from the Environment Ministry for cutting the trees, he said, "Since the covered area is only 6,000 sq metre, we need not seek environment clearance. We will seek Lieutenant-Governor’s permission for it."

Keeping pace with the changing times, efforts are on to construct new houses with more functional area for MPs.

"The existing houses were constructed about 60-70 years ago and since then there has been a drastic change in the scenario. The requirement of a lawmaker has also changed," said the official, adding many MPs seek frequent alteration of housing units to suit their needs.

The official said equipping the flats with digitally-controlled security system is also being considered.

Aiming at addressing the housing shortage for MPs, the government has also decided to construct multi-storey flats at North Avenue and South Avenue.

The existing houses will be demolished in a phased manner and new flats will be constructed there to accommodate more MPs, the official said. (PTI)

1984 riots case: Court to record Sajjan’s statement today

NEW DELHI, July 17: A Delhi court will tomorrow record the statement of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar who is facing trial in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case relating to the killing of six persons.

The case against Sajjan, former Outer Delhi MP, was registered on a recommendation by the Justice G T Nanavati Commission. The CBI had filed two charge sheets against him and others in January last year.

The trial against Sajjan had hit roadblocks in the past as the Congress leader had been taking legal recourse for its stay and quashing of charges in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.

However, decks were finally cleared on September 20, 2010, when the Supreme Court dismissed his plea for quashing criminal cases filed by the CBI.

The apex court had rejected Sajjan’s argument that he cannot be tried after such a long gap of over 25 years as it violated his fundamental right for speedy trial and that CBI’s key witnesses cannot be relied upon.

It had said the materials placed by the CBI were sufficient for the magistrate to proceed against Sajjan whose guilt or otherwise can be determined only at the trial, which he now has to face.

The trial court had in May 2010 framed charges against Sajjan and five others under Sections 302 (murder), 395 (dacoity), 427 (mischief to cause damage to property), 153A (promoting enmity between different communities) and other provisions of IPC.

The CBI had accused Kumar of provoking people against members of Sikh community during the carnage that led to the killing of several persons in Delhi Cantonment area.

Besides Kumar, other accused in the case are Balwan Khokhar, Krishan Khokhar, Mahender Yadav, Captain Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal.

The CBI had filed two charge sheets against Sajjan and others on January 13, 2010 in the riots cases registered in 2005 on the recommendation of the Nanavati Commission.

Since the trial relates to the incidents of 1984, the apex court had directed the trial judge to make sincere efforts for completion of the case as early as possible and asked the prosecution and accused to render all assistance.

Additional Session Judge Sunita Gupta had fixed the date for recording Sajjan’s statement after it concluded the recording of statements of other five co-accused in the case.

The court has so far recorded the statements of Balwan Khokkar, Kishan Khokkar, Mahender Yadav, Girdhari Lal and Bhagmal. All of them have defended Sajjan Kumar, saying that neither he was a part of the mob nor he instigated them to kill the Sikhs. (PTI)

Sibal sets up panel to probe delays in
svcs rollout under USOF

NEW DELHI, July 17: After taking bold decisions like separation of spectrum from licences, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has now set up a panel to ascertain the reasons for delays in providing mobile services in rural areas under the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) scheme.

The decision comes in the wake of controversy over a reduction in the penalty imposed on Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications, which had switched off services for some time in some of the areas.

The panel has been set up under the Telecom Secretary to find out the reasons for the delay in rolling out mobile services under the Universal Service Obligation Fund and asked them to submit the report within eight weeks.

"... Set up a committee under chairmanship of Secretary, Telecom, including members of USOF, DDG (Finance-USOF), Member (Technical), Member (Finance), Administrator, DDG-(Licensing), DDG (Technical-USOF) and legal adviser. It may consider all aspects and suggest action that may be required in the facts and circumstances of the cases of delays," a note from the DoT said.

In 2007, the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) scheme was launched to provide subsidy support for setting up and managing 7,871 infrastructure sites (telecom towers) in 500 districts in specified rural and remote areas.

Telecom companies Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Aircel, Idea Cellular, Reliance and Vodafone were the service providers under the scheme.

The delays under the shared mobile infrastructure scheme were recently the subject matter of controversy, the note added.

"In the light (of matter), I desired that a status report be submitted in respect of the site commissioning of towers by Infrastructure Providers (IPs) under various agreements entered into by USOF with private operators, including BSNL," Sibal said in the note.

"The status of commissioning of mobile Base Transceiver Systems (BTSs) by the Universal Service Providers (USPs), including BSNL," the note added.

According to the internal note, out of the total 7,871 towers and sites, only 7,289 have been commissioned till now and 64 are yet to be commissioned.

Similarly, out of the total 21,849 BTSs to be commissioned, there is still a shortfall of 6,640 BTSs that are yet to be commissioned, resulting in pendency of 30.39 per cent till date.

Service providers have given various reasons for delays in the scheme. For example, RCom had contended that the delay in rolling out mobile services was due to land issues and had asked the USOF to drop four pending sites in Kerala.

State-run BSNL, on the other hand, attributed delays in rolling out services to insurgency, land disputes and natural calamities.

Bharti Airtel contended that sites in Bihar and Orissa, which were provided by the company to BSNL and RCom, were pending due to non-availability of DG sets at the sites.

"It is clear that there have been delays in the commissioning of infrastructure sites in each of the clusters. It is also clear that none of the USPs has been able to commission all mobile BTSs in time," the note said.

Sibal had come under scrutiny after a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court alleging that the minister has favoured a private operator by reducing the penalty.

A report from the panel would streamline the functioning of the USOF for future agreements as well, officials said. (PTI)

Government should publish White Paper
on economy: Rajnath

NAGPUR, July 17: Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, while pointing out the lacuna in the UPA Government, has alleged that the Government is completely directionless on the economic front.

He was on tour to Chandrapur district for the interaction with project affected people regarding land acquisition last night. He also demanded that the Government publish White Paper on the same.

The Government has changed the actual definition of Balance Development and destroyed the entire rural economy. They are just running behind GDP growth rate for development, Mr Singh alleged.

Talking to mediapersons after touring the district he said, the government has no plans to stop terrorism, inflation and corruption.

Mr Singh said actually, inflation and corruption are the side products of development but the Government is justifying their policy. The Centre should give up such activities and concentrate on consistent development which is necessary for better India, he added.

About acquisition he pointed out that agriculture land should not be acquired forcefully from farmers. It can be done with their permission and they should be party to the concerned project and services.

If the Union Government brings Land Acquisition Bill in the coming Parliament session, BJP will definitely support it, he said.

On terrorism, he said the Government is not serious on it. The statements given by the Congress leaders were very unfortunate and

it has failed to accept the challenges of terrorism, the BJP leader alleged.

(UNI)

Congress leaders from Telangana searching
for ‘escape route’

HYDERABAD, July 17: Caught literally between the devil and the deep sea, Congress legislators from Telangana are now desperately searching for an "escape route" from their misadventure against the high command.

On one hand the Telangana Congress leaders have become the subject of ridicule to their own party colleagues from Andhra-Rayalaseema regions and, on the other, they are under immense pressure from the high command to fall in line and put an end to the ongoing drama over the statehood demand.

Also, with their proposed 48-hour hunger-strike ending in just about 33 hours without any impact, the Telangana Congress leaders are all at sea.

At least the ministers and the MLAs, who put in their papers on July 4 along with the MPs and the MLCs demanding creation of Telangana state, are said to be keen on withdrawing their resignations but are unable to do so fearing wrath of the people, sources said.

The ministers and the MLAs, who have been holding talks with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana in turns, have explained their predicament and pleaded with the two leaders to get at least a statement issued by the high command in favour of Telangana.

"This (statement) will pull us out of the mess and enable withdrawal of resignations. Otherwise, it will be totally damaging for us as well as the party," a senior minister remarked, after a fresh round of meeting with the Chief Minister last night.

While the PCC chief assured the agitated Telangana leaders that he would take up the issue with the high command, the Chief Minister was not forthcoming with any promise, the minister added.

The other day, when Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Rita Bahuguna Joshi landed in Hyderabad on a private visit, Panchayat Raj Minister Jana Reddy managed to take her to his residence for lunch along with Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao and begged her to take up their case personally with Sonia Gandhi and see that "some statement" is issued on the statehood issue.

But they were left disappointed as Bahuguna did not commit anything on the issue.

Congress leaders from Andhra-Rayalaseema are enjoying their Telangana colleagues’ predicament.

"They ignored our advise (on the resignations) and blindly fell into Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s trap. Eventually, they achieved nothing," the Andhra-Rayalaseema leaders point out.

Interestingly, there is internal rift among Telangana Congress leaders for the same reason. Majority of ministers and legislators are holding a senior minister and at least four MPs responsible for the current imbroglio and blaming them for taking a "unilateral" decision on resignations.

"There is now no way forward or backward for us. We have run out of options and the only way out is an announcement from the Centre on Telangana. That’s not happening and we are left in the lurch," a senior Telangana minister lamented.

The Telangana Congress leaders will meet tomorrow in their continued search for the escape route. (PTI)

Size of corruption Rs 1,555 thousand cr
in last decade: study

NEW DELHI, July 17: The menace of corruption in the country is pegged at Rs 1,555 thousand crore in the last decade and majority of it has been laundered out of India using illicit gateways, a recent study has claimed.

According to a first of its kind report on ‘Ascertaining size of corruption in India with respect to money laundering’, an individual spent over Rs 2,000 as a cost of corruption in 2009, which is 260 per cent higher than the amount borne by a citizen ten years back.

"In the past decade, money laundered out of India was at least Rs 1,886 thousand crores or USD 419 billion. This quantification of the laundering is worked out on the most pessimistic manner and by considering the global parameters," it said.

"If the Gross Domestic Product-based money laundering model is translated to quantify the corruption, then the size of corruption in the last decade is Rs 1,555 thousand crore or USD 345 billion in India," the report said.

The study was conducted by a Pune-based company Indiaforensic, which has pioneered in fraud examination, security, risk management and forensic accounting research and has been for long helping the country’s investigating agencies like CBI in several high profile cases.

It is based on the analysis of scarce data available for measuring money laundering described through three models—property recovery, crime based and GDP based.

"The three models gave details of quantum of money laundering. They are based on the statistics by National Crime records Bureau (NCRB)," said Mayur Joshi, an anti-fraud and money laundering expert and founder member of the firm which had assisted CBI in the multi-crore Satyam scam.

According to property recovery based model developed on the data by NCRB, the total amount of recovery from the crime proceeds is Rs 190 crore. In total 70,773 cases were investigated between 2000-2009.

Whereas, the total loss to the Indian economy due to the various crimes including commercial fraud, smuggling, drug trafficking, bank frauds, tax evasion and corruption was pegged at Rs 22,528 crores, the study said, citing its second model to ascertain the size of corruption.

The study, based on GDP model, estimated at Rs 1886 thousand crore the quantum of money laundering using corrupt ways, citing international standards.

"According to studies conducted by International Monetary Fund, it was estimated that the quantum of money laundered is approximately 2 to 5 per cent of GDP of the world," the report said.

Considering that 5 per cent of the amount equivalent to the size of GDP is laundered, "it is possible to conclude that the size of money laundered is Rs 1886 thousand crore and the corruption in India could be more than Rs 1555 thousand crore."

And as "the total population of India has grown up from 1.016 billion to 1.155 billion in the last decade, corruption has grown up from Rs 836 per person per year to Rs 2,218 per person per year," it said.

The assumptions were made taking into account the GDP receipts between 2000 and 2009, the study said.

"Other than cooperation from different investigating and enforcement agencies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which is the stock market regulator, can play a significant role in preventing the corruption in India," Joshi said.

"Call centre like structure to receive the corruption complaints from the citizens as well as the government employees will be an added advantage," he said. (PTI)

Disclose names of official with dubious
integrity: CIC to CBI

NEW DELHI, July 17: The Central Information Commission has directed the CBI to make public names of its officials with "dubious integrity".

The transparency panel also directed the agency to make public list of officials against whom complaints are registered and facing enquiries.

The case relates to an RTI application filed by Port Blair-based lawyer Sujit Kumar Mazumder who had sought to know from the CBI details of officers whose names were placed in the list of "doubtful integrity" during period January 2006 to date. The agency said no such information is maintained.

He also sought to know names of officials against whom inquiries are going on, but was refused by the CBI on the grounds that it is personal information which has no relation with any public activity.

Rejecting the arguments, the CIC held, "every public authority is required to have information including details of any complaints registered or departmental enquiry initiated and conducted against any of its officers as a matter of record and more so because such officers are public servants discharging public function".

Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said any complaint registered and taken cognisance of or inquiry conducted by any authority is "necessarily a public activity".

"Disclosure of such information cannot be construed as unwarranted invasion of privacy of the officer concerned, as it concerns issues raised in the exercise of his public activity as a public servant," Gandhi said while directing the CBI to provide information before August 10.

He said such officer is accountable to the public and therefore, every citizen has the right to obtain information that may affect the officer’s credibility and integrity. (PTI)