Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 19: High Court has rejected the bail application of Hilal Ahmad Mir, the Chairman of non-existent River Jhelum Co-operative House Building Society in Rs 223 crore scam.
Mohammad Shafi Dar, the then chairman of J&K State Cooperative Bank Limited, Hilal Ahmad Mir, chairman of non-existent River Jhelum Cooperative House Building Society, Srinagar and Abdul Hamid Hajam, secretary of the non-existent River Jhelum Cooperative House Building Society, Srinagar were booked by Anti-Corruption Bureau under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act.
The ACB investigation revealed that a conspiracy was hatched between Dar, Mir, Hajam, Mohd Mujib Ur Rehman Ghasi, the then Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Syed Ashiq Hussain, Deputy Registrar Cooperative Societies and others in creating the fake society in 2018-19 in order to obtain a loan from the bank.
Mir then approached Secretary to Government Cooperative Department Abdul Majid Bhat through the medium of an application on January 10, 2018 wherein directions were sought to J&K State Cooperative Bank Ltd Srinagar for grant of financial assistance (loan advance) to the tune of Rs 300 crore for the construction of the satellite township.
After hearing both the sides, Justice Sanjay Dhar observed, “allegations against the petitioners are very serious in nature and some of the offences disclosed against the petitioner carry punishment of imprisonment up to 10 years”.
“It is a settled law that at the time of consideration of bail application, it is neither necessary nor desirable to have an in-depth analysis of the material on record. Therefore, I would desist from expressing my opinion on the merits of the allegations made in the charge sheet against the petitioner lest it may prejudice his case before the trial court at the time of framing of charge or during any other proceedings”, Justice Dhar said, adding “the material on record, however, does show that there is a genuine case against the petitioner and that the prosecution will be able to produce prima facie evidence in support of the charge”.
“The petitioner cannot be released on bail at this stage. The Anti-Corruption Bureau is, however, directed to complete the investigation and file the supplementary charge sheet as early as possible, preferably within a period of one month from today. Thereafter petitioner shall be at liberty to move the trial court and if any such application is filed, the trial court is free to consider the application independently on its own merits without being influenced by dismissal of this petition”, High Court said.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 19: Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Sanjay Dhar has set aside the notices of the Transport Department whereby the automobile dealers were directed to deposit differential amount of token tax/fees of the vehicles sold by them from August 3, 2019 to November 26, 2019.
The petitioners including Jammu Automart Pvt Ltd through their respective counsels submitted that vide SRO-492 dated August 1, 2019 issued by the Transport department the registration fee on the vehicles was increased. As against the earlier system of payment of registration free on annual basis, one time ad-valorem tax was levied.
Prior to that, vide communication dated October 12, 2017, issued by the Transport Department, dealer assisted system for registration of vehicles was introduced. “The idea was to facilitate the buyers of the vehicles, check delays and errors and reduce their harassment. In terms of the scheme, a buyer of the vehicle was required to deposit the registration fee with the dealer selling the vehicle, who in turn was to deposit the same with the Transport Department online on Vahaan portal”, the Advocate Vishal Goel, counsel for Jammu Automart Pvt Ltd submitted.
After the increase of token tax, the petitioner continued collecting that amount from the buyers on the cost of the vehicles and deposit the same with the department. “As principally no tax on tax can be levied, the amount of ad-valorem fee was calculated on the price of the vehicle excluding the GST portion thereof and the same was deposited with the treasury online with no objection raised”, it was further submitted.
The system was followed like this till such time a clarification was issued by the Transport Department vide Government Order dated November 26, 2019 clarifying that the token tax has to be calculated on the basis of cost plus GST. More than six months thereafter, communication dated June 22, 2020 was received from the RTO Jammu directing the petitioner to deposit the differential tax for the period from August 1, 2019 to November 25, 2019.
“The clarification issued by the department has put liability on the petitioner with retrospective effect even through the basic liability to pay token tax is not of the petitioner as such the notice issued is totally without jurisdiction”, the counsel for the petitioner submitted.
After hearing counsel for the parties and perusal of the relevant record, the DB observed, “the liability to pay the tax is on the registered owner or the person who has the possession of the vehicle and not that of the seller of the vehicle”, adding “the fault cannot be attributed to the petitioner for the reason that even the invoice was to be generated from the Vahaan portal as per the Government order dated October 12, 2017”.
“The authorities themselves were not clear and accepted the amount of token tax on the cost of the vehicles excluding GST”, the DB said, adding “any clarification issued by the Government cannot have retrospective effect”.
Accordingly, the DB set-aside the impugned notices directing the petitioner to deposit the differential amount of tax for the period from August 3, 2019 to November 26, 2019.

PIL seeking widening of Amphalla -Janipur road

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 19: In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking widening of the Amphalla – Janipur road and de-congesting of Janipur-High Court road, Division Bench of High Court comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajesh Bindal imposed cost of Rs 20,000 on the Planning Department for not filing the status report.
When the PIL came-up for hearing, Division Bench observed, “as back as on 19th March 2019, this court had directed the Planning Department to file a status report within two weeks failing which cost of Rs 20,000 would be imposed”, adding “time to file status report was sought on 16th July, 20th August, 20th September, 16th October, 29th November 2019 and 21st August 2020. However, neither the status report nor the plan in question has been filed till date”.
Accordingly, DB imposed cost of Rs 20,000 which will be recovered from the officer who is responsible for all these delays. “Costs shall be deposited to the Advocate’s Welfare Fund within two weeks from today. The status report shall accompany proof of deposit of costs”, the DB said and made it clear that the costs imposed will not be waived under any circumstances.
DB further observed, “this writ petition is pending since 2013 and pertains to construction of a flyover from Vikram Chowk to Janipura, a critical area”.

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 19: Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) president, Altaf Bukhari today said that people of J&K cannot afford any further delay in restoration of Statehood. He said that an early restoration of Statehood alone can guarantee the residents of J&K their right to self-governance.
Welcoming the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks that the Centre will not take long to restore Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, Bukhari observed that this decision is no longer about a political party or any leader but about the democratic rights and political aspirations of the people of J&K.
“While I welcome the Union Home Minister’s statement, I would like to remind the Union Government not to keep this critical issue in political limbo for a long time in view of the sufferings of residents of J&K and the undeniable governance chaos,” Bukhari remarked.
He said the sooner the Union Government fulfils its commitment on re-establishing the Statehood in J&K, the better it would be for the country to ensure peace and development in this troubled region. “The solution to multifarious problems faced by the people of J&K on a day today basis and to promote its integrated and all-round development lies in restoration of Statehood with comprehensive domicile laws protecting the rights of its residents on their land and jobs,” Bukhari opined.
JKAP leader also censured the J&K Government for sidelining the local officers of repute in the J&K bureaucracy terming it unacceptable. “Cornering the local officers in J&K administration is a highly deplorable move which smacks of some nefarious designs of some vested interest groups within the J&K Government,” he observed.
Bukhari solicited the intervention of the Union Home Minister towards this grave issue which has created a lot of disenchantment among the local officers who are well versed with the problems of the people and have until now contributed immensely in all the sectors of governance.

Students demand online examination

Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Oct 19: Kashmir University’s decision to conduct offline examination for BA LLB and LLB courses has evoked strong resentment from the students who charged the University with acting against the recommendations of the University Grants Commission and the Bar Council of India.
The KU took the decision in a meeting that was held between the representatives of the departmental board and affiliated private colleges last week. “Keeping in view the UGC guidelines on COVID-19 and BCI guidelines regarding the same and the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in Praneeth and Ors V. University Grants commission and Ors the committee unanimously resolved that the examination for BA LLB 10th semester and LLB 6th semester will be conducted in the offline mode,” the statement said.
The students, however, were depressed with the decision and held a strong protest against it. They informed the Varsity conducted spring session through the online system and under the UGC guidelines announced in view of COVID-19. “If they cannot conduct online exams, let them resume offline classwork as well. If KU officials think they are immune to the virus, let them open the university. If other departments are conducting online exams, why they are being singled out,” an exasperated student said.
Earlier, the Varsity had conducted all the examination through online mode because of the COVID 19 Pandemic. While other departments are continuing with the online exams, the law department is acting otherwise.
Insiders in the University alleged that the KU has succumbed to the pressure of the private colleges and it took the decision at their behest. “The colleges affiliated to the university have mounted pressure on the KU for offline exams, so that they can threaten students to pay the tuition and miscellaneous fees,” he said
An official in the University told Excelsior that they have asked the concerned department to take students on board. “We have asked Dean and HOD to take students into confidence so that the examination process is initiated without wasting time,” he said, adding that the university administration is meeting in the next two days in this regard.

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 19: Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) today produced charge sheet before the Court of Special Judge Anticorruption, Srinagar against Bashir Ahmad Bhat of Noorpora, Tral at present Hyderpora Srinagar, the then Junior Engineer, PHE Division Shopian in disproportionate assets case.
Official sources said that the instant case was registered in Police Station Vigilance Organization Kashmir (now ACB) on the outcome of a secret enquiry against accused Bashir Ahmad Bhat, JE, for indulging in corrupt and illegal practices and amassing wealth disproportionate to his known source of income.
The enquiry revealed that the accused had constructed a palatial house in Post Office Lane, Hyderpora, House at Sidhra Jammu, and few houses at Noorpora Tral at approximately cost of Rs 1.50 Crores. The suspect has also purchased Horticulture/Agriculture land and is in possession of movable assets including one i10 Hyundai car and one Maruti 800 Car.
The assets found in possession during secret enquiry were apparently found disproportionate to the known sources of the income of the said Junior Engineer.
The facts thus disclosed during secret enquiry constitute offences punishable U/S 5(1)(e) r/w 5(2) J&K PC Act, Svt. 2006 and accordingly a case FIR No.31/2012 under aforementioned sections of law was registered in P/S VOK (now ACB-Srinagar) and investigation was accordingly taken up.
The investigation of the case was concluded as proved against the above mentioned accused. Charge sheet (Challan) against the accused was produced before the Court of Special Judge Anticorruption Srinagar for judicial determination. The next date of hearing is fixed on November 25, 2020.