Sixth Pay Commission arrears scam
From Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, April 9: In violation of the financial code with regard to the sixth Pay Commission arrears, several Government departments have released crores of rupees arrears for the adhoc, consolidated and contractual employees.

According to the Government order (No. 238-F of 2011 dated 30-09-2011), the sixth Pay Commission arrears were to be paid to the State Government employees in 5 equal installments in 5 years.
These arrears are being credited to the GP Fund of the employees and have no lock up period. However, for those employees who have retired upto 30-09-2011, the arrears will be paid in cash in 5 equal installments. In case of a death of a Government employee, his family is entitled to the cash payment of the arrears, as per the Government order.
According to the Government order, adhoc, consolidated and contractual employees were not entitled to these arrears but several departments including Technical Education, Health and Power Development Department (PDD) have released arrears in the favour of the employees in gross violation of financial code with regard to the sixth Pay Commission.
The first installments of arrears have been released to these employees in cash by the drawing and disbursing officers of these departments in league with concerned treasury officers. Sources said that the amount in cash was shared by the employees and drawing and disbursing officers of these departments’ and treasury officers on 50-50 basis.
The treasuries passed these bills in the last week of the financial year and since these employees are not regular so it was paid in cash to them while it was credited to the GP Fund of the regular employees.
According to reports DDO’s of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) of the department of Technical Education of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Pattan, Pulwama, Rohama, Kupwara and Bandipora have paid arrears to their adhoc, consolidated and contractual employees.
The ITI Anantnag, Baramulla and Seer Hamadhan too have submitted the arrears’ bills to the respective treasuries but the treasury officers have refused to release the money with the remarks that these employees were not regular and not entitled to the arrears.
The ITI Bemina and Shopian neither submitted their arrears’ bills nor have paid the arrears to these employees and have told such employees working there that they were not entitled to arrears. A group of employees told Excelsior that this is double standard on part of the department as some of the employees have been paid arrears in cash while others have been denied the arrears.
When contacted, Mohammad Asharaf Zargar, Accounts Officer Finance Department posted in Technical Education, told Excelsior that as per the rules these employees are not entitled to the arrears. “It has not come to our notice”, he added.
The other departments who have paid arrears to their employees are Health and PDD. This has also been done by the drawing and disbursing officers of these departments in league with the treasury officers.
One of the employee leaders while commenting on payment of arrears to the non-deserving employees in cash said that on one hand the Government is saying it is facing financial crunch and refused to pay the arrears in cash to its regular employees, on the other hand it is paying arrears in cash to non-deserving employees.

ISI’s KAC chief told Virginia court that a UPA Minister was in touch with him before arrest
Excelsior Special Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 9: ISI-sponsored Kashmiri American Council (KAC) founder-chairman, Sayyid Ghulam Nabi Fai, had made a sensational disclosure in his last-ditch effort to escape punishment in the district court of Fairfax in Virginia. He made unsuccessful attempts to project himself as a champion of the “Kashmiri freedom movement” and a “peace broker” between India and Pakistan. During this attempt, he claimed before court that a Cabinet Minister of Dr Manmohan Singh’s UPA-II Government had met with him days before he was arrested in July 2011.  According to sources closely watching the court proceedings in Virginia, Fai made every possible attempt to claim that he was a “peace broker” between New Delhi and Islamabad, as also a “Kashmir freedom activist” rather than being ISI’s agent to promote Pakistan’s strategy on the Kashmir issue. He, however, failed to convince the judge. The judge even trashed ‘certificates’ issued by Indian nationals, including some prominent intellectuals, with the observation that this operation too had been engineered and executed on behalf of ISI. During the course of proceedings, Fai claimed that he had remained “closely associated” with the Indian intelligentsia and the establishment in his attempts of enforcing ceasefire between the Indian security forces and the Kashmiri militants in the year 2000. He claimed that he had remained in touch with then NDA head and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee through his National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra and a New-Delhi based journalist, namely R K Mishra. He claimed that on the other side, he was in a liaison with the Hizbul Mujahideen chief, Syed Salah-ud-din, and some of Kashmir’s radical separatist leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani.  Apart from working together for over a decade for Jamaat-e-Islami, Fai and Salah-ud-din were both residents of Soibug village in Budgam district. However, the ceasefire announced by senior Hizbul functionary, late Abdul Majid Dar, on July 24, 2000, proved to be shortlived when Salah-ud-din announced its withdrawal in a dramatic development within 12 days in a press conference at Hotel Holiday Inn in Islamabad.  Fai’s most sensational disclosure came in his claim that a cabinet Minister of Dr Manmohan Singh’s Government was “in touch” with him and had met with him just days before Fai was arrested near the American capital in July 2011. Sources said Fai neither identified the Minister nor the venue of the “secret meeting”. Even the judge, according to sources, showed no keenness to enquire about the identity of the Indian Minister or his purported meeting with Fai. The judge, according to sources who are Kashmiri Muslims settled in USA, remained adamant that defendant Fai had been operating strictly according to the brief given to him by ISI and against the money provided by the Pakistani intelligence agency. Insignificant financial contributions made to a number of American political leaders, including former President Bill Clinton and incumbent President Barrack Obama, during their election campaigns, were dismissed as part of ISI’s strategy to influence the Senators, Congressmen and heads of the state on Islamabad’s stand on Kashmir. Unconfirmed reports said that Fai even referred to a meeting with one of former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir about a decade ago but it was not confirmed by the sources present in crucial sessions of the hearing. Surprisingly, those roped in by ISI to project Fai as a “Kashmiri rights activist” through their barrage of letters to the judge, included some officials of the Omar Abdullah government. One of them, a lady professor in Department of English at University of Kashmir, has written a strongly-worded letter to the judge, claiming therein that Dr Fai had been fighting for the cause of Kashmir’s freedom from India and, thus, deserved, treatment of a freedom fighter. Interestingly, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah happens to be the Pro Chancellor and Governor N N Vohra as Chancellor of the University of Kashmir.  This teacher is reportedly the wife of a radical separatist leader. She has never hesitated in attending all of Fai’s ISI-sponsored conferences in USA, Pakistan and other countries and has also strongly advocated the cause of Kashmir’s separation from India on different television channels of India and foreign countries. Listed among Fai’s beneficiaries, she is said to have acquired an expensive house in a posh locality of Hyderpora earlier this year.  Sources in the Indian establishment insist that a retired engineer, Jitender Bakhshi, was among some non-Muslims ISI wanted to attend Fai’s international conferences to mislead the Americans that KAC was pursuing a secular agenda. He was roped in by a senior journalist and Jammu-based editor. Even the draft of a resolution at a conference in 2010 was drafted by Bakhshi alongwith the Jammu editor and a Srinagar-based columnist Ghulam Mohammad Zahid. Even in 2011, Fai, on behalf of ISI, had financially supported a conference organized by Muzaffarabad University. A number of ‘intellectuals’ and journalists from Srinagar and Jammu had participated in the conference held in last week of April 2011. Even after “adverse field reports”, CID of J&K Government had chosen to remain a mute spectator to this activity. Sources said that a recently constituted Special Investigation Team, headed by SSP Budgam Uttam Chand, would thoroughly investigate, in close coordination with IB, RAW, NIA and Enforcement Directorate, whether ISI’s contribution to J&K-based media publications had remained restricted to buying opinion pieces of the journalists or it had also gone to providing substantial funding to newspapers and news agencies.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 9: Army today apprehended a Pakistani national on the Line of Control (LoC) at Salhutri in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district while a mysterious blast took place in a dustbin at City Chowk area of Poonch this morning but there were no casualties or major damage.
Official sources said troops of 39 Rashtriya Rifles intercepted and apprehended a Pakistani national as soon as he crossed into this side from the LoC at forward village of Salhutri in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district this morning.
The Pakistani national disclosed his identity as Mohammad Sharief, 26, son of Choudhary Ban Mohammad, a resident of village Troti, Abbaspur in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
An identity card of Pakistan Government and Rs 2500 in Pakistani currency were recovered from his possession.
Army troops quizzed the Pakistani national during which he disclosed that he had crossed over to this side inadvertently.
In the evening, Army handed over the youth to local police for sustained questioning.
Meanwhile, a mysterious blast took place in a dustbin kept on roadside at crowded City Chowk area of Poonch town at about 9.30 am today creating panic in the area.
SSP Poonch Ashkoor Wani denied that it was a blast.
He said some kind of gas might have led to fire in the dustbin. Investigations were on to find out nature of the gasses or whatever material led to fire in the dustbin, he added.
However, the mysterious blast triggered panic in the area as a school bus was crossing City Chowk at that time. A scooter parked in vicinity of the dustbin suffered damage but there were no casualties or injuries to the passers-by.
“As the area was crowded one, there would have been casualties in case an explosive device had gone off in the dustbin”, sources said, adding only the dustbin caught fire after a sound.
However, people deserted the spot for sometime and panic gripped the area.
Additional SP Poonch Yougal Manhas and DySP (Operations), Poonch Javed Iqbal rushed to the spot along with police and cordoned off area.
Sources said the forensic experts have seized relevant material from the dustbin to find out the nature of mysterious blast.
Normalcy was restored in Poonch town after sometime, police said.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 9: Arun Kumar Thatai today took over as the new Income Tax Commissioner of J&K Circle
“Mr Thatai of 1985 batch of IRS who has served in various capacities at New Delhi, Mumbai, Hissar and Amritsar, this morning took over as new CIT,” official sources here said.
They said the new Commissioner Income Tax (CIT) has served in the State as CIT Appeals between 2005-2007.

NEW DELHI, Apr 9:
The Defence Ministry today said the overall security situation in J&K was “stable” but had the potential of “deteriorating” at a very short notice.
In its annual report released today, the ministry said the need of the hour was to consolidate the gains in the improved situation.
“The security situation in J&K has been stable in 2011 with an overall reduction in violence. However, it has the potential to deteriorate at short notice,” the ministry said in its report.
“The Pakistan-terrorist-separatist nexus continues their attempts to foment trouble with an aim to internationalise the Kashmir issue.”
The ministry said the army and other security forces are mainly credited for improving the environment through effective counter terrorist operations.
It noted that 56 cases of ceasefire violation took place along the Line of Control in 2011.
On North East, the ministry said the prevailing security situation there has been stabilised and is under control and “violence levels have subsided significantly as compared to previous years”.
“There is widespread support for peace by all sections of the society facilitating progress on developmental projects,” it said.
According to the report, in Assam, the peace talks involving the pro-talk faction of ULFA were progressing well but the Paresh Barua-led faction was continuing its efforts to sabotage the parleys. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Apr 9:
India has sought dates from Pakistan for a bilateral meeting between the Home Secretaries of the two countries after May 22 when the Budget session of Parliament comes to an end.
New Delhi has conveyed to Islamabad that it is not possible for Home Secretary R K Singh to travel to Pakistan on April 16 as suggested by it for the talks since a meeting of Chief Ministers on internal security will be held on that day.
“We have asked for fresh dates after the Parliament session,” Singh told reporters here.
Budget session of Parliament will end on May 22.
Last week, Pakistan had suggested the April 16 as the possible date for the Home Secretary level talks to be held in Islamabad but the date clashes with the crucial meeting of the Chief Ministers which is hosted by the Home Ministry.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in Lahore yesterday that it had been agreed that the Interior and Home Secretaries of Pakistan and India would meet on April 16.
The bilateral meeting will be held amid renewed engagements between India and Pakistan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hosted a lunch for Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari yesterday when he was here on a “private visit”.
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had said when the Prime Minister took up with Zardari the issue of action against 26/11 perpetrators and activities of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan President suggested that further discussion on Saeed was required and since the Home Secretaries of the two countries will be meeting shortly, the issue will be taken up that time.
Last month Singh met Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani on the sidelines of Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul.
Earlier, India had proposed the Home Secretary level talks on December 22-23, 2011 but Islamabad could not give its consent due to its domestic political situation at that time.
This will be the first meeting between Home Secretary R K Singh and his Pakistani counterpart K Siddique Akbar.
Their predecessors Gopal K Pillai and Qamar Zaman Chaudhary, had met in March 2011 in New Delhi. (PTI)

Excelsior Correspondent
RAJOURI, Apr 9: An Army soldier was killed in a grenade explosion in Keri sector near the Line of Control in Rajouri today.
Reports said one Hardeep Singh of Sikh Regiment, presently deployed in Keri sector was seriously injured when a grenade exploded in his hands at Chiti Bakri ( K-1) post at some forward location. The mishap took place when the jawan was busy in an exercise. Due to mishandling of the grenade, it exploded in hands at around 10.15 am.
The jawan, hailing from Punjab was rushed to Rajouri hospital but he succumbed to injuries on the way. The body of the jawan was dispatched to his home this afternoon. The Army authorities have ordered court of inquiry into the incident.

The Delhi High Court today reserved its verdict on a plea seeking a CBI probe into mysterious death of a non commissioned officer (NCO) of Army Intelligence Corp nearly 34 years ago when he was allegedly taken into military custody in connection with the infamous Samba Spy case.
The case relates to the death of Havildar Ram Swaroop whose wife Anguri Devi has sought re-opening of the investigation claiming the post-mortem report, which is now available to her under the Right to Information Act, suggested 39 injuries on his body.
Justice M L Mehta reserved the judgement after hearing detailed arguments by Deepak A Masih, counsel for Anguri Devi, and Additional Solicitor General A S Chandhioke who opposed the plea of the widow.
The widow, in her plea, said her husband, employed as a NCO in Army Intelligence Corp, was brought dead at the Base Hospital on the night of September 30, 1978, under mysterious circumstances. In the Samba Spy Case, 41 Army officers were allegedly charged with spying activities and passing on information about the troop movement to others, the petition said.
Firstly, a constable of Delhi police informed the widow that Ram Swaroop’s body had been found, the petition said, adding that later the Army retreived the body and “disposed it of by performing the last rites in the late hours under the supervision of Army officers.”
Seeking to revisit the case, the petition said as the post mortem report is available, the court may order “registration of FIR …And transfer investigation to CBI or to a Special Investigation Team (SIT).”
Ram Swaroop was killed in custody after being detained by the officers of military intelligence on August 26, 1978, in connection with the Samba Spy case. (PTI)