Monthly Archives: August 2018

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, January 15

A Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2015 police firing incidents today filed a chargesheet against former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal in connection with the Behbal Kalan firing incident in which two protesters were killed on October 14, 2015.

While many other accused, including former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma and two SP-rank police officers, have already been chargesheeted by the SIT, the supplementary chargesheet against the former DGP and IGP has been filed in the court of the JMIC, Faridkot, today. The court has summoned both accused police officers on February 9.

The SIT had nominated Saini and Umranangal as accused in the case of murder and attempt to murder of Behbal Kalan in September 2020. In the chargesheet, the SIT claimed both police officers had been found guilty in the case on the basis of documentary evidence and the statements of witnesses. A week after the killing of two Sikh protesters in police firing at Behbal Kalan on October 14, 2015, an FIR was registered on October 21, 2015, at the Bajakhana police station under Sections 302, 307 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. The complainant in the FIR was Iqbal Singh Sahota, director, bureau of investigation-cum-chairman, SIT, which was constituted on the directions of the Punjab DGP.

Earlier, no police officer was nominated as an accused in the FIR but later, the SIT had nominated many police officers as accused in the case.

In the supplementary chargesheet, the SIT has relied upon 22 phone calls, allegedly made between the then DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal, to buttress its claim that the former DGP was a part of the conspiracy of “unprovoked” firing on protesters.

The firing on the protesters at both places was a part of an already hatched conspiracy. The accused police officers did not procure necessary permission from the duty magistrate or SDM before resorting to unprovoked firing on the protesters, the chargesheet alleged.

The SIT claimed that its investigation had found that Umranangal was in constant touch with Saini and after getting directions from him, he told then SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma and others to use force on the protesters.

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 15

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha said on Friday that “misconceptions” are being spread about the proposed tractor march on January 26 and that their “motive is not to harm the Republic Day parade”.

“We are making it clear that we have no motive to harm the parade of the Government of India by this parade of farmers.  The detailed plan for this parade will be delivered only after a meeting of farmers’ organisations on January 17 and the hearing of the Supreme Court on January 18,” Dr Dashan Pal said.

Balbir Singh Rajewal also urged everyone to maintain peace and harmony and not pay heed to “false and unfounded inflammatory propaganda and rumour-mongering” like “unfurling the national flag at the Red Fort etc”.

“Misconceptions/false inflammatory propaganda is being spread about the January 26 movement. Some people are saying that the national flag should be hoisted at the Red Fort, some are saying the Parliament will be stormed,” Rajewal said, accusing “anti-farmer forces and government agencies” of trying to malign and scuttle the peaceful agitation of farmers and common people.

Morcha leaders also condemned inflammatory statements by an organizstion called ‘Sikhs for Justice’

“We urge farmers to be aware of such organisations which are breaking the unity among us,” they said.

Though Samyukta Kisan Motcha leaders said they are yet to finalise the contours of January 26 tractor march, BKU leader from Uttar Pradesh, Rakesh Tikait, has already announced programme for the day. He said on Thursday that farmers will hold a simultaneous parade from Red Fort to India Gate on Republic Day.

“The Republic Day Parade has been cut short, it will now be from Rastrapati Bhawan to India Gate, I am told. Farmers will march from Red Fort to India Gate and meet the Republic Day parade there. Jawans marching from one side and kisans from the other and meeting at the Amar Jawan Jyoti (at India Gate), It will be a historic moment,” Tikait said.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 15

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday led protests outside the Delhi Raj Niwas in solidarity with the agitating farmers and demanded repeal of farm laws.

As the Congress marked ‘Kisan Adhikar Divas’ by gheraoing Governor houses across India, several of party leaders offered arrests, including in Delhi where Congress leaders from Punjab were detained and kept at the Mandir Marg police station for long hours.

Congress MPs from Punjab Ravneet Singh Bittu, Gurjeet Aujla, JS Gill and MLA Kubir Jira were among those detained from Jantar Mantar, where they have been sitting in solidarity with the farmers for 41 days.

Govt helping corporates

The Central farm laws have been drafted to aid corporates like Ambani and Adani. The government had earlier attempted to usurp farm land by bringing in the new land acquisition Act. The Congress foiled that attempt. —Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader

Priyanka also joined the protesting Congress leaders from Punjab at Jantar Mantar and said the party would not withdraw until the laws were repealed.

“We will stand with the farmers till the black laws are repealed…the government will have to budge,” said Rahul. “The laws are meant not to help farmers, but to destroy them. They have been drafted to aid corporates like Ambani and Adani. The Congress will continue to stand with the farmers. The government had earlier attempted to usurp farm lands by bringing the new land acquisition Act. The Congress frustrated that attempt. Now the BJP and their corporate friends have again made a bid to attack the farmers and we will again stand against the government,” he said before going to Jantar Mantar, where he said the Prime Minister did not respect the farmers and wanted to tire out the protesters in battle with the Centre.

AICC general secretary KV Venugopal later said water cannons were used against Congress workers in Chandigarh while they were trying to gherao the Punjab Raj Bhawan. Uttar Pradesh leaders of the party were detained when they were trying to march towards Raj Bhawan in Lucknow. “Haryana leaders, including state chief Kumari Selja, held a protest march and courted arrest. Reports of protests also came in from Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan,” Venugopal said.

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 15

The Supreme Court’s four-member committee on farmers’ agitation appears to be in limbo after the lone farmers’ representative and Bharatiya Kisan Union national president Bhupinder Singh Mann recused himself in view of criticism from his own union which sacked him from its primary membership.

Legal experts told The Tribune that the panel can’t start its work until it was reconstituted and the vacancy filled.

“The SC will have to nominate some other person to the committee. Since setting up of the committee is a unilateral action on part of the court, only it can find a replacement for Mann,” senior counsel Vikas Singh, who is appearing a PIL petitioner seeking guidelines on agitations, said.

Advocate Virag Gupta said, “The SC may modify its previous order and allow the committee to continue with only three members or name Mann’s replacement. Since kisan unions have expressed their willingness to continue talks with the government it may keep its order on hold or even refer it to a Constitution Bench.”

While staying the implementation of the three farm laws, a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had on January 12 set up a four-member committee to hear stakeholders’ views.

Besides Mann, the other three members of the committee were Pramod Kumar Joshi (Director, South Asia international Food Policy), Agricultural Economist Ashok Gulati and Shetkari Sanghatana leader Anil Ghanwat.

They were mandated to talk to the agitating farmers on the Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance & Farm Services Act 2020, Farmers Produce Trade & Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Act & Amendment to Essential Commodities Act and file a report before the court in two months.

Advocate AP Singh, who is representing some farmers’ bodies in the case, said, “it was bound to happen as most of the members were pro-farm laws and their views were already known”.

Lt Gen Gyan Bhushan (retd)

Former South Western Army Commander

THE Army has come out with an out-of-the-box solution for overcoming its systemic shortage of manpower and consequently reducing the pension burden. There has never been a dearth of men and women willing to serve in our Army as officers. However, the challenge has been about quality and not about quantity.

As per reports, the Tour of Duty (ToD) will provide a glimpse of Army life to the public for a short period. It can prove to be a golden chance for those who are not interested in taking up defence forces as their career, but want to have a feel of the real experience.

It is in this backdrop that the Army is looking at the induction of a select few to start with maybe a truncated training period and service for three years. Proposals are still at a nascent stage.

Human resource management in the Army has become a Herculean challenge because of a pyramidal structure, non-grant of the non-functional financial upgradation (NFU) and limited avenues for deputations, leading to anxious moments for the Army hierarchy at all levels.

All professional armies in the world have a lean main cadre that serves for a longer duration and a larger support cadre which peels off after serving for a shorter duration. For better management of human resources, this ratio should generally be 1:1.5.

Any proposal by the Army for the support cadre will need some guarantees from the government in terms of the peel factor, lateral absorption in government jobs/PSUs and/or an attractive severance package.

Many studies have been conducted to achieve this goal, but lack of support from the government for improving the terms and conditions of the support cadre has been a stumbling block. The youth do not find it attractive to join for a shorter duration and peel off thereafter because of lack of opportunities for a second career option and meagre compensation for hardships faced during a short Army career.

The retention of more officers of the support cadre in service after the mandatory period results in a large number of aspirants in the main cadre for promotions to a extremely limited number of vacancies in higher ranks, leading to frustration, disgruntlement and an increasing number of court cases.

The Short Service Commission (SSC) has been the main support cadre of the Army. Initially, the mandatory period of service was five years, which could be extended for five years and thereafter for further four years. Around 2006, the system was changed, making the initial tenure of 10 years mandatory, which could be further extended by four years.

The higher age of exit for SSC officers reduces their chances of a second career option. An enhancement in the mandatory service period to 10 years has made SSC less attractive because various recommendations for job reservations, lateral absorption, industrial attachment, lucrative study leave, better severance package etc. have remained on paper and never been implemented.

Ameliorating measures for the support cadre like the peel factor, deliberated at length by the AV Singh committee, and lateral absorption have been non-starters because of lack of government support. Even various pertinent and viable recommendations of the Standing Committee of Parliament on the issue have been ignored. The recent recommendation of the Standing Committee suggesting compulsory military training for all those who want subsequent employment with the government is an enhanced version of a recommendation of the 1990s when it was recommended that the induction of all officers in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) be through the Army after an initial term of five years. All these options are viable, but need the government’s backing. The recent recommendations of the Standing Committee of Parliament are extremely viable and a variation of the ToD.

In the recent proposal of the ToD of three years, after six to nine months of training, the participants will have around two years plus residual service in the units. Since they will serve only in operational areas, some on-the-job formation-related operational and leadership training will be essential for serving in active areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. Therefore, the period of engagement needs consideration and deliberations so that active service in the units is for three years.

It is hoped that these well-trained young personnel with a military background will find good job opportunities in the industry, Central and state government services, police and the CAPFs. Without attractive career guarantees and a good severance package, no proposal for the support cadre can be attractive enough to draw the right material for our armed forces.

However, the experience of previous recommendation reports indicates that no proposal of a second career option for the support cadre will succeed without the government’s intervention and directions or a statute passed by Parliament.

The ToD for select government officials from both the Centre and the states in the defence forces for four to five years and giving them benefits for this service in their civil service is also an option in consonance with the recommendations of the parliamentary committee report. This modified version of ToD appears a viable option because there is no need for a second career option or a severance package. This will help develop discipline in these government officials.

The support cadre has to be made attractive to the youth with a fairly good second career option, some job guarantees in the industry, government jobs (as was done for emergency commission officers and for initial batches of the SSC) and a good severance package. There are several studies on the subject, including detailed deliberations in the AV Singh Committee report, but there has been no will to implement it.

The Army can find many ingenious and practical ways of addressing the issue, but rather than aiming for a resolution at the departmental level, it has to be fully supported by the government by ensuring guarantees.

Jammu, January 13

A 150-metre tunnel constructed along the International Border (IB) to facilitate infiltration of terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan was detected by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district on Wednesday, officials said.

This is the third tunnel unearthed by alert border guards along the IB in the twin districts of Samba and Kathua in Jammu region over the past six months and ninth in the past decade.

“A nearly 150-metre-long tunnel was detected by a BSF patrol party during an anti-tunnelling operation in Bobiyaan village of Hirnagar sector this morning,” Inspector General of BSF, Jammu frontier, N S Jamwal told reporters at the scene.

He along with other senior officers rushed to Bobiyaan soon after the detection of the tunnel.

“The opposite of this side is Pakistan’s Shakergarh which is notorious for having launch pads and bases of terrorists. We have inputs available with us as a result of that we are sensitive to whatever is happening here,” the BSF officer said, assuring that all necessary measures are in place to counter Pakistani designs.

He said sand bags with Pakistani markings are evidence of the hand of Pakistani establishment in the construction of this tunnel, which is identical to the previously detected tunnels having a depth of 25 to 30 metre with two to three feet diameter.

Asked whether this tunnel was recently dug or it’s an old one, the BSF officer said it is a matter of investigation.

However, he said some of the sand bags recovered from the tunnel have 2016-17 year of manufacture which suggest that it is an old tunnel.

“We were searching for this tunnel for a long time and its detection was the effort of the anti-tunnelling operation which is underway all along the IB. Whether any infiltration had taken place through this tunnel in the past can be said after completion of our investigation,” he said.

Jamwal, however, said the BSF is sure that no infiltration had taken place through this tunnel in the recent past.

“We are undertaking some development works here and have strengthened the security in view of the anti-tunnelling drive,” he said.                 Referring to the killing of two Pakistani infiltrators in Surankote area of Poonch district and an encounter in Srinagar last month, the IG said Pakistan is always looking for an opportunity to push terrorists into Jammu Kashmir, whether it is through Line of Control (LoC) or IB.

“They are continuing with the attempts but we are fully alert to the situation. Our alertness resulted in detection of underground tunnels and shooting down of a Hexa-copter loaded with a huge cache of arms and ammunition,” he said, adding the border protection grid comprising army, BSF and police are working jointly to scuttle Pakistan’s attempts to push terrorists and weapons into this side.

Last year, the BSF detected two such tunnels in Samba district on August 28 and November 22 following successful infiltration by two groups of terrorists who were subsequently neutralised in separate encounters along Jammu-Srinagar national highway while they were enroute to Kashmir in trucks.

While three Pakistani terrorists affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were eliminated in a gunfight in Nagrota area near Jammu after they were intercepted aboard a Kashmir-bound truck in January last year, another group of Pakistani terrorists armed with weapons and a large quantity of grenades were killed at the same spot on November 19.

Investigations suggested both the groups infiltrated into this side through underground tunnels.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Rangers violated ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing on forward posts and villages in the Border Outpost area of Gurnam in Hiranagar sector, the officials said.

The firing from across the border started around 10 pm Tuesday, prompting strong and effective retaliation by the BSF, they said, adding the cross-border firing between the two sides continued till 2.25 am Wednesday but there was no report of any damage on Indian side. PTI

New Delhi, January 13

The Supreme Court Wednesday issued a notice on a plea of the Centre which urged that the 2018 judgement of a five-judge constitution bench decriminalizing adultery under the Indian Penal Code be not made applicable to the armed forces.

A bench comprising Justices R F Nariman, Navin Sinha and K M Joseph, after issuing the notice to the PIL petitioner and others on the Centre’s plea, referred the matter to Chief Justice S A Bobde for setting up of a five-judge Constitution Bench which can clarify the position.

In a path-breaking verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by the then CJI Dipak Misra unanimously struck down Section 497 (adultery) of the Indian Penal Code and declared that adultery is not a crime and the penal provision was unconstitutional as it dented the individuality of women and treated them as “chattel of husbands”.

The apex court, in a September 2018 judgment, however had said that adultery would continue to be a ground for seeking divorce in matrimonial disputes.

The Centre, in its interim plea filed in a disposed of PIL of Joseph Shine, has sought clarification and a direction that the judgement be not made applicable on special statutes and rules governing the armed forces which take actions on its personnel for indulging in adulterous relationships to ensure discipline in forces.

It has been said when jawans and officers are posted in forward inhospitable areas, their families are taken care of at base camp by other officers and the laws and rules, providing actions for indulging in adulterous or promiscuous activity, help in maintaining discipline.

An armed forces personnel can be cashiered from service on grounds of unbecoming conduct for committing adultery with a colleague’s wife, it said.

Section 497 of the IPC says: “Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery.”

Adultery was punishable by a maximum of five years in jail or fine or both.

Striking down the law, the apex court had said that the section 497 of the IPC was manifestly arbitrary, archaic law which is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. — PTI