On Punjab law officers’ list: AG’s wife, kin of judges, netas
She is a bright candidate. I wasn’t part of the process to select the additional advocate general. ATUL NANDA, Punjab AG, on his wife’s selection
CHANDIGARH :Wife of Punjab advocate general (AG) Atul Nanda, kin of some politicians and at least six former judges are among the 121 names announced by the Punjab government on Friday for appointment as law officers. These officers would be posted at the Punjab and Haryana high court and the Supreme Court.
The first list comes nearly four months after Captain Amarinder Singh government took over the reins in Punjab on March 16.
The appointees include Rameeza Hakeem (as additional advocate general) wife of Nanda; Sukhmani Bajwa, daughter of Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa who is Qadian Congress MLA; Deepali Puri, wife of Amarinder’s OSD Sandeep Sandhu (Amritsar camp office); Manjari Nehru Kaul, daughter of justice (retd) RK Nehru; and former Chandigarh mayor Anu Chatrath, daughter of former Punjab AG Gopal Krishan Chatrath.
Others include Amandeep Singh Gill, son of justice (retd) Mehtab Singh Gill; Abhay Pal Singh, son of former chief secretary Jai Singh Gill; Anu Pal, sister of serving high court judge justice Lisa Gill; Harmeet Singh Grewal, son of former AG GS Grewal.
A relative of TMC president Jagmeet Brar, Sidakmeet Sandhu; Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Sharma’s daughter, Lavanya Paul; justice (retd) TS Doabia’s son, IPS Doabia; and justice (retd) MS Sullar’s relatives Devaki Anand Sullar and Harman Deep Sullar are also on the list.
The list includes over a dozen lawyers who were working with previous government as well. Some of them have been appointed on junior posts.
Nanda said the selections were done by an independent panel on laid down criterion. On his wife’s appointment, he said: “She is a bright candidate. I wasn’t part of the process to select the additional advocate general.”
Regarding kin factor, he said being kin of a judge or politician should not be an advantage. “But at the same time, it should not act as an impediment,” he added.
The state government has announced reduction in the size of its legal team to almost half its previous strength. From 215 law officers appointed during the SAD-BJP regime, the number will be capped at 154, said an official spokesman
Friday’s appointments include 25 additional advocates general, 49 assistant advocates general, 30 deputy advocates general and 17 senior deputy advocates general. Nanda had recommended 123 lawyers for Chandigarh and 31 for Delhi.
Sewer opposite Patiala bus stand breeding ground for mosquitoes
PATIALA: An open sewer along the Mall road opposite the city’s bus stand has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and a source of foul smell as the sewerage pipeline is choked and sewage remains stagnant in the channel. The stagnant sewage on the side of the road just opposite the bus stand also presents a bad image of the city for thousands of visitors coming to the city daily.
Thousands of people, who commute on the road. have to face mosquitoes and foul smell every day. There is always a fear of spread of water-borne diseases in the area.
While the district health department is challaning government and private premises for lack of cleanliness and dengue larvae, the condition of the sewer along the road has been ignored by both the municipal corporation and the health department.
Residents of the nearby areas say a hotel near the road also releases its waste water in the channel along the road without any check. This has been happening for years. Three-wheeler drivers, who park their vehicles on the roadside, claim that sewer pipes connecting the hotel with the mainline across the road have been blocked for the past six months and the waste water flows into the sewer line making it difficult for commuters. The department concerned has failed to take note of it.
Epidemiologist Dr Gurmanjeet Kaur also said that a team from the department will visit the area and look into the matter.
Police revamp underway, zones scrapped, IGs to head ranges
State was divided into 4 zones — Border, Patiala, Jalandhar and Bathinda
The government has decided to pull out officers of the rank of DIG from the field. All seven ranges will now be headed by IGrank officers.
CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, CM
CHANDIGARH: In a re-jig of the police administrative structure, the Punjab government on Friday decided to abolish all post four zones and post inspector general (IG)-rank officers as heads of seven ranges in the state.
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh said the government has decided to pull out officers of the rank of deputy inspector general (DIG) from the field. “All seven ranges will now be headed by IG-rank officers,” he said in an interaction with reporters. The seven ranges – Patiala, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Border and Rupnagar – were headed by DIGs hitherto.
The move is being seen as an attempt to “rationalise” the police structure and give the charge of ranges to more experienced officers. Haryana and Rajasthan also have a similar administrative structure.
The state was divided into four zones — Border, Patiala, Jalandhar and Bathinda — which are being abolished.
The chief minister also said he has asked for a report from the secretary, local government, on alleged tax evasion to the tune of Rs 684 crore by Fastway Transmission Private Limited.
“I sought the report after reading the minister’s statement on the issue. Whatever has to be recovered will be recovered,” he said.
The CM’s statement is important, as local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had raised the issue on the last day of the budget session of the state assembly.
The minister said his department had issued notices to the company for the violations and it was for the chief minister to order registration of FIR and a vigilance probe against the company.
Asked to comment on the growing impression that his government is going slow on action against the Akalis, the CM said there was no point.
“We are doing whatever is to be done. My priority is Punjab. We are focusing our energy on bringing the state back on track,” he said.
WAITING FOR RAHUL
On cabinet expansion, he said that it was scheduled in the first week of July. “The Congress vice-president (Rahul Gandhi) is abroad and will be back in 5-6 days. I will meet him and discuss it,” he said.
Asked if his government would appoint parliamentary secretaries, Capt Amarinder replied in the affirmative, saying he had got the matter legally examined.
Punjab to do away with 3 police ranges
Tribune file photo
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 30
Punjab will no longer have two supervisory levels in its policing structure. Among the last states to bring in the reform, it has abolished the post of DIG in different police zones. Also, IGPs have been vested with supervisory powers.Punjab will now have seven police ranges — Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Ropar, Ferozepur and Ludhiana. Each of these will be headed by an Inspector General of Police (IGP). Earlier, four police zones were headed by a DIG each and seven by IGs. Now on, three districts will form a police range.A new post, that of ADGP (Border), has been created for a greater vigil at the India-Pakistan border. Harpreet Singh Sidhu, in-charge of the Special Task Force to fight the drug menace, has been given the additional charge. With orders abolishing the police ranges of Ropar, Ferozepur and Ludhiana expected tomorrow, the state will have four ‘spare’ DIG-level officers.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, calling it the beginning of police reforms aimed at providing good governance, said the tenure of “senior operations men” would be fixed. He did not mention any posts. But sources in the police department said the Director General of Police (DGP), Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) and Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) will have a fixed one-year tenure.The CM said after the Cabinet expansion (expected by mid-July), he would keep the Home (police, Intelligence and jails), Horticulture and Animal Husbandary Departments with him. He said he would also be appointing parliamentary secretaries who would not be involved in official work “but will be trained in parliamentary roles.”Meanwhile, the state government has decided to have English as the medium of instruction at the primary level, beginning this academic session. Mandarin, Italian and French will be introduced as optional subjects in Class X.English medium in primary schoolsThe Punjab government has decided to have English as the medium of instruction at the primary level, beginning this academic session. Mandarin, Italian and French will be introduced as optional subjects in Class X.
