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Tribune News Service

Pathankot, April 28

An NIA team, led by an officer of Additional SP rank, visited the Civil Hospital and asked the authorities to provide them additional DNA profile samples of all four terrorists killed in the Pathankot Air Force station gunbattle.DNA profiling, also known as DNA fingerprinting or testing, is a forensic technique used to identify individuals by the characteristics of their DNA.The bodies of four militants have been lying in the hospital mortuary since January 3.Civil Surgeon Dr Ajay Bagga received a formal request from the Home Ministry a few days ago. He was asked to provide the samples of molars (teeth), femur bones, fingers and muscle masks to the NIA team.“Four NIA officers arrived at the hospital today. We provided them the samples as per their requirement,” said Dr Bagga.A three-tier security, led by SSP Rakesh Kaushal, was deployed to avoid any untoward incident. Dr Bagga has already written to his seniors asking them to shift the bodies to any of the three government medical colleges in the state. “We have been facing a shortage of space. There is a place for just five bodies in the mortuary,” said the Civil Surgeon.

The courts are overworked and undermanned. Infrastructure is being stretched to breaking point. Attaining justice, undoubtedly, unequivocally is a slow process —collecting evidence, presenting it and analysing it takes time. Now is the time to streamline the justice system to meet the challenges of a new world order

Chief Justice of India TS Thakur during his speech at the inauguration of Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices, at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delh. PTI

The functioning of the justice system of a country is an authoritative indicator of true socio-economic progress and equality. This reflects how well the values of the rule of law, equality and social progress are implemented. It also speaks, in somewhat quantifiable terms, of the situation in which a nation’s democratic values are upheld. India as a comparatively young nation has much to rejoice about. The judiciary has seen the nation through some very tumultuous times and has, for most part, come out victorious. The likes of the late Justice Hans Raj Khanna, and Justice V.R Krishna Iyer ensured that the judiciary commanded respect, not just within the country but through the world. There is, however, a big problem that we need to deal with if we are indeed to prepare ourselves as a global power. According to the National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB), the total population in the country’s jails in 2014 was more than 4,18,000. The total capacity is however is a little more than 3,56,000. Out of these, more than 67 per cent of the population is undertrial. This is certainly an alarming number, especially as most of this population is under incarceration simply because they could not get bail. Presumption of innocence until proven guilty is the cornerstone of any civilised democracy. There are multiple reasons for this — among them the idea that an individual’s liberty is fundamental and to take that away, the state must go through the rigours of a fair trial. The most important impact of this is that individual liberty is guaranteed, except in limited circumstances. To ensure a fair trial and to guarantee this liberty, the Supreme Court has made its stance clear on numerous occasions. Before conviction an alleged criminal is exactly that — an alleged criminal. He has not been convicted yet and except in limited circumstances should not be deprived of liberty. It has been said that jail is an exception and bail is the rule. The ground reality is somewhat different. There have been numerous circumstances where undertrials have spent more time in jail awaiting trial than they would have had they actually been convicted. The reasons for this are many. One is the lack of easy access to justice. Uneducated and indigent undertrials do not always understand the rules. Ironically, people from such deprived backgrounds also happen to be the largest group of charged individuals. There is also the well-known problem of delays. The courts are overworked and undermanned. Infrastructure is being stretched to its breaking point. Attaining justice, undoubtedly, unequivocally is a slow process — collecting evidence, presenting it and analysing it takes time. However, the problem of delays in the justice system remain even if this margin of appreciation is granted. In a rather embarrassing situation, a court in London for instance agreed to hear a case against Taj Hotels in London (rather than in India) on the grounds that it would take far too long here. In order for the rule of law to be respected and for the legal system to have efficacy, appeal and authority, these problems need urgent solutions. The system needs to guarantee fairness, sensitivity and efficiency for the population to have faith in it. The Hon’ble Chief Justice has certainly raised this concern on numerous occasions. And this is certainly a time for the country to introspect and find solutions. With more than 3 crore cases pending, there is no easy way out. However, we urgently need to come up with and implement solutions if the faith in the system is to be restored. Vacant positions in high courts (more than 400 as of early this year) need to be filled. Technology needs to be exploited. Perhaps, most importantly, access to law needs to be widened and the population needs to be made aware of their rights as well as obligations. As a profession, lawyers too should consider removing rigmarole from court proceedings and simplifying terms. All stakeholders (investigating agencies, correctional services, prison authorities, etc) need to be considered part of a chain and meaningful interaction between them should be encouraged.We have come a long way and have developed a jurisprudence that is certainly world class. To meet mushrooming modern challenges and to ensure necessary confidence in the justice system it is essential that we act now.B.R. Ambedkar profoundly commented: “For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice, necessity and importance of political and social rights.” Now is the time to strengthen the foundations of the system to meet demands of a changing world and a changing order. The writer is Assistant Professor & Assistant Director, Centre for Penology, Criminal Justice and Police Studies, O.P. Jindal Global Law School.

https://youtu.be/5PUu-P3IxDU

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New Delhi, April 19

Most of the hitches in the multi-billion Euro deal for 36 Rafale fighter planes have been addressed and the remaining ones will be cleared in the next meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said today.

The meeting of DAC, the apex body of the Defence Ministry for procurement, is likely to take place on April 21, a day after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar arrives here from his visit to China.

Hoping that the Rafale deal would be inked soon, Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha said, “It is at a very advanced stage.”

Singh told reporters here, “I can only tell you this that most of the hitches that were there, have been addressed. A few (remaining) issues will be addressed, when possibly the matter comes up before DAC. They shall be addressed in the next DAC. And thereafter I think the road shall be clear.”

He was asked as to when the deal is likely to be signed.

When the same question was put to Air Chief Marshal Raha on the sidelines of an IAF seminar, he said, “We have seen so many years go past. How can I give an assurance? But it is in a very advanced stage.”

The junior defence minister brushed aside a suggestion that at least six indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft Tejas can be bought for the price of one Rafale plane, saying both the aircraft were totally different in nature and that IAF needed both.

India and France could firm up the order for the purchase of 36 Rafale combat planes as both the countries have managed to narrow down their differences over pricing.

The development comes nearly four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande signed a memorandum of agreement to purchase 36 Rafale aircraft.

The Indian side has been negotiating hard to bring down the price with Parrikar refusing to buckle under pressure even as questions were raised about the delay in signing of the contract.

Sources said the price for 36 Rafales, as per the UPA government’s tender, keeping the cost escalation and dollar rate in mind, comes to a little over Rs 65,000 crore.

This includes the cost involved in making changes India has sought in the aircraft, including Israeli helmet-mounted display and some specific weaponry.

“The effort is to bring down the price to less than Euros 8 billion (Rs 59,000 crore),” the sources said.

The final deal may be clinched by May-end. —PTI

1. CDA (P) Circular- 555-DT 4-2-16 Implementation of OROP to def Pers
2. GOI,MOD letter 03-02-16 -OROP for Def Pers with Tables
3. Public Notice for addressing anomalies on One Rank One Pension (OROP) by One Man Judicial Committee
4. सब इस नु क्लिक कर के अपने विचार ईमेल तों भेज सकते हैं आप भी अपना सुझाव जरूर भेजें और अपने साथियों को भी बताएं
5. Request everyone to post email reply to above link:
   you are free to post your representation, suggestions/views on the revised pension as notified under above orders, to the MoD, DESW through post or by email at addresses mentioned below by 29th April 2016
   Email ID: us-pen-pok@desw.gov.in
6. Public Notice for adressing anomolies on OROP
7. Revision of pension of pre-2006 pensioners – delinking of revised pension from qualifying service of 33 years
8. ADVISORY FOR ALL VETERANS
9. HOW TO MAKE A WILL

Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchange pleasantries during a meeting at Chakan da Bagh in Poonch on Tuesday. A Tribune Photo

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 12

India and Pakistan today held a Battalion Commanders level flag meeting at Chakan da Bagh in Poonch district to ensure peace along the de facto border.Pakistan had violated ceasefire on the Line of Control in the Poonch sector on Saturday night.“Pakistan, which had violated the mutually brokered truce deal after a gap of six months in Poonch sector, however, remained in denial mode. On the contrary, Pakistan blamed us for violating the ceasefire agreement,” said an official source.A residential house and a car were damaged in Pakistani shelling in Shahpur village of Poonch.We asked them to maintain peace and calm along the LoC in the larger interest of the border population of both the sides, the source added.“A Battalion Commander level flag meeting was held at Chakan da Bagh at 11 today. The meeting was held to take forward the peace process initiated since the Brigade Commander level flag meeting on September 21, last year,” said SN Acharya, officiating Defence spokesperson.The meeting which lasted for nearly 30 minutes, Colonel ranked officers leading the respective delegations acknowledged each other’s efforts in maintaining peace and tranquility on the LoC in the recent past, Acharya said.“Both sides mutually agreed to the importance of exercising restraint and keeping the communication alive through established mechanisms via hot line messages and flag meetings,” he added.The flag meeting ended on a positive note and both sides reaffirmed their faith in ensuring everlasting peace and tranquility on the LoC by redressing mutual concerns on priority in the future, Acharya said.As per official data, around 405 incidents of cross-border firing took place along the Indo-Pak border in J&K in 2015, killing 16 civilians.Of the 405 incidents, 253 incidents of cross border firing were recorded along the 198-km-long international border while 152 were registered along the LoC.The ceasefire on Indo-Pak border had come into force on November 26, 2003.The fresh ceasefire violation had come three days after Pakistan suspended the dialogue process with India.

Brigadier (retd) RS Rawat addresses mediapersons in Dehradun on Monday. Tribune photo

Dehradun, April 11

Reacting to a statement given by retired senior defence personnel on One Rank One Pension (OROP), Uttarakhand Ex-Services League president Brig RS Rawat (retd) said ex-servicemen had not withdrawn agitation as their five demands were still pending. He said ex-servicemen were united under the United Forum of Ex-servicemen to press their demands. He was addressing mediapersons at a press conference here today.Brig Rawat said widows of ex-servicemen were deprived of hiked pensionary benefits in the state. Lt Col US Thakur (retd), president, Dehradun Ex-Services League, Maj Gen Lalji D Singh (retd) and Brig KG Behl (retd) were present at the conference.—TNS

At the root of this policy of Pakistan, is its military and the ISI, who do not want improved relations with India. Forging good relations with India militates against the rationale for Pakistan to have such a large military. The huge army otherwise is a heavy burden on the country’s economy.

Pakistani children with toy weapons support the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and shout anti-Indian slogans at a protest to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day, in Peshawar. AFP

PAKISTAN has been following a policy of a”thousand cuts,” against India. Though for Pakistan it has been a cheap option, it has created a sort of siege mentality within India. Unfortunately, India’s response to counter this, “cheap option” has been increased deployment on the borders etc. To secure the bases of the Indian Air Force would cost Rs 8,000 crore and those of the Indian Navy Rs 7,000 crore.  A committee under a former Vice-Chief of Army Staff has been constituted to review security arrangements at military establishment. Its recommendations may result in substantial financial outlays.  While these measures will impose heavy financial cost, yet a large number of other civilian targets (including schools) will remain vulnerable to terrorist strikes. Given the extent of involvement and the covert support of the Pakistan State to what they call non-state actors, these cross-border terrorist strikes are not going to end anytime soon. India has not been able to work out a viable and effective response to this, policy of a “thousand cuts,” by Pakistan. Operation Parakaram, where the Indian Army was mobilised, consequent to attack on the Indian Parliament,  ended in a fiasco. This mobilisation cost the country Rs 1,000 crore and lives of 800 soldiers in various accidents. Though after the recent attack at Pathankot, the Indian Defence Minister has talked of causing pain to Pakistan in response to these attacks, he would have no clue as to how to cause this pain! Pakistan itself has been a target of some terrorist attacks, which is a fallout from the policy of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. There is no such thing as good terrorist and a bad terrorist. As Hillary Clinton, pointed out to Pakistan, that “if you rear snakes in your backyard, don’t think that they will bite only your neighbours”.  At the root of this policy of Pakistan, is its military and the ISI, who do not want improved relations with India. Good relations with India militates against any rationale for Pakistan to have such a large military, which otherwise is a heavy burden on the country’s economy. Pakistan’s National Security Adviser played a masterstroke by informing his counterpart in India that a group of 10 terrorists had gone across the Gujarat border to carry out a major strike during  the Maha Shivratri festival. That put the security agencies in a spin and an alert was sounded all across India.  Perhaps no such group actually crossed into India, but Pakistan has decidedly delivered a, “googly.” If this, “group of  10”, did cross over into India then how come we have not been able to track it down thus far? For Pakistan to carry credibility in its changed policy towards export of terrorism to this country, it has to dismantle terrorist training camps and bring to book those involved in terrorist attacks in Mumbai and now at Pathankot.   The Pakistan  prime minister and a large number in civil society may want friendly relations with India, enhance trade and commerce and build cultural ties. On the other end, majority of the population has been completely radicalised and would be averse to closing ranks with India. These elements, along with the military, will continue to negate Pak government’s efforts to improve relations with India.  At the same time, India’s own intelligence-gathering capabilities, guarding of the border, policing of areas close to the border and the link between drug trade and political class and state administration needs looking into.  The investigations into the Pathankot terrorist attack, as also the manner of tackling terrorists group within the air base have been ham handed. The visit of the Pakistan SIT to Pathankot has been another sham by that country. In the best interests of the two countries, it is better to leave the Kashmir issue aside for a decade or so and look at other areas where cooperation and understanding can be reached. It will be of greater advantage for Pakistan to develop trade and commerce relations with India and possibly inter-link the two economies. The China factor, in any breakdown of relations between India and Pakistan, works entirely to that country’s advantage in which Pakistan stands to gain nothing.If Pakistan persists with this policy of, a “thousand cuts,” against India, then Pak must be made to suffer much pain. It is time for India to make it clear to Pakistan that terrorism and treaties cannot go hand in hand.  While India will certainly retaliate to cross-border terrorist attacks, Pakistan and the World Bank need to be put on notice that the Indus Water Treaty and terrorist strikes cannot cohabit.  If Pakistan persists in these attacks, then this Treaty will be severely impacted. Hopefully, better sense will prevail and Pakistan will put an end to this dangerous game of nurturing terrorists. It needs to shed the belief that India will continue to dither in its response.

The writer is a defence analyst.

Patiala: Maj Gen Sanjiv Varma (retd) took over as the principal of Yadavindra Public School here on Wednesday after the retirement of principal Stanley Vinod Kumar (60). Though Kumar had completed his nine-year term on June 30, 2015, he had to continue till the end of the academic year.Chairman of the Board of Governors of the school Malvinder Singh said: “Kumar had expressed his desire to move on the completion of his tenure and we have reluctantly agreed to relieve him. Of all candidates, the board has finally shortlisted Maj Gen Varma”. Kumar said he had served the school for a long duration and it had been one of his best assignments. During his tenure, the school had performed consistently well in board results, delivering 100 per cent pass results in both Class X ICSE and Class XII, ISC examinations. In ISC examination results, school students have figured in the top 1% scoring candidates across the country among council schools and earned scholarships sponsored by the Government of India. The participation of students in co-curricular activities has extensively grown during the years of Stanley Vinod Kumar’s tenure. In the same line, the school hosted its first MUN conference, arguably, the biggest in the region, last year. The IPSC IT Fest has been hosted by the school for the past two years in a row. Another recent achievement has been the selection of YPS, Patiala, for COP21, a global summit on climate change in Paris in November-December, last year.  — TNS