NOIDA: A police station without powers

A police station without powers

By Akash Vashishtha in Noida

Noida’s all- women station doesn’t even have aphone THE MAYAWATI government might have set up all- women police stations across the state as part of its agenda to provide women with basic safety. But in reality, these ostentatious stations serve no purpose. With barely any resource or power, they are a mere tool for the government to make tall claims on addressing women’s safety. Noida’s Sector- 39 all- women police station is a classic example of this. Set up three months ago on UP chief minister Mayawati’s directions, the station exists at a little- known location and is being operated from just a single room. The remaining rooms are being used as an election office by the district administration staff. According to sources, the police station merely has 15 policewomen — many of whom are assigned duties in other police posts — and a clerk, who is not experienced enough to note down complaints. Moreover, the policewomen housed at the station can only register cases on dowry harassment or domestic physical abuse, said a woman officer requesting anonymity. “ We are authorised to register cases under Sections ¾ 498A, 294 and 354 of the IPC,” she said. If victims of rape, assault or snatchings approach the Sector- 39 station, they will be turned away without any assistance. Sharmila Singh, a victim of sexual harassment at her workplace, a security agency in Noida, had to return dejected on the grounds of “ unauthorisation” of the women police officers on duty. In the past three months, since being set up, the station has received only six to seven cases in a district ridden with crime against women. “ There are negligible or no complaints at all in a month. Most of the cases come to us through other police stations for our reference and action. We do not file or attend to any original case. In the last three months, we haven’t received any direct complaint,” she added. This is just the tip of the iceberg. This police station is also bereft of arms or ammunition — even lathis . The lady officers cannot even defend themselves, leave alone attending a distress call. In fact, it is practically impossible for anyone to place a distress call or for the police officers to attend one in the absence of a telephone connection as well as a police vehicle. “ We don’t even have a landline phone. How can any woman in distress call for us or complain? We have been persistently demanding a phone, a vehicle and some arms but there has been no response to the requests. We have also been asking for an experienced clerk. When we can’t even defend ourselves, how can one expect us to help other women?” she said. “ We use our mobile phones at our personal cost. Nobody can call us for assistance. This police station is of no help to any woman. Nobody comes here to file any complaint,” said another officer. In absence of a police vehicle, most officers commute on personal vehicles to attend to any complaint that they are directed to. Moreover, they have not been allotted staff quarters and have also been restricted to reside within Noida. “ If we have to go on an urgent complaint on field, we commute on our scooters. We have also been asked by our senior officers to stay in Noida. We are staying in rented accommodations. We haven’t even been given staff quarters,” the officer said. To add to insult to injury, in this station that is no good to women or the lady police officers stationed there, one cannot even find water to drink.

Indian Students in Mebourne face racist attacks

Australian police to Indian students:

Don’t speak loudly in public

19 Feb 2009, 2029 hrs IST, IANS

MELBOURNE: In an effort to counter attacks on international students, mostly of Indian origin, police in this Australian city are asking the

young expatriates to moderate their social behaviour and not to speak loudly in their native language.

The law-enforcing authorities in Melbourne have been perturbed by a rise in violent attacks, dubbed as “curry bashing”, on students from the Indian subcontinent.

According to an estimate, around 35,000 Indian students are studying in various institutes in this second largest city of Australia.

The Indian students would be “taught”, according to a front page article in The Age newspaper Thursday, to moderate their social behaviour and not to speak loudly in native Indian languages while in public.

Indian students would also be advised against making an obvious display of wealth and not to carry laptops and iPods in late night trains.

Melbourne, which is considered one of the safest destinations in the world, has seen the crime rate go up in western suburbs by as much as 27 percent last financial year. Indian students have been at the receiving end in a number of these violent robberies.

Now the Melbourne Police is making a special effort to counter what is believed to be racially-motivated attacks.

“They need to make sure they walk through a well-lit route, even if it might be longer, and they are not openly displaying signs of wealth with iPods and phones, and not talking loudly in their native language,” Inspector Scott Mahony of Melbourne Police has been quoted by The Age as saying Thursday.

Some organizations have already expressed their views about the current drive. The Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA) is one such grouping.

“It’s not being told to other communities or other students, ‘Don’t speak loudly in your native tongue, don’t carry laptops’,” the FISA head Raman Vaid has said.

It is believed the Australian authorities are seriously worried about the negative message such attacks can convey to students who plan to come to Australia in the future.

“Melbourne is one of the most peaceful cities and such attacks are an aberration. I am sure police would be able to control such negative incidents and restore Indian students’ confidence pretty soon,” Indian education consultant Pankaj Sharma said.

NRI: St Louis :Four Indian students killed in accident

A sad day:

Four Indians die after US cop’s car on wrong side hits their vehicle.

Anita Lakshmi, 23,

Anusha Anumolu, 23,

Priya Muppvarapu, 22 —

Satya Chinta, 25,

Nitesh Adusumilli, 27, (critically injured)

One Indian and US cop critically injured.

Cop Christine L. Miller, a patrol officer. (critically injured)

FOUR INDIAN students killed in a road accident in the US were hit by a car driven by an off- duty woman police officer going the wrong way, according to media reports citing investigators.

The four students were killed last Saturday in Des Peres St. Louis, Missouri, when a car they were travelling in was broadsided by Christine L. Miller, a patrol officer. The officer was speeding and possibly drunk, investigators said. Nitesh Adusumilli, 27, who was driving the victims’ car and Miller were both listed in critical condition on Sunday at St. John’s Mercy Medical Centre in Creve Coeur. Miller, the highway patrol said, was “ clinging on to life”.

Miller was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of Dougherty Ferry Road when her Mitsubishi Eclipse struck the passenger side of Adusumilli’s Honda, the police said. Adusumilli’s fiancée, Anita Lakshmi, 23, was dead along with Anusha Anumolu, 23, and Priya Muppvarapu, 22 — Lakshmi’s roommates — and Satya Chinta, 25, Lakshmi’s cousin.

Adusumilli works at AMDOCS, a software firm in Chesterfield. His mother is a yoga instructor in India; his dad, a real estate agent. The rest were studying IT at Eastern Illinois University. IANS

Survivor of crash shielded from news

By Todd C. Frankel

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

03/23/2009

DES PERES — They were returning home after a night out of dinner and bowling — five Indian twenty-somethings having fun in All-American fashion.

Their lives bridged two worlds, the traditional and modern. They pursued jobs and education in the United States. But their families mostly remained back in India. One couple out that night planned to marry in May — a traditional marriage arranged by their families thousands of miles away.

They were headed home to Nitesh Adusumilli’s place in Ballwin. But as they turned onto Dougherty Ferry Road early Saturday morning, their car was struck by an off-duty police officer driving the wrong way, police said.

Four in Adusumilli’s car died. Adusumilli, 27, was listed in serious condition Sunday at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur. He was aware, recognizing faces, but visitors were warned not to disclose details of the auto accident, said Suren Pathuri, president of the Telugu Association of St. Louis, a group for speakers of the Indian dialect.

Off-duty Sunset Hills cop who killed 4 may

face manslaughter charges

By Carolyn Tuft

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

03/23/2009

DES PERES — Police are considering manslaughter charges against an off-duty Sunset Hills police officer who struck a car, killing four college students.

“Obviously, it’s manslaughter that we are looking at,” said Sgt. Al Nothum of the Missouri Highway Patrol. “We have strong suspicions that she had been drinking prior to the crash.”

While toxicology tests are probably complete at the hospital, Missouri Highway Patrol accident reconstruction officers may not get the results for some time, Nothum said. The troopers’ investigation will take at least three weeks.

Then, the case will be referred to the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office. It will be up to St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch’s office as to what charges, if any, will be filed.

The officer, Christine L. Miller, 41, of Kirkwood, is a 12-year veteran of the Sunset Hills police department. She is still in critical condition, Nothum said.

Miller has one son — Brian C. Miller, 22 — who currently faces manslaughter charges. Prosecutors in Laclede County, Mo., allege that Brian C. Miller was intoxicated when he crashed his car last year into a tree in the southwest Missouri county and killed a passenger.

Brian Miller is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter. The charge alleges that he was intoxicated when he crashed his 1997 Acura at 6:20 p.m. on July 27. His passenger, Salvatore R. Carrabino, 23, died.

A second passenger, Aaron M. Stanton of Lee’s Summit, was seriously injured in the crash in Laclede County. Brian C. Miller is also charged with second-degree assault in connection with Stanton’s injuries. Prosecutors allege in that case that Miller was driving while intoxicated, court records show.

In the Laclede County accident, police say that Miller was driving along State KK in Lebanon when Miller lost control of his car. The car left the right side of the road and struck a tree. Brian Miller was also seriously injured.

At 1:45 a.m. on Saturday, Christine L. Miller was driving her Mitsubishi Eclipse the wrong way when it crashed head on into the vehicle carrying five people, including the four who were killed.

The victims in the crash included three graduate students studying technology at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill. They were Anusha Anumolu, 23; Prya Muppvarapu, 22; and Anitha Lakshmi Veerapaneni, 23. They were roommates who also previously attended Oklahoma City University.

Our earlier story: Survivor of crash shielded from news

The trio were in the St. Louis area with the third person killed in the crash — Satya Chinta, 25, of Aurora, Ill., who was Veerapaneni’s cousin.

Nitesh Adusumilli, 27, of Ballwin, was driving the vehicle carrying the women who were killed. Adusumilli is listed in serious condition today at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur.

CHETNA: Fight against High Decibel Night Flights

Ill conceived proposed closure of runway 28

merits detailed investigation

Working against great odds CHETNA has managed to wrest assurances from DGCA that there will be no flights on the new third runway during night hours.

The noise pollution had become intolerable to residents in Vasant Kunj in Delhi after the new runway had been commissioned.

What was surprising was the fact that the Airport authorities and the Ministry of Civil Aviation had not only not done their home work on the decibel levels of flights coming in to land but refused to even listen to any representation from CHETNA on the high decibel levels and the damage to the residents of Vasant Kunj.

The team of Mr. Sharma and Anil Sood had managed to gather enough support from scientific studies and research on deleterious effects of high decibels on civilian population to compel the attention of Govt of Delhi to support their cause.

So much so the Airport authorities had decided to close down the offending runway for night operations.

However it appears the war has not yet been won.

Actions have been initiated by the government to create a situation wherein the flights will be continued.

Ground work is being laid to hoodwink the citizens of Vasant Kunj. The first step has been to trot out a new situation that a runway currently in use will need repairs and hence will need to be closed down.

Please read the self explanatory  letter by CHETNA on this subject.

Re: Proposed Closure of Runway -28 – IGI New Delhi‏

Society for Protection of Culture Heritage Environment Traditions and Promotion of National Awareness (Regd) CHETNA (chetna.regd@gmail.com) Sent: 18 March 2009 17:03PM

Dear Mr. Sahi,

The IGI has achieved dubious distinction of the only Airport amongst the developing and Developed Countries to have 3 runways with least operational efficiency as would be demonstrated from the following table:-

SUMMARY			IGI Delhi India	London Gatwick	Sydney Australia	London Heathrow
TOTAL Flights per day			590	670	794	1362
No. of runways			3	1	3	2
Night Flights Arrivals per day			45	16	0	27
Night Flights Departures per day			34	2	0	0
TOTAL Night Flights			79	18	0	27
Peak Flight Arrivals per hour			21	29	25	50
Passengers in million/year			23	32	32	62

Note: Night restrictions from 11PM-6AM

Further, it has to its credit the most inefficient management and highest noise polluter with scant respect to the laws of the country as the clearances have been obtained by DIAL by  submitted false DATA with MOEF and MOEF blissfully ignores the information available in Public Domain not about domestic airports but also related to International airports and waives mandatory EIA.

Now with the proposed closure of runway no. 28 for eight months perhaps it would be the first ever airport in the entire World that chooses to close one runway for 8 months in utter disregard to all the laws of the land, standard engineering practices.

We are yet to hear that GATWICK Airport was closed for even one week for re carpeting or Heathrow Airport runways were closed for months together for re carpeting.

It appears that DIAL/GMR has ignored the basic fact that the technology is available and is being used world over for re carpeting the runway in patches that can carpet about 20 sq. mtrs of runway in one hour without even disturbing the operations of the airport.

Therefore, the ill conceived proposal closure of runway 28 merits detailed investigation and also the conduct of the functionaries of DIAL/GMR who have draft such an ill conceived plan which if implemented would lead to multiple issues and we may have to seek judicial intervention at the risks and costs of all the functionaries and Officers who were and are responssible for creating such a surplus capacity at the cost of State Exchequer as well as human health.

We would also like to depute our representatives to participate in the meeting that is being organised by you to discuss the issue to place on record our views.

Regards

Anil Sood

Traffic Police Success on Holi: Delhi and Mumbai

Traffic Police in Delhi and Mumbai deserve to be congratulated for ensuring the safest Holi so far in many years.

Ed

RECORD DRUNK DRIVING BUSTS ON HOLI

Cops Make Most Daytime Bookings Ever.

Traffic Police in Delhi and Mumbai deserve to be congratulated for ensuring the safest Holi so far in many years.

Sustained campaigning over weeks preceding Holi bore fruit, no deaths due to drunken driving in Mumbai and only five in Delhi, down from thirteen last year.

MUMBAI

Zero Fatalities

The traffic police came down heavily on all those who mixed drinking and driving on Wednesday, booking a total of 333 motorists. It was the largest number of drunken driving busts ever made during the daytime and also during any Holi celebration. A majority of those charged were in the age group of 20 to 30 years and were bikers.

Two serious accidents and 16 other minor accidents were reported on Wednesday, but there were zero fatalities, perhaps due to the traffic police cracking the whip on drunken driving. In 2006, there were eight fatalities reported on Holi and in 2007 there were two fatalities, according to statistics revealed by the traffic police. In 2008, there were at least two fatalities during Holi weekend

The police campaign began early on Rang Panchami, at around 10 am on Wednesday. Armed with breathalysers, traffic cops stood at major intersections, taking motorists by surprise. The anti-drunken driving campaign reached its peak between 2 to 4 pm and ended at around 6 pm

NEW DELHI

This was perhaps the safest holi for the capital as the number of fatal accidents usually stands in double figures. As part of their drive, the cops also prosecuted nearly 10,000 persons for different offences.

Last year, 13 fatal accidents were reported in Delhi on the festival, while the figure stood at 17 in 2007. The cops feel the heavy police presence helped in bringing about some semblance on city roads. During the day-long drive, a total 9,544 drivers were prosecuted.

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Speeding or driving dangerously Violates | Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988

First offence | Jail for up to 6 months or fine of up to Rs 1,000

Repeat offence | If committed within 3 months of previous offence, jail for up to 6 months or fine of up to Rs 2,000, or both

Driving drunk or on drugs
Driving (or attempting to drive) a motor vehicle with more than 30 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood; or being under the influence of a drug to such an extent that one is incapable of exercising proper control over the vehicle

Violates | Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 First offence | Jail of up to 6 months or a fine of up to Rs 2,000, or both

Repeat offence | If committed within 3 years of earlier offence, jail for up to 2 years or a fine of up to Rs 3,000, or both

Abetting dangerous or drunk driving
Under Section 107 of the Indian Penal Code, a person abets when they Instigate any person

Engage with one or more persons in a conspiracy that leads to an illegal act or omission
Intentionally aid someone through an illegal act or omission Violates | Section 188 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 Punishment | If dangerous driving is abetted the punishment of Section 184 is applicable, if drunken driving is abetted the punishment of Section 185 applies

Extracts from TOI/ TNN Delhi and Mumbai

Nitasha Natu | TNN

Delhi Traffic Police: Should get priorities straight say Harssed Residents of Roshnara Road

Mr Shashikant Arora takes keen interest in all municipal matters in North Delhi area of which he is a resident. He is a walking – talking encyclopedia on problems of North Delhi.

About Roshnara Road from Pul Bangash towards Roshanara Club He says:

The realignment work on the Central Divider line in Roshanara Road has been pending for years, in spite of  an order from the HC of Delhi.

There are two wine shops in the vicinity of Metro station. Here the 4 carriage way gets reduced to a single carriage way thanks to customers of wine shops parking on the road, that also haphazardly.

Speed breakers were put up after the HC order. However there is no traffic light in the vicinity of China Building and Aryapura. It is an area with very high foot falls, especially with school going children and elders.

Four Bus shelters were to come up. They have not. Bus passengers are exposed to heat in summer and rains during monsoon. Passengers, children and women  stand on the road and rush in to the buses. It is scary even to look at the way the buses come and halt among the crowd.

The area adjacent sees a large volume of traffic of HMVs and MMVs. Loading and unloading goes on throughout the night.

Till a few months back there was a clear marking line on both sides of road to demarcate where vehicles could be parked. The marking has got obliterated over time. Heavy Motor Vehicles and Medium Motor Vehicles are parked throughout the day on this and adjacent roads.

Local residents also park their small cars and scooters literally between tree guards.

You would expect that the Delhi Traffic Police would try their best to smoothen the traffic flow in that area and protect the residents and the public by installing traffic light / blinking lights near China Building.

You would expect police personnel to stand near the wine shops and ensure the road is not blocked by uneven improper parking, so that the main traffic can pass through easily.

You would expect traffic police men to help out pedestrians and children who need to cross the road.

Unfortunately what we have been witnessing is a shameful act on the part of Delhi Traffic police who have been harassing local residents by towing away their scooters parked along the road. (No action has been taken to even touch the HMVs and MMVs).

There was a great deal of chaos created by the traffic police on 17^th March. Residents came out in large numbers and protested at the high handed behaviour of DTP. The situation would have turned worse but for some cool headed citizens.

Mr Shashikant asks why cannot the Delhi Traffic Police take proactive measures to ease the traffic in that area? Why don’t the policemen regulate traffic near the wine shops, paint parking lines on the road, put up traffic lights?

Why are local residents being harassed and their scooters and cars towed away?

Mr SN Shrivastava the DCP should intervene immediately.

Will the DCP do something positive to ease the problem of the local residents?

Politicians:Election, religion, caste, & Astrologers

Elections are here.

Can Caste, religion or Astrologers be far away?

Of politicians, superstitions and elections

Ambarish Mishra | TNN

Mumbai: With the polls drawing closer, few parties are willing to tempt the fates, and are adhering to age-old beliefs to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

By all accounts, the Shiv Sena-BJP combine is seeking an auspicious muhurtham (moment) to sign off on its seat-sharing pact.

Poll talks between the two parties were suspended for two days on account of Holi, said a senior sate BJP functionary.

“People believe that the festival has ominous connotations. Good decisions are neither taken nor announced during Holi,’’ said the BJP functionary, adding that the Sena’s request that talks be resumed after Holi was accepted by his party.

The festival is popularly linked with tomfoolery and merry-making, and in many towns across the state, mahamurkha sammelans (big fool gatherings) were held on Wednesday to raise a toast to Mr Stupid.

At one function in Dhule, a donkey was the guest of honour.

“How can we meet and talk about elections?’’ asked a Sena leader, looking a tad worried. Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe denied that the Holi hurricane that has hit the brotherhood.

It remains to be seen if the Sena-BJP is ready to wrap up its talks and make a formal announcement on Friday the 13th. But the date has not drummed up any fear . “We are not worried about the date. Friday the 13th is a Western concept; it will not harm us,’’ said the BJP functionary. A Sena leader added,

“Tomorrow is a Sankashti and Lord Ganesha will turn Friday the 13th into an auspicious muhurtham.’’

Astrologers and godmen will soon arrive with their paraphernalia to soothe the nerves of candidates. Bhayyu Maharaj, the guru from Indore, has a sizeable following among political leaders, with former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh allegedly topping the list while Mumbai Regional Congress chief Kripa Shankar Singh is known to be a devotee of Asaram Bapu.

And while Sena chief Bal Thackeray is known for having kept godmen and gurus at bay, Uddhav Thackeray’s team has firm faith in yagnas, said sources. Uddhav is believed to have a soft spot for Namramuni Maharaj, a popular Jain sadhu who has a vast followingCaste divisions add to security woes

Caste Lines

M N Samdani | TNN

Vijayawada: With the battle lines for the Election-2009 being drawn on caste lines, the police in the state are redesigning the entire security map.

Against the largely accepted security manuals of previous elections where not more than 10-20 per cent of the total polling stations were considered sensitive, the new graphs are throwing an entirely new picture.

According to the new charts, the hyper-sensitive and sensitive villages could touch a record 60-70 per cent of the total polling areas in the state.

This is, thanks to the expected division of electorate based on the caste lines. Police believe that the entry of Prajarajyam Party coupled with consolidation of Kamma and Reddy voters behind TDP and Congress respectively has changed the situation.

Earlier, the hyper-sensitive and sensitive areas were identified purely based on the faction and extremist violence reported in a particular village. According to sources, the police have re-jigged priorities in identifying the sensitive areas, taking the local caste factors into account.

The field officers have been asked to map each village and hamlet with the head count of electorate and their castes. “We are expecting that the elections could throw up keen fights, particularly with regard to the caste struggles in the villages,” a police official attached with graphing of the new charts told TOI.

According to him, faction and extremist-related violence have occupied fourth and fifth slots on the five-point agenda to prepare the security map.

Though not many incidents of riots or clashes between various caste groups were recorded in the past, the police are fearing caste reprisals in this elections. Previously, most of the clashes in the villages used to be branded as “political” in spite of the role of some caste groups.

“This time the division on caste lines is deep-rooted and highly sensitive to gauge,” confirmed an intelligence official. He observed that routine security bandobust near the polling stations and route parties might not be sufficient.

Sources told TOI that police are overhauling the security arrangements. More mobile parties are likely to be pressed into service around the villages to keep a close watch on the troublemakers. “We have told our cops to forget about the previous history of the candidates and elections.

They have to be in tune with the latest intelligence inputs from every village. We are making pucca arrangements to ensure a fair polling,” explained a DIG-level officer. Sources indicated that most of the 13,000 villages in the state will be given the ‘sensitive’ tag till the completion of the elections.

Muslim Ulema meet to discuss polls

Mohammed Wajihuddin & Somit Sen | TNN 

Mumbai: Muslim intellectuals and ulema who met at the Islam Gymkhana on Thursday demanded an alliance of secular parties so as to prevent the division of secular votes.

Low representation of Muslims in the Lok Sabha has become a serious issue after the lone Muslim MP from the state, A R Antulay from Raigad, announced that he will not seek re-election. Muslims constitute 20% of the electorate in Mumbai; their share of votes in the state is 10%.

“We need to have one Muslim candidate from Mumbai who will voice our issues in Parliament,’’ said Maulana Syed Ather Ali, president, All India Ulema Association, the organisation that convened Thursday’s meeting.

He stated that the discontent over seat-sharing between the Congress and NCP, and the subsequent reports of an NCP-Sena alliance has caused confusion.

“We want secular parties to stick together so that our community can back them in the polls. We are also launching a 15-day campaign to ensure that more Muslims come out to vote,’’ he said.

A Seed: What You Sow ……

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

* If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest

So, be careful what you plant NOW;

It will determine what you will reap later..

“Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back”

·

Madras High Court: Srikrishna report: Another version

The unsavoury incidents in the HC premises of Madras have not enhanced the reputation of Lawyers or judicial officers.

The coverage in various national newspapers and magazines have not been soft on the lawyers either.

The police anyhow did not have any great reputation to live up to.

May be, the public expects far better standards from the judiciary and lawyers than from the police.

Another  version of the incidents and an opinion on the report is placed below.This has been received by email.

PP Raghavachary
raag62@gmail.com

Srikrishna Commission’s Report is absolutely biased. Please read my comments below:

Srikrishna Committee Report on Madras High Court Mayhem

Lawyers being Court Officers form part of the justice administration system. The lawyers and judges are one family, they need to see each-other’s face in the day-to-day business of the Courts. The report of one-man Committee of Justice B.N. Srikrishna seems to have rubbed the lawyers on the wrong side. This is not only for the indictment and genaralising lawyers as hooligans and miscreants but because the report of the Committee is vitiated due to bias and onesided approach. Major part of the comments made in the report is outside the scope of the specific directions of the Supreme Court in its Order dated 26.02.2009:

1) The Supreme Court in its order has stated that “the terms of reference to the Committee shall be finally decided at the earliest by the Acting Chief justice of the Madras High Court. The Committee is silent on what terms of reference was given.

2) The Supreme Court has specifically mentioned in its Order that the Committee should report on whether any immediate action against the police officers who are allegedly allowed armed policemen to enter the premises of the High Court without permission of Acting Chief Justice. The Committee has failed to answer this point in the report.

3) While the Supreme Court directed that the Committee be given the assistance of two senior police officers attached to CBI Unit (Southern Zone) of the Madras. The report of the Committee is silent as to who are those senior police officers that assisted the Committee.

4) The report extensively deals with the incidents those have taken place commencing from November, 2008 in about eight pages of the report while the Order of the Supreme Court is specific that the Committee should inquire into the incident which happened on 19.02.2009.

5) Justice Srikrishna in his report says he had interviews, received number of written representations, affidavits, several CDs containing videos, still photographs of the incident and also recorded versions of a number of persons including concerned Hon’ble Judges of the Madras High Court. However, not a single instance of who and what such persons have stated during the course of interviews or who are the Judges those have given interviews and what they had stated was mentioned in the report.

6) The specific comments made on the Acting Chief Justice that he appears to have merely advised the lawyers to disperse peacefully, the soft-pedaling policy followed by the Madras High Court Judges has led to the present piquant situation are all uncharitable, unwarranted and outside the scope of the order of the Supreme Court. In such unpleasant and unexpected turn of events, it is but natural that no judge could have acted in a better way than the dignified way it was handled by the Madras High Court Judges, especially by the Acting Chief Justice.

7) The report says that “once the policemen were given the order to lathi charge the unruly mob of lawyers to quell them it would appear that the police interpreted it as a license to unleash mayhem at will”. This is purely a surmise of the Committee. The Committee should confine itself to what it has seen, heard or happened. Strangely, the Committee does not mention who has given the order to lathi charge.

The report is emphatic on the rampage of the police who came in armed with lathis, wore helmets and shields. The police have barged into the Court rooms of the Judges of the Small Causes Court and Family Court within the High Court complex and indulged in deliberate destruction of the tables, chairs, fans, computers, Xerox machine, and other articles. Further they went to the lawyers’ chambers not only in the High Court premises but in Linghi Chetty Street, Thambu Chetty street, Armenian street, Sunkurama Chetty Street, Kondichetty Street and Baker Street in the vicinity of the High Court, systematically barged into their chambers, caused damage and beaten up some of the lawyers. It is reported that even the lady lawyers or children’s creche were not spared. When this is so, the report does not specifically name the Police Officers at whose command the police have resorted to riots and unruly violence. Surprisingly when so much violence was reportedly resorted to by the Police in the report, the Committee gives a clean-chit to the Police commissioner “As far as the Commissioner of Police is concerned, I do not think that any blame can be laid at his door”. It is sad to note that the Committee which does not spare the lawyers or even the judges of the Madras High Court had shown such a soft-corner to the Police Commissioners who alone should be blamed for the police excesses on 19.02.2009.
9) Justice Srikrishna in his report says that the Bar Councils have not been acting as an effective regulatory body of their professional conduct and suggests that it would be ideal that the Supreme Court should take this opportunity to exercise its extra-ordinary Constitutional powers and lay down sufficient guidelines for the behavior of the lawyers within and without the Court premises and further that Advocates Act needs to be amended. If this is so, it is not understood why Justice Srikrishna does not make similar suggestions to discipline the Police who have reportedly caused the havoc in the entire episode on 19.02.2009.

Even there are many contradictory incidents that the Police Commissioner was present in the High Court premises prior to 4.30 p.m. on 19.02.2009 according to an FIR, whereas the report is categorical that the Commissioner is present only after 17.14 hrs.

It is not clear as to how Justice Srikrishna could withdraw from the Committee by merely submitting an interim report. Who will submit the final report?

These comments on the report demonstrate how the Committee went wrong on various issues and how the report is biased and one-sided. This type of reports will only rub the lawyers on the wrong side and aggravate the situation unnecessarily.

NHAI: Suit filed against NHAI. and construction co

(Info placed in public domain in public interest.
Hope HT will not object)

93 Deaths so far. Who’s responsible ?

 Hindustan Times Exclusive - 

Who’s responsible for his death?

Parents of boy who died on expressway to sue NHAI,

construction company

Sanjeev K Ahuja

Gurgaon

FOR THE first time since the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway was thrown open for use in January last year, relatives of one of the accident victims have decided to drag the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), concessionaire company DSC Ltd and the Haryana government to the court of law.

Since January 2008, 93 people have died on the Expressway in various accidents and about 50 per cent of the deceased were pedestrians.

Parents of 19-year old management student Rahul Anand said their son died trying to save a pedestrian crossing the stretch at IFFCO Chowk on March 7 for want of footover-bridge. He rammed his SX4 car into a stationary water tanker. The car’s front portion was damaged beyond recognition and Rahul succumbed to his injuries at a hospital later.

Workers of the concessionaire company had parked the water tanker right next to the median on the top lane with no sense of safety of the motorists, said an apparently angry K.S.

Anand, the father of the deceased, with tears in his eyes.

Rahul Anand, the first year student of Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Gurgaon and resident of East Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, was on his way to college to attend the annual convocation when the accident took place.

“The expressway is a killer highway that has taken the lives of many people and this time it was the turn of my son.

So many deaths on this stretch are only because of the reck lessness of the NHAI, DSC and the state government and I have decided to sue all of them,” said Anand who owns a clearing & forwarding (cargo) firm in Mahipalpur and uses the expressway almost on a daily basis himself.

The aggrieved father said his son was driving sensibly when he all of a sudden he saw a pedestrian in front of his car while driving down from IFFCO Chowk flyover.

He said, “My son immediately turned the car to the right to avoid hitting the pedestrian and rammed his car into the water tanker. I do not under stand as to why the tanker was parked on the top lane of the expressway where vehicles run at high speed?

I wonder as to why NHAI and DSC did not construct foot-over bridges for pedestrians?”

skahuja13@gmail.com MAJOR DEATHS ON EXPRESSWAY

February 23: Two pedestrians mowed down by speeding vehicles. Four motorcyclists were also injured at various places on the expressway.

February 8: An executive of an MNC killed when a mini truck rammed into the rickshaw he had taken.

January 19: Woman pedestrian mowed down beyond recognition by a number of vehicles on the expressway.

Key Data

Total Cost

Rs7.5bn

Construction Management

Jaypee DSC Ventures Ltd

Contractors

Jaiprakash Industries Ltd (JIL), DS Construction Ltd (DSCL), Jaypee DSC Ventures Ltd, M/s Rites Ltd, Sheladia LR Kadiyali

Number of Flyovers

11

Length of Road

28km with the possibility of an extra 3km

The 28km Delhi to Gurgaon expressway is one of the most important road construction projects currently underway in India. The road is being constructed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

The project comprises the widening and conversion of the Delhi to Gurgaon section of the National Highway (NH)-8 into a six- to eight-lane access-controlled highway on a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) basis.

150,000 passenger car units a day and this is likely to increase by over 7% per annum.

FLYOVERS AND INTERSECTIONS

The expressway involved the design and construction of the following flyovers, which included precast, segmental superstructures, Pre-Stressed Concrete (PSC) voided slab superstructures and cast-in-situ PSC continuous superstructures:

• Rao Tula Ram junction -three lanes
• Palam junction – three lanes
• Mahipalpur junction – eight lanes
• Radison / IGI junction – four lanes
• Rajokri junction – eight lanes, opened in 2006
• Shankar Chowk / HUDA Chowk – eight lanes
• IFFCO Chowk – eight lanes, 90% completed; will open February 2007
• Small flyover near IFFCO Chowk – eight lanes
• South City junction – eight lanes, 90% complete; will open February 2007
• Jharsa junction – eight lanes, 90% complete; will open February 2007
• Rajiv Chowk – eight lanes, opened 2006