Friday, December 25, 2009

Chautala refutes charges of shielding Rathore in Ruchika case


Refuting the charge that he had shielded former DGP S P S Rathore in the Ruchika molestation case, former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala said on Friday that while he had taken action against the officer, he was promoted by other governments."We took strong action against him. During my government (in 1990), we instituted a departmental inquiry against him. In my tenure later, we suspended him from the post of DGP as he was facing charge sheet in the case. He (Rathore) was promoted to the post of ADGP and DGP during the governments of Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal. They should be blamed for the promotion," he told reporters in New Delhi.S C Girhotra, Ruchika's father, accused Chautala of shielding Rathore in the case on Thursday.Rathore, who molested 14-year-old budding tennis player in 1990, was sentenced to six-month imprisonment, 19 years after the incident. Chautala said he, as chief minister, did not recommend Rathore for President's medal and that his name was forwarded for the award as part of a routine bureaucratic process.

I did not recommended him for the medal. That was done as part of a routine work by officers. The issue (recommendation) did not come to my notice," he said.

Chautala said his government had taken strong action by initiating departmental inquiry against Rathore.

Ruchika was molested by Rathore, the then IG of Police. She committed suicide three years later by consuming poison. Girhotra has demanded that the former DGP should be punished for abetment to suicide instead of being let off with a lighter six month sentence.Chautala said the case dates back to August 12, 1990 when an FIR was lodged. "I was not satisfied with the FIR only. We started departmental inquiry which suggested that charge sheet should be filed in the case. Later the charge sheet was filed," he said.

"I am surprised how I am being blamed in this case. He (Rathore) was not promoted during my tenure," Chautala said.

He alleged that there were efforts to dismiss the case during the government headed by Bhajan Lal.

Ruchika's father had alleged on Thursday that she committed suicide in 1993 after facing constant harassment from Rathore.Chautala declined to comment on the demand made by Ruchika's father for framing charges of abetment to suicide against Rathore saying he was not a law student."I am not a student of law. I respect the court's decision. It is not the question whether I am satisfied or not," he said.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Advani likely to quit next week, Rajnath on Dec 19


A generational change in the BJP hierarchy may be on the anvil with Leader of Opposition L K Advani likely to quit his post next week and party President Rajnath Singh stepping down on Saturday.

Sources said Advani is likely to announce his decision to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Parliamentary Party meeting to be held on the morning of December 21, the last day of the current Parliament session.However, BJP's Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who declined to talk about Advani's moves, said the Parliamentary party meeting on December 21 will not take place in case the winter session of Parliament adjourns sine die tomorrow itself.BJP President Rajnath Singh is slated to tender his resignation on December 19, paving the way for Maharashtra party unit Chief Nitin Gadkari to take over, party sources said here today.

"BJP Parliamentary Board meeting will be held at 3 pm on December 19 followed by a meeting of office-bearers of the party," BJP headquarters In-charge Shyam Jaju said. Sources said Rajnath Singh will submit his resignation to the Parliamentary Board in this meeting.Gadkari has been called to Delhi for the meeting and will be anointed party unit Chief. The decision will be ratified by the BJP National Council. In the wake of these developments, a number of posts would be up for grabs in the party. The elevation of Swaraj as Leader of Opposition is almost a certainty, sources said.The race for the post of Deputy Leader of BJP in the Lower House is now between Ananth Kumar, Gopinath Munde and Shahnawaz Hussain. Munde and Yashwant Sinha are also eyeing the post of Public Accounts Committee Chairman which has fallen vacant after Jaswant Singh's resignation.

Monday, December 14, 2009

76 Rajya Sabha MPs seek impeachment of Dinakaran


In further trouble for beleaguered Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, a petition seeking impeachment proceedings against him was moved by as many as 76 Rajya Sabha members on Monday.
The MPs belonging to BJP, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Akali Dal and AIADMK submitted the petition to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari seeking the impeachment of Justice Dinakaran, who is facing allegations of land grabbing.
Senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters that the MPs moved the petition in exercise of their Constitutional right as there was a "strong case" with the government returning the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium for Justice Dinakaran's elevation to the apex court.
Leader of Opposition in the Upper House, Arun Jaitley said that Justice Dinakaran should not continue. If the motion is admitted, a three-member committee comprising a Supreme Court judge, a high court chief justice and a jurist would be set up to go into the issue, he said.
Asked whether Congress members had also signed the petition, he said if the Congress members wanted to join, they are welcome.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh asked how could a chief justice of a high court function if he is not eligible to become a Supreme Court judge. Justice Dinakaran's elevation to the Supreme Court has been put on hold following allegations of land grabbing.
Top jurists like F S Nariman have objected to his elevation accusing him of judicial impropriety.
Asked about the stand of the government on the impeachment petition of Justice Dinakaran, Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said, "I have not seen the petition."
Refusing to take any stand, Moily said, "We do not discuss matters pertaining to the appointments in the higher judiciary".

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Maya writes to PM for creation of separate 'Poorvanchal'


After demanding creation of separate Bundelkhand and Paschimanchal states, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday shot off a second letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking carving out of 'Poorvanchal' comprising eastern parts of the state."The CM has written a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him to give Centre's permission for creation of separate Poorvanchal state and expediting the constitutional procedure in that regard," Additional Cabinet Secretary Vijay Shanker Pandey told reporters here. Favouring carving out of smaller states, Mayawati had on Friday written to Singh seeking the Centre's consent for the creation of separate states of Bundelkhand and western Uttar Pradesh on the lines of demand for a Telangana state.The state government had earlier through a letter sent in March last year had apprised the Centre of its clear opinion on carving out a separate Poorvanchal state, Pandey said.

"The government had also expressed its clear opinion on this issue in the state assembly on October 31, 2007. Once the permission is received, the state government will get a resolution for Poorvanchal state passed in the assembly and forward it to the Centre," he said.

Pandey said that the Chief Minister in her letter has said that creation of Poorvanchal was necessary for better administrative management and keeping in mind the expectations and aspirations of the local populace."The Chief Minister has repeatedly stated that she was in favour of smaller states and supports creation of a separate Poorvanchal state," he said.

The Additional Cabinet Secretary said Mayawati in her letter pointed out that Poorvanchal region of UP was very backward socially and economically, which resulted in poverty."To remove regional imbalance and to accelerate development of the state, incorporating the needs of Poorvanchal region, the state government had earlier forwarded a proposal to the Centre requesting it to sanction a special package of Rs 80,000 crore," he said.Pandey said that Mayawati in her letter also requested Singh to get the required financial assistance sanctioned at the earliest."It is not possible to meet the development demands of the state from internal resources, therefore a special package had been demanded," he said. On December 11, Mayawati had sought the Centre's consent for the creation of separate states of Bundelkhand and Paschimanchal.

"I have renewed the demand for smaller states through a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give consent to UP as it has given to Andhra Pradesh for setting up a separate Telangana state," Mayawati had told reporters.

Monday, December 7, 2009

A capable Muslim can become PM: Rahul


Religion does not matter when it comes to becoming the prime minister and a Muslim can get the top job provided he is the most capable person for it, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in Aligarh on Monday."It is not about what religion or community you come from, it is what you bring to the table, what capability you have," he said in an interaction with students of the Aligarh Muslim University.He was replying to a question that having come a long way after Independence how much more time will it take for India to have its first Muslim prime minister"Today, Manmohan Singh is not the Prime Minister of India because he is a Sikh. He is the Prime Minister because he is the most capable person to do the job."And let me tell you something that even when you do have a Muslim prime minister, he will be a prime minister because he is the most capable person," 39-year-old Gandhi said.He told a questioner, "You need to step up and the number of leaders coming out of your community needs to go up. You got today a Sikh prime minister that nobody would have ever imagined in a country of over a billion people that we would have a Sikh prime minister. Sikhs are a very small percentage of this country."

Gandhi said his effort was to involve people from different communities and from different parts of India in the political system.Exhorting Muslim youths to participate in national politics in a big way, Gandhi said, "Increased participation of Muslim youths is the ideal way to take on problems not only of the Muslim community but the country as a whole."

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

BJP to keep alive Ayodhya issue in constituencies through MPs


In a clear indication that BJP wishes to keep the Ram temple issue alive, its Parliamentary Party Chief L K Advani on Tuesday asked his MPs to read the Liberhan Commission report and bring out its discrepancies in public forums, including their constituencies.In the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting held here on Tuesday, Advani said the Liberhan Commission report was full of howlers and contradictions.

"Advani told the party MPs to read the report carefully.

He said even if the MPs did not get a chance to participate in the debate on the Liberhan report, they can educate the people from their constituencies on the discrepancies in the report," Deputy Leader of BJP in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj said.The Leader of Opposition informed his MPs during the meeting about "laughable" mistakes. The Liberhan report mentions Abul Kalam Azad instead of A P J Abdul Kalam and attributes a quote of Pakistan-founder M A Jinnah on the two-nation theory to BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.Advani later told reporters that this quote of Jinnah is mentioned in a book authored by Upadhyaya but were not that of the latter. He described this as one of the many howlers in the book.BJP also decided to protest in Parliament stopping of Ladakh road construction due to "Chinese pressure" and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's statement that the state's problem was an international issue.