Law sacrosanct, let's not take it into our hands

PATNA: "What is illegal in the police raiding a journalist?" an IG of police asked a TV journalist defending Nawada SP Lalan Mohan Prasad and slamming the TOI report, 'Journalist raided after news on SP thumbing nose at judiciary' on February 28. "Nothing," the journalist replied and retorted, "how much it is legal for SP Prasad to sit on a non-bailable warrant of arrest against a sub-inspector and allow him to run a police station?" The IG did not have an answer.

There's another question: If all was well, why did Bihar Human Rights Commission chairman issue notices to the state DGP and the Nawada SP to explain the Nawada police's conduct? The rights panel chief S N Jha is a retired justice who certainly knows legalities and illegalities better than most of us.

Justice Jha's move apart, does any citizen - powerful or powerless - have the right to defy an order passed by a court of law? If a person who is under oath to uphold the rule of law and orders passed by courts of law chooses to do the opposite, it is bound to excite the people and bring a bad name to the society and state in which we live.

It all began not because of the raid on a journalist but because Nawada assistant public prosecutor (APP) Mehboob Alam was arrested by a sub-inspector in July last year. The man in black coat had gone to lodge an FIR following alleged assault on an imam by anti-social elements. He was paraded in the court with a rope tied around his waist the next day, he alleged in a complaint petition to the Nawada CJM. This shows how much respect the Nawada police have for human rights.

This happened with an APP, who is part of the police system and who pleads cases in courts on behalf of the police. If the Nawada police could do this to a government lawyer, the common man's fate can be well imagined.

This newspaper came to play its role when the lawyer on February 24 threatened to go on hunger strike to press for justice to him. Is it a crime on the part of a newspaper not to look the other way when such brazen violations of human rights take place?

Even if the raid was legal, the timing and the motive raise eyebrows. Why just a day after the news report appeared? Why at 8.30pm when people in villages like Makanpur prepare to sleep after the day's hard work? Had the police got a tip-off that the journalist was packing up to flee from the country? Reams and reams have been written in Patna newspapers against so many officials, including DGP Abhayanand. They didn't order the forces at their disposal to march to the premises of the journalists concerned, did they?

SP spurned offer to send rejoinder

SP Prasad, on the other hand, has ended up trying to put this newspaper under pressure. This despite the fact that every TOI journalist he spoke to after the publication of 'Judge proposes, cop disposes' on February 26 offered him a simple way of redressal of his grievances - a rejoinder which is the normal process of undoing the media's errors, if any, across the world.

As for the media-baiters who argue all journalists are a bunch of morons who misuse their powers to get away with crime, has anyone read any news report in any of the Patna newspapers defending such a journalist? At least I have not - during the last 21 years of my life as a Bihar-based journalist.

Two cops suspended

Nawada SP Lalan Mohan Prasad on Saturday suspended SI Vindhyachal Prasad and ASI Arun Kumar Singh, who were accused in a complaint case related to arrest and assault of an APP, Mehboob Alam. The SP returned here from Patna after three days.

SDPO, Nawada, Sahariyar Akhtar telephonically confirmed the suspension of these two police officials. But the Nawada SP has still failed to execute the non-bailable warrant of arrest issued by the chief judicial magistrate against Vindhyachal Prasad.

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Tourism ministry seeks VoA facility for 16 more countries

NEW DELHI: Tourism ministry has sought greater travel flexibility by proposing visa-on-arrival (VoA) facilities in 16 more countries. Tourism minister K Chiranjeevi met home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for extension of services to countries like Germany, France, Brazil, South Africa, Russia and other CIS countries.

"The extension VoA facilities for tourists to the countries is important as we feel that these are potential source markets to India," said a senior ministry official.

Consistent with the Look East policy, tourism ministry has included Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei in the proposed VoA list.

Keeping an eye on the emerging market of CIS countries, the ministry has sought the extension of the VoA facility for Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The other countries proposed for the extension of the facility are Spain, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago.

Now, the VoA facilities are available for tourists from 11 countries, including Singapore, New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines. There were 16,084 foreign tourists, who had availed the VoA facility last year, as against 12,761 in 2011.

VoA is an attraction for potential tourists in key markets and at times also helps in tapping people who make decisions at the last moment.

An independent study conducted by the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management ( IITTM) has noted that the VoA scheme has a significant and positive impact on the decision to travel to India, and it should be expanded to cover more countries and more ports of entry.

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Sariska villagers block tourists’ entry

ALWAR: About 2,500 villagers on Thursday blocked the main entrance of the Sariska Tiger Reserve, protesting their relocation from areas near the sanctuary.

Sariska field director RS Shekhawat said the villagers had locked the entrance and didn't allow tourists to enter the park. "We are trying to sort out the problem on a priority basis," Shekhawat said.

The villagers, who are on an indefinite sit-in, said they would not clear the blockade unless their demands were met. This is the third such protest in the past eight months against the relocation plan.

Tension began in Sariska when about 2,500 people from 50 villages gathered for a mahapanchayat against the alleged "cheating" by the district administration. "We had called off the agitation in May last year when the district administration agreed on some of our demands including lifting ban on the registry of land, construction of a concrete road and earmarking a grazing area. But now they have backtracked on the promise citing the Supreme Court orders," said Jaikishan Gujjar, a villager.

Since 2008, the farmers in the periphery of the reserve have been protesting the state government and wildlife authorities' decision to relocate them. On February 20, villagers thrashed a few senior sanctuary officials when 70 cattle were seized while grazing in the sanctuary area.

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Cash-in-bag case: HC notice to CBI on Yadav's plea regarding prosecution sanction

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday issued a notice to the CBI on a petition filed by Justice Nirmal Yadav (retired), an accused in cash-in-bag case, seeking photocopies of the record of ministry of law and justice pertaining to her prosecution sanction.

While issuing notice to the CBI for March 21, Justice Ranjit Singh asked CBI to file its reply on the demand of Yadav, who filed an appeal after a special CBI judge, Chandigarh, rejected her demand for the record on February 2. The special court had allowed her to inspect the documents but not allowed her to photocopy them.

In her appeal, justice Yadav claimed that the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) came into force in 1973, when technology was not so advanced. In case of a voluminous record, inspection, rather than supply of copies, was a solution.

"Those were the days of manual typewriters. But over the years technology has progressed and providing copies of documents was now a matter of minutes due to efficient photocopiers," argued her counsel, adding that they are ready to bear the cost of photocopies of the record.

She also added that non-supply of documents was against the principles of natural justice, as these would be relied upon by the prosecution during the trial.

The scandal had come to the fore on August 13, 2008, after a clerk, allegedly sent by the then additional advocate general of Haryana, Sanjiv Bansal, dropped the money at the official residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur of the Punjab and Haryana high court. Later, an inquiry by CBI found that the money was meant for Justice Yadav.

Later, on March 4, 2011, CBI had filed charge sheet against Yadav, Bansal, Delhi based hotelier Ravinder Bhasin, Chandigarh based businessman Rajiv Gupta and Nirmal Singh for corruption, conspiracy, destroying evidence and creation of false evidence. The trial against all of these accused is pending with the special CBI court Chandigarh.

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IB sulks over govt bid to place NCTC outside its ambit

NEW DELHI: As it tries to assuage the concerns of states over the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which sees the concept as an encroachment on their turf, now the Centre also has to contend with the resentment of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to the proposed mechanism.

Anxious to win over the states on the issue of NCTC which it sees as imperative for better co-ordination among counter-terror agencies, the Centre is considering keeping the proposed body out IB's ambit. States had apprehended that NCTC being part of the IB will help the Centre extend its jurisdiction to "law and order" issues which under the Constitution is not part of New Delhi's remit. The Centre has tried to appease states also by proposing that NCTC will be mandated not to carry out arrests of terror suspect in any state without informing the relevant DGP.

While the response of states to the fresh NCTC pitch is still awaited, the Centre has to put up with the sulks of IB. The leading intelligence body had seethed with resentment when the government responded to the trauma of 26/11 attack on Mumbai by setting up the National Investigating Agency (NIA). The arrival of NIA, with a countrywide jurisdiction that other central agencies can only envy, has been at the cost of IB's reputation as government's chief counter-terror agency.

The fear of loss has also fuelled anxiety about what the setting up of NCTC might spell for the IB. Sources in the home ministry said that concept of NCTC as the premier body tasked with gathering and disseminating counter-terror intelligence, which will be functioning independently of the IB, will be a blow to what a MHA source called "the Old Lady".

As per a Cabinet note prepared by the MHA for consideration by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) at its next meeting, the NCTC has been proposed as an independent body reporting directly to the Union home secretary. Its chief will now be a DGP-level officer, as against the additional DGP-rank proposed earlier: a change that can only add to the autonomy of the body vis-a-vis the IB.

The Cabinet note also seeks to revise the norms for exercising NCTC's powers of search and arrest during operations, and makes it mandatory for the body to inform the DGP of the state concerned, in advance.

According to sources in the government, the IB, in its comments on the CCS note, does not agree with the proposal to take NCTC out of its ambit and make it a parallel organization under the MHA. A senior government functionary indicated that the IB has even opposed powers of search and arrest for NCTC, stating that these should remain with the state governments or the NIA.

There is also a view that NCTC can be placed under NIA, as it would then automatically be empowered to search and arrest as per the NIA Act. A senior NIA official said creating a separate counter-terror body would pose practical problems like getting good officers on deputation and other infrastructure, something that has been ailing NIA as well.

The fresh thrust for operationalizing NCTC, created by an executive order passed in February, 2012, comes in the wake of the Hyderabad blasts pointing to gaps in intelligence coordination between the Centre and the states. Though both the Opposition as well as state governments agree on the basic need to have a specialized counter-terror body at the Centre, they are opposing NCTC in its current avatar.

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Army renews hunt for bunker-bursting rifles 8 years after bribery scandal

NEW DELHI: The Army is launching a fresh hunt for anti-material rifles, meant for "bunker-bursting" as well as "penetrating" light-armoured vehicles, eight years after its earlier project with South African company Denel got derailed mid-way due to kickback allegations and political mudslinging.

The Army is now ready with the technical parameters, or GSQRs (general staff qualitative requirements), for the fresh global tender for the anti-material rifles. The force wants the rifle — weighing not over 15 kg to ensure two soldiers can carry it -- with an effective range of over 1,000-metre to take on enemy bunkers and other field fortifications, "soft-skinned" armoured vehicles and low-flying helicopters, say sources.

The new anti-material rifle project will be a major one, with the first lot being imported directly and the rest indigenously manufactured after transfer of technology (ToT). The Army, apart from its other arms, wants each of its 355 infantry battalions to have at least four such specialized rifles that can fire special calibre high-explosive incendiary/armour-piercing ammunition.

The long-delayed quest for these rifles is just one of the several military modernization projects that have gone for a toss due to corruption scams and consequent blacklisting of armament majors. "The guilty should be hung...the entire procurement system needs to be overhauled to ensure national security requirements are not hit time and again," said a senior officer.

For instance, Army's failure to induct even a single advanced 155mm artillery gun since the Bofors scandal of the mid-1980s. "Blacklisting has proven counter-productive. Most major artillery manufacturers, like Denel, Rheinmetall, Singapore Technologies and Soltam, are blacklisted by India...It's only now the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and private players like the Tatas are developing 155mm howitzers," said a MoD official.

The anti-material rifles' story is similar. The UPA-I government in April 2005 had put on hold all dealings with Denel after it came to light that 12.75% commission was allegedly paid to a firm, Varas Associates, to swing the five contracts signed between July 1999 and March 2005.

The contracts were for 700 anti-material rifles and 398,000 rounds of ammunition, followed by ToT to OFB along with "knocked down kits" for another 300 rifles. The Army had inducted just around 300 rifles when the CBI registered the case in June 2005.

At that time, the Congress was using the case — along with the emergency purchases for the 1999 Kargil conflict and the Tehelka tapes — to go after George Fernandes, who was the defence minister in the NDA regime when the initial rifle contracts were inked. The CBI, however, is yet to make any major headway in the case.

Now, Army wants to induct light-weight anti-material rifles that are "man-portable" with a two-jawan crew. "The Denel rifles, while they have performed well, are quite heavy at 28-29 kg apiece. There are also major problems in importing its specialized bullets and ammunition," said an officer.

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How Indian diplomacy ended crisis in Maldives

NEW DELHI: It was an "understanding" between India and Maldives that resolved an embarrassing political situation in the island country after former president Mohamed Nasheed took refuge inside the Indian high commission, drawing India into the heart of the ongoing political crisis there.

The resolution, which showcased Indian diplomacy at its most effective, confirmed India's position as the pre-eminent power in the Indian Ocean.

Both countries have denied there was a "deal", and there wasn't. Since the moment Nasheed became a refugee in the mission, India and Maldives and, after a while, even Nasheed himself, were looking for a way to end the agony.

On the Indian side, the initiative was led jointly by NSA Shivshankar Menon and foreign minister Salman Khurshid. Khurshid spoke with his counterpart Abdul Samad Abdulla several times in the past week to soften up the government there to the fact that a face-saving solution had to be found for all concerned.

Menon undertook the more complex job of directing the Indian effort, issuing instructions to the Indian team as well as keeping the larger picture of national interest in view. Foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai worked the phones with his counterpart and other leaders in Male from Washington DC where he was travelling. But it was the low-key actions of Harsh Vardhan Shringla, joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs, that finally won the day in Male.

Shringla and his team met an entire cross-section of the Maldives leadership — defence minister Mohamed Nazim, foreign minister Abdul Samad Abdulla, attorney general Aishath Azima Shakoor, even Abdulla Yamin, leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives (Gayoom's party), as well as acting foreign secretary Abdul Azeez Yoosuf, among others. The mission was two-fold — first to convince them that India had no role to play in the political crisis.

Second, to make sure that the election process in Maldives had the field open for all candidates.

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Plaint against Baba Ramdev for slamming Gandhis

BELGAUM: A complaint has been registered against yoga guru Baba Ramdev in the fourth JMF Court for allegedly making derogatory statements against AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

Former KPCC member Shankar Munavalli filed the case. In a complaint, he alleged that Baba Ramdev, during his visit to Hubli on February 20, said that corruption had increased in the country because "AICC president Sonia Gandhi and his son Rahul were exporting money to Italy".

He also said that both should be expelled from the country, if the country has to become free from corruption. Munavalli claimed that Ramdev deliberately attempted to defame the image of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi without any evidence.

Besides, no complaint had been filed in any court on them as alleged by Ramdev. Munavalli urged action against the yoga guru, saying that his statement hurt the sentiments of Congress party workers.

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Laptops to be Samajwadi Party's anniversary gift to students

LUCKNOW: UP chief minister AkhileshYadav is set to mark his first year in power by distributing free laptops to students who passed their intermediate examination last year during the anniversary week celebrations of his government from March 10 to 15. Free laptops were promised by Akhilesh as a poll sop for the youth.

In the first phase, 10,000 laptops will be distributed in Lucknow and Mainpuri districts to students from government and government-aided schools. Set to cost the state government a total of Rs 2,800 crore, laptops will be embossed with tamper-proof stickers of Akhilesh and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

It's not laptop alone that the students will get as 'gift'. The machines will be loaded with an open source operating system (Ubuntu) apart from Windows 7 Home Basic. The systems will also come pre-loaded with MS Office software, a specially designed computer literacy programme for first-time users, spreadsheets, multimedia and cloud computing among other things. A special software, designed by the British Council, will have 'How to Learn English', along with 'Hindi to English' and 'English to Hindi' dictionaries. The students will also have access to a photo gallery, movie maker software, photosynth and an editing software.

In another student-friendly initiative, the laptops will be pre-loaded with sample papers of engineering and medical entrance test papers of AIEEE, IIT-JEE, AIIMS, BITS, NIFT, PMT and CLAT. The laptops will come with webcam, blue tooth, wi-fi compatibility, DVD writer and a media reader. Users will have three language options- Hindi, English and Urdu.

Over 15 lakh units are to be distributed over the next seven months. A call centre will be set up in Lucknow with service centres in every district to cater to the beneficiaries. "The service centres will be made operational before the distribution begins," a senior UPEC official said.

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Now, Jamiat divided over Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: The Jamiat Ulema-Hind, which virtually controls the Islamic seminary Darul-Uloom at Deoband, appears sharply divided over Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

Jamiat president Maulana Arshad Madni said on Thursday that there was no question of accepting the Gujarat strongman as India's prime minister. "Modi was wholly and solely responsible for the 2002 Gujarat riots. He is protecting and shielding many politicians who were directly involved in the worst communal riots in the country," he told the media.

A few days back, however, Malauna Mahmood Madni, general secretary of the Jamiat, came out with a tacit endorsement of Modi. "There is a change in the Muslim psyche towards Modi, and a section of Muslims voted for him in the recent assembly elections," he had said. "There is a perceptible change, and circumstances are different. Muslims in Gujarat are economically better off than in other states which have so-called secular governments."

Maulani Mahmood Madni, who rebelled against his uncle Maulana Arshad Madni four years back and floated a parallel group, said more innocents were languishing in jails in Maharashtra than in Gujarat.

Maulana Arshad Madni, however, insisted that in a secular country like India, there was no place for Modi. "I am sure and certain that the majority of the people reject his ideology. It is not only Muslims but also members of the majority community who oppose his communal agenda," he said.

Maulana Arshad Madni asked the government to reserve jobs for Muslims. He said the government should not take the support of minorities for granted.

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Trade unions' strike: Stick backfires, Mamata Banerjee offers carrot to traders

KOLKATA: Chastened by the widespread outrage among traders—who kept their shutters down despite her brandishing a stick, making Day One of the strike called by central trade unions a partial success—chief minister Mamata Banerjee decided to hand out carrots to the few who answered her call and kept their shops open on Wednesday.

Sources said Mamata asked mayor Sovon Chatterjee to work out an incentive to reward shop-owners who stayed open so that it encourages others to follow suit the next time. The decision was taken on the spur of the moment during an inspection of the city the CM undertook with the mayor in the early afternoon.

Mamata was initially taken aback at the sight of downed shutters in the wholesale belt of Burrabazar and Posta, but was relieved to see the vegetable market in Sealdah open.

Sources said the incentive idea struck her when she realized that cancelling the trade licences of those who stayed shut is not an option: the state will have to punish about 85% shopkeepers in the city then.

"I thank everyone who has opened their shop," Mamata said. "More shops are expected to open in the next half of the day. As for those that stayed shut, the high court has issued an order and the law will take its course."

Chatterjee said: "We are making a list of shops that were open. We will reward them." But officials in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation's licence department said there is no such rule and implementing the reward scheme will be difficult.

Mamata's decision to discuss the matter only with Forum of Traders' Organization (West Bengal) general secretary Rabindranath Koley boomeranged as other federations were aggrieved and did all they could to foil the government's efforts to keep shops open.

"Traders have shown politicians that they will not be scared into submission," said Tarak Trivedi of the Federation of Trade Organization that claims 50 lakh businessmen as members. "Treat us with respect and we will extend a helping hand."

On Tuesday, it was Koley who had announced the decision to take "uncooperative" traders to task. On Wednesday, he did the task of mollifying.

He said the CM is trying out various measures to lure traders away from the culture of staying at home during strikes. "In Kankurgachi, VIP, New Market, Gariahat, Lake Market and elsewhere, 50% shops were open," Koley said. "That is a long way from the scenes in the past when everything would be shut. The trading community is timid and needs to be encouraged to defy political strikes."

Timidity was, however, not the trait traders displayed when they defied the CM's threat of licence cancellation. "Had she called all the trade organizations and appealed to us to stay open, an overwhelming majority of shop-owners would have complied," said Atmaram Kajaria, president of the Federation of West Bengal Trade Association that claims to represent two crore traders in the state. "But by issuing a threat that is impractical and impossible to carry out, the CM suffered a loss of face that she could have easily avoided."

Though all trade unions, barring Citu, have decided to continue with the strike on Thursday, trade bodies said the scene will be different in Kolkata and most shops will open for business.

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Sukhoi crashes in Rajasthan, pilots eject safely

NEW DELHI: A frontline Sukhoi-30MKI fighter crashed at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan on Tuesday evening. The two experienced pilots, Squadron Leaders G B S Chauhan and A R Tanta, managed to eject safely.

While the court of inquiry will establish the exact reason behind the crash, preliminary reports blamed a "technical snag" for the mishap. The aircraft was undertaking night-flying drills as part of rehearsals for the massive IAF fire power display at the Pokhran range slated for February 22 when the technical problem took place around 7.20 pm.

The over 160 Sukhois inducted by IAF till now — 272 of them have been contracted from Russia in deals worth Rs 55,717 crore - were "temporarily grounded" at Pune, Bareilly, Tezpur, Chabua and other airbases after one had crashed in December 2011. The probe then had blamed the failure of the fly-by-wire (FBW) system for the crash.

IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne had himself taken to the skies in a Sukhoi within a week to show "all was well" with India's latest and most potent fighters, which are progressively being based on both the western and eastern fronts against Pakistan and China.

The Sukhois, with just four crashes in around 90,000 hours of flying over the last 13 years, have had a good track-record with IAF. But with the bulk of the 272 Sukhois ordered being manufactured by HAL under transfer of technology from Russia, a hard-nosed look at quality, maintenance and servicing issues at the defence PSU is certainly needed.

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Afzal Guru's hanging: Bring-back-body clamour set to rise in Valley

SRINAGAR: The immediate response to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's hanging may have been relatively lukewarm in the state, but the demand for the return of his mortal remains seems to be galvanizing politicians and separatist groups again.

Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, the independent MLA from Langate in north Kashmir, has already filed a resolution in the state assembly asking for a discussion the matter.

"I had invited mainstream parties, including the ruling National Conference (NC), for an all-party meeting on Monday to chalk out a joint strategy to a send a team of legislators and political leaders to the Centre to convey the sentiments of the people of Kashmir for the return of Afzal's body to his family," Rashid told TOI.

He urged the NC and the People's Democratic Party to bury their differences for some time and work together to ensure Afzal's body is handed over to his family members. "We should go to Delhi as a united front and ask for Afzal's mortal remains," Rashid said.

Rashid, who was detained soon after Afzal's execution in Delhi's Tihar Jail on February 9, was released last Friday.

Most observers feel Afzal's hanging evoked a tepid response because he had been a "police informer" in the early 1990s. Three people died in the anti-execution protests in the Valley over the past 10 days.

On Monday, some separatist groups—including the JKLF and the Hurriyat Conference faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani —issued a fresh protest calendar for Wednesday, Thursday (after evening prayers) and Friday (after noon). "The protest is meant to press for the mortal remains of Afzal Guru," a Hurriyat press release said. "The protest will continue till the Centre returns the mortals remains of Guru to the family and allow [them] to bury him in the Srinagar graveyard."

The state home ministry, headed by chief minister Omar Abdullah himself, has already forwarded the plea of Afzal's family for the return of his body to central home secretary R K Singh. Sources said the UPA government may consider their demand. Omar, too, has asked for Afzal's body to be returned to the Sopore-based family.

Sources said Union home ministry officials are likely to invite Omar to New Delhi next week for discussions on the matter. They said Omar is also likely to hold discussions with home minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

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Shinde's daughter traces brother-in-law's SUV

MUMBAI: Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter tracked down her brother-in-law's vehicle on Saturday night, within 48 hours of it being stolen from Lower Parel on Thursday.

A large posse of cops, including those from the crime branch, had been assigned to find the missing SUV, but before they could make a headway, Shinde's daughter, Praniti, suddenly spotted the vehicle in Bandra; following a chase and high drama, the thieves abandoned the SUV near a slum in Bandra (W) from where it has been recovered.

Praniti, however, denied her presence during the chase. "Only my driver was there," she said. But the police claimed otherwise.

The Pajero belongs to Raj Shroff, a businessman and general secretary of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee, who is married to Preeti, one of the daughters of Shinde. On Thursday night, the family's driver, Vijay Kharat, parked the vehicle near his home at Bawala Compound, Lower Parel. He had intended to drive it back to his employer's residence, but the next morning, he found it missing. Kharat lodged a theft complaint with the N M Joshi Marg police on Friday, following which all control rooms in the city were alerted with the missing vehicle's registration number.

While the cops hunted high and low for the SUV, Praniti, who is an MLA from Solapur, spotted it at the Lilavati Hospital signal on Saturday night. "Around 11pm, Praniti left the Shinde residence at Pali Hill in Bandra in her CRV. She was headed to Worli for some work and was accompanied by her police security officer, Abhang; the vehicle was driven by Kharat. As they reached the Lilavati Hospital signal, Praniti suddenly spotted the stolen Pajero a little ahead. Confirmed by Kharat that it was indeed their missing vehicle, Praniti decided that she and her security officer would confront the person driving it," a police officer said.

Praniti's SUV chased the Pajero, overtook it and blocked its path; Abhang knocked on the rolled-up windowpane. "The two men inside the SUV panicked and put the vehcile in reverse gear, heading back towards north. Praniti's vehicle also turned around and started chasing it," the officer said. Meanwhile, Abhang called up the police control room and informed them about the incident. Shortly, Praniti reportedly noticed a patrol van in the Bandra locality and alerted the policemen who also joined in the search.

A few minutes later, they found the Pajero abandoned near Lal Maati slums, but its occupants had vanished, said the police, adding that slippers, likely to belong to the accused, were found inside.

No CCTV camera covers the stretch but Abhang had had a look at the suspects. The NM Joshi Marg police, to whom the recovered vehicle has been handed over, will prepare identity sketches of the accused. Experts have found some fingerprints in the vehicle.

Police said the car could be traced easily as the accused hadn't changed its numberplate.

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J&K govt forwards Guru’s family request for return of his body to Centre

SRINAGAR: The Jammu & Kashmir government has forwarded the request of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's family to the Centre seeking the return of his body for burial in their village near Sopore in north Kashmir.

Sources said that the Centre may consider the request. They said chief minister Omar Abdullah, who had made a similar request earlier, would be called for consultations with Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and other top officials over the matter in New Delhi next week.

J&K commissioner (home) Suresh Kumar told TOI that the state government had forwarded the Guru family's request to Union home secretary R K Singh.

Guru's widow, Tabbasum, had written to Baramulla deputy commissioner Ghulam Mohammad Khawaja seeking the state government help for the return of the body a day after he was executed and buried inside New Delhi's Tihar jail.

His cousin Yousuf Guru said Tabbasum has received her request's acknowledgement.

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VVIP chopper scam ebbs mood in Congress camp

NEW DELHI: Congress leaders were in a sombre frame of mind with a fresh defence bribery scandal eroding the confident mood of last week when the decision to hang Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru infused a sense of purposefulness in the government.

The mood swing underlines the heightened vulnerabilities of the Manmohan Singh government to corruption allegations after the 2G and Commonwealth Games scams with the AgustaWestland chopper deal precipitating a full-blown political crisis.

The sense of urgency with which the government on Friday moved to cancel the contract for 12 VVIP helicopters costing Rs 3,546 crore is driven by the need for damage control as the stench of a defence scam triggers uncomfortable memories of Bofors.

Comparing AgustaWestland to Bofors seems a stretch keeping in mind the ramifications of the Swedish deal, but Congress remains wary of the political cost that a dodgy defence deal can extract when it prepares to rebut charges of having ignored the gathering storm.

Looking to counter the Opposition allegation that the government didn't react of the AgustaWestland-Finmeccania developments in Italy, the government is pointing to the decision of the BJP-led NDA government's decision to alter the technical specifications of the choppers.

The extraordinarily detailed defence ministry press note on Thursday is at pains to list inquiries initiated at home and abroad after first reports of middlemen and kickbacks surfaced early last year.

Unfortunately for the ruling party, the note's claim that the deal was concluded during President Pranab Mukherjee's tenure as defence minister only sparked further comment. The reports could hardly have pleased the Rashtrapati Bhawan ahead of Mukherjee addressing the joint session of Parliament.

By scrapping the deal by taking recourse to the provisions against bribery and undue influence referred to extensively in the defence ministry factsheet the government hopes to blunt the expected Opposition attack in Parliament along with the expected counter thrust regarding the NDA-era decision to alter specifications.

Will this suffice to insulate the government against the stench of another scandal is not easy to assess as defence minister A K Antony struggles to fend off questions as to why he did not order a formal inquiry into the chopper deal earlier.

Antony was able to defend himself last April against the allegations of then Army chief V K Singh that an attempt to offer bribes for Tatra trucks was brought to the minister's notice but did not result in any action.

Using a reservoir of goodwill built by his squeaky clean reputation and simple lifestyle, an emotional Antony got through a tumultuous Parliament session. This time with elections that much closer, the going will be tougher.

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Helicopter scam: Jaswant agrees change in specifications made during NDA rule

NEW DELHI: Even as the BJP kept up its attack on the government over alleged kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal, senior party leader Jaswant Singh on Thursday agreed with former IAF chief S P Tyagi that the change in specifications of the helicopters was done at the behest of then national security adviser BrajeshMishra. Singh, however, defended the decision, saying it was done to avoid a single-vendor situation.

Singh also said the guilty in the matter was an Italian company and people had "forgotten them".

"We should not make wild allegations against a former IAF chief. It is not in the interest of both the air force and the country. The probe is on. As Mr Tyagi himself is saying, the probe should be held early. Why don't you agree to his suggestion," Singh told reporters.

Supporting Tyagi, who has been accused of taking bribes in the deal through his cousins, Singh said one should be careful while alleging "guilt through association". "Don't start judging people simply because of association or simply because former air chief marshal Tyagi has cousins who are also known as Tyagis," he said.

The former defence and external affairs minister added, "One of my own cousins, first cousin, he was known as a smuggler. Does that make me a smuggler? If another relative of mine commits a crime, does that make me a criminal?"

On its part, BJP demanded that the CBI probe into the Rs 3,600 crore deal should be monitored by a competent authority so that the investigation was not "delayed" as was done in the 2G case. "Ordering a mere CBI inquiry is not enough. It must be monitored. In the 2G spectrum case, CBI probe was ordered in 2009 but the agency did nothing for 15 months. It was only when the Supreme Court started monitoring the case suo motu that things started moving," party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

He maintained that three questions were of utmost relevance in the probe -- when the order was placed, when the alleged kickbacks were paid and who recipients were.

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Most BJP legislators against dissolving House

BANGALORE: A majority of BJPMLAs, including ministers, are not in favour of dissolving the assembly early.

"Governor H R Bhardwaj has said he would act even if a single MLA resigns. As of now, 12 MLAs' resignations have been accepted and two are pending with speaker K G Bopaiah. By moving a vote of confidence, the CM will expose the fence-sitters. Because they will be disqualified if they defy the whip,'' sources said.

The party has worked out various strategies to win the vote. "We have wooed four Congress MLAs to vote in our favour. Two or three BJP MLAs, including a minister from north Karnataka, are waiting to jump the ship. But their going does not matter to the party,'' a BJP insider said.

Despite all these strategies, it is learnt the BJP will not be perturbed if it loses the trust vote. "Yeddyurappa will be blamed for weakening the government . The party has better a chance if elections are announced at the earliest, whereas Yeddyurappa favours them in May for him to consolidate the KJP,'' the sources said.

Meanwhile, the BJP is keeping its fingers crossed over the dates for elections to 208 civic bodies. The legislature on Tuesday passed a bill that makes it compulsory for the State Election Commission (SEC) to announce the poll dates in concurrence with the government. If the assembly is dissolved, the SEC can go ahead with the polls.

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Shiromani Akali Dal defends Rajoana clemency demand

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday took on J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah for asking for the hanging of former Punjab CM Beant Singh's assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana, saying the convict's hanging would cause unrest in Punjab.

SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra said the Badal-led Punjab government would continue defending the commuting of Rajoana's death penalty. "We have earlier said that the party is against capital punishment," he said.

Chandumajra slammed Omar for asking the UPA government to treat Rajaona's case just like that of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and not be selective in executing those convicted of attacking symbols of democracy. "Omar should not speak out of turn," he said. "There's no doubt that the decision to hang Guru was political. It's better if he restricts his political comments to his state."

Omar had questioned the UPA government on why it was also not in a hurry to carry out the executions of the killers of Beant Singh and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Defending SAD's stand of asking for mercy for Rajoana, Chandumajra said it was only to avoid any possibility of community clashes in the state. Rajoana was awarded the death sentence by a Central Bureau of Investigation special court in July 2007 — along with another terrorist, Jagtar Singh Hawara — in the Beant Singh assassination case.

'Fear of Modi glory led to Afzal hanging'

SAD general secretary Chandumajra on Monday said the Congress took "remedial action" to hang Afzal Guru after becoming fearful of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's increasing popularity as a national leader. "The decision to hang Guru was a political move by the Congress," he said. "They fear Modi's growing popularity among the masses." Chandumajra said his party would support the BJP if they chose Modi as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

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Decision on Kurien likely before budget session: Chacko

NEW DELHI: Congress's dilemma over the controversy surrounding Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien is becoming pronounced ahead of Parliament's budget session as the opposition, mainly the Left bloc, is bound to ramp up its demand for the Kerala leader's removal.

As demands for Kurien's sacking get louder, the ruling party has indicated that a decision will be taken before the coming budget session of Parliament.

The issue is haunting the party's top leadership as it will be awkward for the Congress to let Kurien preside over the upper House when it debates a legislation relating to women's safety and security.

"The high command is seized of the matter and a decision will be taken before the coming budget session of Parliament," AICC spokesman P C Chacko told reporters.

The party leadership is keeping a close watch on how the 17-year-old Suryanelli rape case unfolds in the public domain in the coming days before taking a call on the demand.

"We will be taking decision on all issues, including this, before the Parliament session begins (on February 21). The high command will not be closing its eyes to any issue coming before the party," Chacko said.

Opposition parties led by the Left Front have been demanding Kurien's sacking as Rajya Sabha deputy chairman in the wake of the victim of the 1996 Suryanelli case recently reiterating her charge against him.

However, Kurien has claimed innocence and blamed the renewed controversy on political motivation of his rivals.

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