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September 11, 2011

BJP leader, cop arrested in NRI’s murder case


Batala, September 11
In a major breakthrough, the Batala police today arrested two key accused in the high-profile murder case of Canada-based NRI Gurinder Singh Gill who was done to death on Friday.
Addressing mediapersons here, SSP Gurkirpal Singh said those arrested include Rajbir Singh Bhullar, who allegedly fired at the NRI in front of the court complex, about 50 metres away from the SSP’s residence, and Punjab police head constable Jarnail Singh.
Sources said Jarnail Singh, who had been on leave for the past six months, engaged the NRI in a conversation while Rajbir “fired the shots” in a pre-planned manner on Friday.
The SSP claimed that he was not under any kind of pressure to shield the accused. On the contrary, he said, he had received several phone calls from his seniors who directed him to arrest all the four accused at the earliest.
“We are on the lookout for the other two accused (Raju Bajwa and Yadvinder Bhullar) and expect to arrest them within next 48 hours,” the SSP said.
Before going to Canada about seven years ago, said sources, the victim was quite close to Batala MLA Jagdeesh Sahni. The MLA is also considered to be close to the main accused, Rajbir Singh. Sources reveal it was under Sahni’s patronage that Rajbir rose through the ranks in the BJP to become the party’s municipal councillor from Ward No 12. After severing his ties with Sahni, Gurinder reportedly befriended Abhinav Sekhri, son of former Batala MLA and Minister Ashwani Sekhri, and joined the Congress.
Meanwhile, Gurdaspur District Congress Committee president Sukhjinder Randhawa said the police was not doing enough to arrest the accused.

Appointment of consumer panel member challenged

Chandigarh, September 11
Just about two months after a Single Judge of the Punjab and Haryana HC upheld the appointment of Amarpreet Sharma as "whole time lady member" of the Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, a Division bench issued notice of motion on an appeal challenging the order.
Referring to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, appellant Dinesh Bagga told the Division Bench that Sharma was required to have 10 years experience for the post, whereas her experience is of five years teaching and tuition work. Upholding her appointment, the Single Judge had ruled that the selection committee's decision to take into consideration her five years experience in home tuitions did not require interference. In his petition placed before the Single Judge, Bagga had earlier sought directions for setting aside the appointment order dated December 29, 2009, of Amarpreet as "whole time lady member".
The petitioner had contended that eight woman candidates had appeared for the interview before the selection committee after the advertisement was issued on October 16, 2009. Among other things, the advertisement said the applicant should have "experience of at least 10 years in dealing with problems relating to economics, law, commerce, accountancy, industry, public affairs or administration."
Appearing for the petitioner, Counsel Atul Lakhanpal argued her appointment was not as per the qualification prescribed in the advertisement or under Section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act. Referring to her application, Lakhanpal said her teaching experience was shown to be of five years. Experience of another five years in giving tuition was also mentioned in an attempt to show a total experience of 10 years. Justice Bahri dismissed the petition. 

Khanduri sworn in as Uttarakhand CM

Retains all 11 ministers of Nishank Cabinet

Dehradun, September 11
Major General Bhuvan Chander Khanduri (retd) was today sworn in as the sixth Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, replacing Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who was dumped by the BJP high command, which is desperately looking to refurbish the party’s image for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Governor Margret Alva administered the oath of office and secrecy to Khanduri, who gets back in the saddle after more than two years, at a simple ceremony here.
After the party high command announced its decision to sack Nishank last night, senior party leaders from the state, accompanied by Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shanker Parsad, arrived in Dehradun today. Nishank went to the Governor, along with three of his Cabinet colleagues, to submit his resignation in the afternoon. His resignation was accepted.
Later, a meeting of the BJP state legislature party elected Khanduri as their leader. His name was proposed by the outgoing Chief Minister Nishank and seconded by Diwakar Bhatt, leader of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) (Diwakar faction), which is an ally of the BJP government.
After Khanduri, 11 ministers — including Rajinder Bhandari, an Independent, and Diwakar Bhatt — were also administered the oath of office and secrecy. All 11 ministers, who were part of the Nishank Cabinet, have been retained by Khanduri. The ministers, who took oath at the Rangers Ground here, were Matbar Singh Kandari, Banshi Dhar Bhagat, Prakash Pant, Diwakar Bhatt, Madan Kaushik, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Rajendra Singh Bhandari, Govind Singh Bist, Vijaya Barthwal, Khazan Das and Balwant Singh Bhoryal.
The elevation of Khanduri to the top post was preceded by intense political struggle within the Uttarakhand BJP that has been plagued by internal dissensions since very beginning. Uttarakhand came into being in 2000 and in the past 11 years, the BJP has been in power for almost six years (it ruled the state from November 2000 to March 2002 as an interim arrangement and then again came back to power after winning the Assembly poll in February 2007). In these six years, the party has changed five Chief Ministers. Khanduri is related to Garhwal’s veteran leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. Bahuguna was his maternal uncle.
Born on October 1, 1934, Khanduri joined the BJP after his retirement. In 1991 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP wanted Khanduri to contest from Pauri Garhwal segment but he refused to do so as the Congress was planning to field his cousin Vijay Bahuguna from the constituency.
But at the eleventh hour, the Congress decided to field Satpal Maharaj and Khanduri defeated him to enter the Lok Sabha.
In the 1996 General Election, he lost to Satpal Maharaj but was re-elected in 1998 and 1999 elections and became the Chief Whip of the party. Khanduri was inducted as a Union Minister of State with Independent charge of the Surface Transport and Highways Ministry and elevated to the Cabinet in 2003. In 2004, he was again elected from Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat.
A favourite of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Khanduri was made the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand after the BJP won the 2007 Assembly elections.
However, unlike his smooth tenure at the Centre, he started facing hurdles from his own partymen from the very beginning during his first stint as the Chief Minister.
It was former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who, along with party legislators, revolted against Khanduri. While party legislators revolted against his style of functioning, the results of the 2006 Lok Sabha elections - in which BJP lost all five state seats - finally resulted in Khanduri’s removal.