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THURSDAY l JANUARY 24 l 2013

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TheIndian EXPRESS
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Goa school girl rape: I am being made scapegoat, says headmistress L K Advani congratulates Rajnath Singh on being elected BJP president Jairam Ramesh calls for development of tribals to root out Maoist menace Political conspiracy to tarnish my image, alleges Nitin Gadkari

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Family first told cardiac arrest, then suicide; autopsy confirms murder
GOPU MOHAN
CHENNAI, JANUARY 23

NHAI consultant killed, kin recall Satyendra Dubey case

two different numbers. Some office staff then broke into Thomass flat, and reportedly found him unconscious. He was taken to hospital, where he was declared brought dead. But the accident register (4568082) at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital recorded that Thomas was brought in at 12:45 pm by Anil John, the project manager, who reportedly informed the hospital authorities that he was found hanging. The doctors noted that there was a ligature mark on his neck and his tongue was protruding, indicating a case of strangulation. A case was registered (1610/12) at the B-4 Race Course Police Station, Coimbatore, under Section 174 of CrPC (suicide or suspicious death). Last week, the autopsy report confirmed that Thomas had been murdered. The main door of the flat has a self-locking system if the button on the knob is pressed on exit. The inside latch was not locked. This means whoever murdered my father came in with his permission and also knew how the lock system worked. It is a clear indication that someone known to my father is involved in the crime, said Suraj. We are following some leads. The SIT is interrogating everyone who was in touch with Thomas or dealt with the project. However, as of now there is nothing to show that the manager or others suspected by the relatives would benefit from the murder. So far, we have not been able to establish a motive, said Inspector T H Ganesan, who is heading the special team

Verma panel recommends sweeping changes in laws

and former solicitor-general Gopal Subramaniam, received more than 80,000 suggestions. Observing that women in conflict area are entitled to all the rights and justice and that sexual violence by armed forces and uniformed men in conflict areas should be brought under ordinary criminal law, the panel has recommendedthat thereisanimminent need to review the continuance of AFSPA and AFSPA-like legal protocols in internal conflict areas as soon as possible. This is necessary for determining the propriety ofresortingtothislegislationin the area(s) concerned. Among other recommendations, the committee has suggested appointment of special commissioners with adequate powers to redress complaints of sexual violence against women in conflict areas, addition of section 166 A (public servant knowingly disobeying direction of law) to the Indian Penal Code to punish government servants who dont promptly register a FIR on complaints of sexual crimes against women, making stalking and voyeurism a penal offence, bringing marital rape also under the definition of rape and tightening existing laws dealing with sexual crimes, including molestation and indecent behavior. Under the proposed law, intentional touching of women by a man, using of words or gestures to create an unwelcome threat will be punishable with a fine and maximum imprisonment of 5 years and 1 year respectively. The panel has recommended that public servants not registering FIRs in sexual crimes should be punished with rigorous punishment that could extend to five years with a fine. The committee has also recommended a Bill of Rights for women on the lines of countries such as New Zealand and South Africa. This law is aimed at protecting womens right to life, security and bodily integrity apart from democratic rights and rights to secured spaces in terms of housing and shelter. It also suggested minor changes under section 326 of IPC (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) where the panel recommended compensation and damages to the victim with a punishment of 10 years which can go up to life imprisonment. The panel also suggested the introduction of new sections such as 354 A assault or use of criminal force on women with intent to disrobe her, where punishment will be not less than three years and can go up to seven years with a fine; section 354 B voyeurism, where punishment for first conviction shall be one year but may be extended to three years with fine; and section 354 C - stalking where the punishment may vary between one and three years. Contrary to the government calling rape as sexual assault in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2012, the committee said that under the proposed amendment, rape will be defined as rape and not sexual assault. It also recommended amending section 376 to include 376 (1) which says punishment for rape will range from seven years to life imprisonment. A new section 376 (3) has been proposed to punish death caused while committing rape and where the punishment may vary between 20 years to entire life in prison. Another new section, 376 B, defining and punishing rape of an underage person shall be added where punishment shall not be less than 10 years and can be extended to life imprisonment. Gangrape shall be defined and punished by a new section, 376 C, where punishment can be 20 years and extend to life imprisonment, the committee said. A new crime of gangrape causing death or vegetative state shall be added under section 376 D, where the punishment of entire life in jail is suggested. For repeat rapists, a new section 376 E suggests punishment of entire life in jail.

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Crimes against women: Justice Verma committee likely to give its report today Police journal carries apology for cop's controversial poem

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India-Pak water talks postponed

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 23

THE annual talks between the water secretaries of India and Pakistan scheduled to be held this month end has been postponed, officials said. This is the second bilateral engagement to be put off against the backdrop of simmering tension between the neighbours sparked by ceasefire violations along the Line of Control. PM Manmohan Singh has alreadymadeitclearthatthere could benobusinessasusual with Pakistan after two Indian soldiers were killed and one of their bodies mutilated by Pakistan soldiers. The water secretaries of both the countries were to meet in Islamabad this month end to discuss outstanding issues, including differences over the Tulbul navigation project in Jammu and Kashmir. The new dates for the meeting have not been worked out yet. The last and tenth round of water secretary level talks were held in New Delhi in March last year. Sources said Pakistan had on November 7 last year proposed that the water-secretary level talks could be made the first official engagement between the two countries in 2013 and be held in March. The Pakistan Foreign Ministry had conveyed this to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. New Delhi, subsequently, responded and suggested that the talks be held in January. While the exact reason for the postponement of talks was not specified, officials claimed that the retirement of Water Secretary Dhruv Vijay Singh who is to lead the delegation to Islamabad on January 31 was one of the factors. New Delhi, sources said, wanted continuity in talks. The government has already appointed 1979 batch IAS officer S K Sarkar, who is currently Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel And Training, as the next Water Secretary.

TS been over 40 days since Paulose Thomas, an expert consultant for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), was found dead in his apartment in Coimbatore. His family was first told that he had suffered a cardiac arrest. Then they were informed that he had hanged himself. But the autopsy report ruled out suicide or cardiac arrest, confirming a case of murder instead. As team leader for Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats (ICT), Thomas, 68, was entrusted by the NHAI to oversee the quality of work on the four/ six-laning of NH 47, from Chengapalli near Coimbatore to Walayar on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. The nearly Rs 1,000crore project is being undertaken by infrastructure firm IVCRL Chengapalli Tollway Ltd on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis for a concession period of 27 years. Thomass family members have alleged that his death could be connected to the project. His son, Dr Suraj Thomas, a surgeon in London, drew parallels with the case of Satyendra Dubey, the NHAI engineer who was killed in Bihar in 2003 after he blew the whistle on irregularities in the Golden Quadrilateral highway project. The night before his death, my father tried to contact the manager four times, but his calls went unanswered. Perhaps he saw something suspicious in some file. I am sure there was some business

Thomas was overseeing quality of work on NH 47 motive to the murder, as in the case of Satyendra Dubey. The police should look at the bills and other contract-related documents before and after my fathers murder, said Suraj, alleging the involvement of his fathers colleagues. Thomas, a Kerala State Public Works Department engineer who retired in 1998, had joined ICT about 18 months ago. On December 11, at about 11:30 am, his family in Muvattupuzha, in Ernakulam district, Kerala, received a call from a colleague, identified as Ravindran, saying that he had been found unconscious in his apartment. The family members were told that Thomas was suspected to have suffered a cardiac arrest, and that he had complained of chest pain when he left office the previous day. They were told that Thomass driver had called him in the morning as usual, but did not receive any answer. According to phone records, the driver made the first call at 8:41 am, and then at 10:36 am. The phone records showed two more calls from

probing the case. Thomass family members have alleged that his colleagues tried to avoid a postmortem examination. But Coimbatore city police commissioner A K Viswanathan said it was the relatives who initially tried to avoid an autopsy. But we insisted on conducting the examination as is mandatory under the law, he said. We have questioned his fellow workers several times but nothing concrete has emerged. We have no substantial evidence at the moment, but are not ruling out anything, said Viswanathan. Nothing has come to our knowledge about any kind of irregularity in the project, there is nothing on record. ICT has limited role in the project... we only monitor the quality of work done no agreement, no bills or any payment, said Suresh Kumar Puri, one of the presidents of the consultant company under which the ICT staff at Coimbatore function. Ganesh Kumar, a senior NHAI engineer who has been deputedtooverseetheproject, said in such BOT projects, the money comes from the contractor and not from the government. The investigation teamcontactedmeseekingdetails about the functioning of such projects, he said, adding that he has not found anything to indicate professional reasons behind the death. I know nothing can bring back my father, but I want to make sure that the culprits are brought to justice. I will fight to the end to see that happen, said Suraj.

New BJP chief Rajnath tells Gadkari you are not alone
In an apparent assurance to the RSS, Singh told Gadkari: You are not alone, the whole BJP will remain firmly behind you in this battle for justice. Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari sought to take the moral high ground, saying he volunteered to step down and suggested that a new person should be considered for the top job in the wake of attempts to malign the party by raking up allegations under a political conspiracy against him. He claimed that he had suggested Singhs name as an alternative. Urging party cadres to shed their differences, Advani said: We in the BJP have to prove that we are a party with a difference and not the party with differences as our opponents try to make it out to be. He expressed his satisfaction that Singh was elected unanimously to lead the party. Speaking to the media later, Singh said enhancing mutual coordination within the party leadership was on top of his agenda. Enhancing mutual coordination is a priority for me, he said. I called up Shri Rajnath Singhji and congratulated him. He brings with him vast experience of both organisation and administration, tweeted Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan chose to be present for Singhs election. While the BJP is likely to hold its national council meeting in mid-February to ratify his election, Singh indicated today that he would continue with the existing central office bearers till then. Advani today also hoped that Singh would restore the BJPs glory in Uttar Pradesh, which holds the key to the partys performance in the Lok Sabha polls next year. Singh faces an uphill task in this context, given the BJPs poor performance during the UP Assembly elections less than a year ago. He also faces the challenge of halting the BJPs decline in Karnataka, following the exit of party stalwart B S Yeddyurappa. Singh today did not rule out the possibility of trying to get Yeddyurappa back in the party fold. Addressing party workers gathered at the BJP headquarters, Singh attacked the ruling Congress and exhorted the cadres to bring the BJPled NDA to power. He targeted Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde for his Hindu terror remarks and alleged that this was part of Congresss attempts to infuse communal poison in the society. Defending RSS as a nationalist organisation, he alleged that the Congress was trying to malign it.

Now you can call up from train to complain about food

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 23

India will continue training Lanka troops outside TN: Antony

NEW DELHI: India will continue training Sri Lankan military personnel despite protests by a few political parties but will ensure that this training is carried outside of Tamil Nadu, Defence Minister AK Antony has said. There are military institutionsinmanypartsofIndiaand outside Tamil Nadu also. On one side, we will respect sentiments of Tamil Nadu and we willavoidthatarea.Atthesame time, in other institutions, we will complete the training as per our commitment, he said in reply to queries on the military training programme. When asked to comment onSriLankanForeignMinister G L Peiriss view that Tamil Nadu politicians are cynical in raising objections over training of military personnel, he said, I do not subscribe to the view that objections or sentiments raised by Tamil Nadu leaders are cynical. Even now, the relief and rehabilitation is not goingontheexpectedspeed. ENS

NOW you can call up a toll free number from anywhere in the country to complain about the quality of the food served on trains. Railways has pressed into service its nationwide, centralised call centre dedicated to food-related matters, which will attend to complaints in real-time, which means immediately. The number, 1800-111321, will be operational all days between 7 am and 10 pm. The moment it receives any complaint from a passenger about food quality, quantity overcharging etc, it will contact the catering manager of the vendor on board the train to fix it during the course of the journey. We have also formed local squads to carry out surprise checks on trains for catering and cleanliness-related issues

toseethatthesystemisworking perfectly, said Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. Railways may also come up with its first food-testing laboratory so that complaints of quality and hygiene can be checked. Railwayshasdecidedtoextend the catering contracts of allvendorsservingfoodonpremium trains like Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Durontos for another four months, during which the ministry will firm up new contracts to be awarded with revised guidelines. The new contracts will be for five years extendable for another five subject to performance. As per the revised norms, the number of trains each catering company can serve may be reduced further and this time, every catering vendor will have to operate out of modern, state-of-the-art base kitchens from major stations. The aim is to come up with

around 250 such base kitchens across India. The base kitchens might take a year to come up. We will provide the land at nominal rate of one rupee per square foot to set up the base kitchens, which is over and above the license fee we charge. Vendors will have to abide by a set of new standards for these kitchens, Bansal said. To make sure that vendors serve only known, branded products on certain items like curd and bread, the ministry is in the process of empanelling brands for these products so that only these brands can be served in the railway premises. Railways annually suffers a loss of around Rs 54 crore in the total food business estimated to be around Rs 1919 crore. There are about 5.22 lakh meals served on rail premises.

Shocked to see Home Secy patting top cop

in their duty, Justice Verma, who headed the three-member committee, told a news conference. The chief of Delhi Police should have taken responsibility for the incident, and could have at least tendered an apology for having failed to do his job, Verma said. The committee said that its request for data from ministers, governments and concerned officials had got only a lukewarm response. DGPs of many states had failed to respond to the panel, and something needs to be done to review the appointment of the DGPs, Justice Verma said. The panel noted the peculiarity of the city government in that it has no control over the police the reason given by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to bypass responsibility. This ambiguity must be removed forthwith so that there is no divided responsibility in Delhi in respect of maintenance of law and order, Verma said. He also criticised citizens who allowed the victim and her friend to lie unattended on the road for long, an apathy that he described as being equally shocking. Verma said he had decided to submit the report within a month after being approached by a senior minister on December 23, and now expected the government to act equally seriously. When a senior cabinet minister approached me on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, I asked him when is the next session of Parliament. The minister told me that the (budget) session will start on February 21. There were two months. So I decided lets do it in 30 days. If we are able to do it in half the time available, then the government with its might and resources should also act fast, Verma said.

Apex court puts down norms to forbid adjournments of trials under NDPS Act
UTKARSH ANAND
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 23

Security up ahead of R-Day as ULFA targets police station

GUWAHATI: Security has been stepped up across Assam as the anti-talk faction of ULFA, which had earlier called for a boycott of Republic Day, targeted a police station in Sivasagar district bordering Nagaland on Tuesday. One policeman was injured when a group of rebels fired indiscriminately on the police station. Official sources said there were intelligence reports of anti-talk ULFA faction leader Paresh Barua asking cadres to target police and security personnel particularly in upper Assam districts as also the state capital. While a group of ULFA militants attacked the Namtola police station in Sivasagar district on Tuesday, 11 rebel outfits of the region. ENS

REGRETTING the laxity and callousness with which people are put behind the bar while trials move at a snails pace, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that no adjournment shall be granted by any court in drug cases. It also passed a direction to set up exclusive courts in states to handle such cases. A Bench of Justices D k Jain and J S Khehar passed a slew of directives to ensure that the rights of accused to speedy trial is not diluted due to the existing lacuna in the trials conducted under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The court also called for

The Bench passed several directives for

putting in place required infrastructure and engaging trained manpower for swift trials
the notification of a Code of Criminal Procedure provision prescribing stern rules against adjournments. We direct that no NDPS court would grant adjournments at the request of a party except where the circumstances are beyond the control of the party. This must be treated as an exception... Adherence to this principle would go a long way..., it said while incorporating a suggestion by amicus curiae Anita Shenoy. It directed courts to return to the erstwhile method of holding sessions trials and examining witnesses on consecutive days over a block period of 3-4 days. The court said that those accused in NDPS cases should be given chargesheets and other documents in electronic form. The Bench passed several directives for putting in place required infrastructure and engaging trained manpower for swift trials. Each state, in consultation with the High Court is directed to establish Special Courts to deal with offences under the NDPS Act. The number of these courts must

be proportionate to, and sufficient for, handling the volume of pending cases in the state, ordered the court. The court ordered for a qualitative and quantitative overhaul of the forensic labs and asked the Centre and states to set up such laboratories with adequate staff. The apex court also called for appointment of nodal officers in the departments dealing with the NDPS cases. The directions came on an appeal by one Thana Singh, who was charged with an offence under the NDPS Act, entailing a maximum jail term of 20 years. He has spent 12 years in jail but the trial was yet to start. His bail requests too were turned down, compelling him to move the apex court. The court has granted him bail.

Gangrape victim attempts suicide in Ahmedabad court

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JANUARY 23

A GANGRAPE victim allegedly attempted suicide before a Metropolitan magistrate here on Wednesday after the hearing in her case was adjourned for three months. As she consumed the pesticide, leading to a huge commotion in the court-

room, magistrate S V Parekh left the room. The woman in her early thirties was rushed to V S Hospital where her condition is said to be stable. The woman was allegedly gangraped in 2007 by four employees of M J garment store located at CTM circle in Ahmedabad. There are seven accused including two women who are

said to be part of the conspiracy. She alleged that the main accused Mahesh Vaishnav, the owner of the store, along with three other employees of the store spiked her drink and raped her on April 6, 2007. Initially the victim narrated the incident to her mother but avoided approaching police out of fear.