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2THURSDAY l JANUARY 24 l 2013

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

NEWDELHI, JANUARY 23

THEannualtalksbetweenthewater secretariesof India andPakistanscheduledtobeheldthismonthendhasbeenpost-poned, officials said. This isthe second bilateral engage-menttobe putoffagainstthebackdrop of simmering ten-sion between the neighbourssparkedbyceasefireviolationsalongtheLineofControl.

PMManmohanSinghhasalreadymadeitclearthattherecouldbenobusinessasusual

with Pakistanaftertwo Indiansoldierswerekilledandoneoftheir bodiesmutilated byPak-istansoldiers.

The water secretaries ofboth the countries were tomeetinIslamabadthismonthendto discussoutstanding is-sues, including differencesover the Tulbul navigationproject in Jammu and Kash-mir. The new dates for themeeting have not been

worked out yet. The last andtenthround ofwater secretarylevel talks were held in NewDelhiin Marchlastyear.

SourcessaidPakistanhadon November 7 last year pro-posedthat thewater-secretarylevel talks could be made thefirst official engagement be-

tween the two countries in2013 and be held in March.ThePakistanForeignMinistryhad conveyed this to the In-dian High Commission in Is-lamabad. New Delhi, subse-quently, responded andsuggested that the talks beheldinJanuary.

Whiletheexactreasonforthepostponementof talkswasnotspecified, officialsclaimedthat the retirement of WaterSecretary Dhruv Vijay Singh who is to lead the delega-tiontoIslamabadonJanu-ary 31 was one of the factors.New Delhi, sources said,

wanted contin uity in talks.The government has alreadyappointed1979 batchIASoffi-cer S K Sarkar, who is cur-

rentlyAdditionalSecretaryintheDepartmentof PersonnelAnd Training, as the next Wa-terSecretary.

India-Pak

water talkspostponed

and former solicitor-generalGopalSubramaniam,receivedmorethan 80,000suggestions.

Observingthatwomeninconflictareaareentitledtoalltherightsandjusticeandthatsexual violence by armed

forces and uniformed men inconflict areas should bebroughtunderordinarycrimi-nallaw,thepanelhasrecom-mendedthat thereis animmi-nent need to review thecontinuance of AFSPA and

AFSPA-likelegal protocolsininternalconflictareasas soonas possible. This is necessaryfordeterminingthe proprietyofresorting tothislegislationinthearea(s) concerned.

Among otherrecommen-dations, the committee hassuggestedappointmentofspe-cial commissioners with ade-quate powers toredresscom-plaints of sexual violenceagainst women in conflict ar-eas,addition ofsection166 A(publicservantknowinglydis-

obeyingdirectionoflaw)totheIndian Penal Code to punishgovernment servants whodontpromptlyregistera FIRoncomplaintsofsexualcrimesagainstwomen,makingstalk-ingand voyeurism a penalof-fence, bringing marital rapealso under the definition ofrape and tightening existinglaws dealing with sexualcrimes, including molestationandindecent behavior.

Under the proposed law,

intentionaltouchingofwomenby a man, using of words orgestures to create an unwel-comethreatwillbepunishable

with a fine and maximum im-prisonment of 5 years and 1

year respec tively. Th e panel

hasrecommendedthatpublicservants not registering FIRsinsexualcrimesshouldbepun-ished with rigorous punish-mentthatcouldextendto five

yearswith a fine.The committee has also

recommendeda BillofRightsfor women on the lines ofcountries such as NewZealand and South Africa.Thislawisaimedatprotecting

womens right to life, securityandbodilyintegrityapartfromdemocraticrightsandrightstosecured spaces in terms ofhousingandshelter.

It also suggested minorchanges under section 326 ofIPC(voluntarilycausinggriev-oushurt)wherethepanelrec-ommendedcompensationand

damages to the victim with apunishmentof 10yearswhichcangouptolifeimprisonment.

The panel also suggestedthe introduction of new sec-tions such as 354 A assaultor use of criminal force on

women with intent to disrobeher,wherepunishmentwillbenot less than three years andcangouptosevenyearswithaf ine; section 354 B

voyeurism,wherepunishmentforfirstconvictionshallbe one

year but ma y be extended tothreeyearswithfine; andsec-tion354C-stalkingwherethepunishmentmayvarybetweenoneandthreeyears.

Contrary to the govern-mentcallingrapeassexual

assault in the Criminal Law(Amendment) Bill 2012, thecommitteesaidthatundertheproposed amendment, rape

will bedefined asrape andnotsexual assault. It also recom-mendedamendingsection376to include 376 (1) which sayspunishmentforrapewillrangefromsevenyearstolifeimpris-onment.Anewsection376(3)has been proposed to punishdeath caused while commit-ting rape and where the pun-ishment mayvary between20

yearsto entirelife in prison.Another new section, 376

B,definingandpunishingrapeofanunderagepersonshallbeaddedwherepunishmentshallnot be less than 10 years andcanbeextendedtolifeimpris-

onment.Gangrapeshallbede-fined and punished by a newsection,376 C, wherepunish-ment can be 20 years and ex-tendtolifeimprisonment,thecommitteesaid.

A new crime of gangrapecausing death or vegetativestateshallbeaddedundersec-tion376 D,where thepunish-mentofentirelifeinjailissug-gested. For repeat rapists, anew section 376 E suggestspunishmentofentirelifeinjail.

in their duty, Justice Verma,who headed the three-mem-ber committee, told a newsconference. The chief ofDelhi Police should havetaken responsibility for theincident, and could have atleasttenderedanapology forhaving failed to do his job,Vermasaid.

The committee said thatitsrequestfor datafrommin-

isters,governmentsand con-cerned officialshadgot onlyalukewarmresponse.

DGPsofmanystateshadfailed to respond to thepanel,and something needsto be done to review the ap-pointment of the DGPs,JusticeVerma said.

Thepanelnotedthepe-culiarity of the city govern-mentin thatithasno controloverthepolice thereasongiven by Chief MinisterSheila Dikshit to bypass re-sponsibility.

This ambiguity must beremoved forthwith so thatthere is no divided responsi-bility in Delhi in respect ofmaintenance of law and or-

der,Vermasaid.He alsocriticisedcitizenswho allowe d the victi m andher friend to lie unattendedon the road for long,an apa-thy that he described as be-ing equallyshocking.

Verma said he had de-cided to submit the report

with in a m onth after bein gapproachedby aseniorminis-teronDecember23,andnowexpected the government toactequally seriously.

When a senior cabinetminister approached me onbehalf of Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, I askedhim whenis thenext sessionofParliament.The ministertold me that the (budget)

session will start on Febru-ary 21. There were twomonths. So I decided letsdo it in 30 days. If we areable to do it in half the timeavailable, then the govern-ment with its might and re-sources should a lso actfast, Verma said.

In an apparent assuranceto the RSS, Singh told Gad-

kari: You are not alone, thewhole BJP will remain fi rmlybehind you in this battle for

justice.Speakingon theoccasion,

Gadkari sought to take themoral highground,sayinghevolunteeredto stepdow n andsuggested that a new per-son should be considered forthe top job in the wake of at-temptstomalignthepartybyrakingup allegationsunder apolitical conspiracy againsthim. He claimed that he hadsuggestedSinghs nameas analternative.

Urging party cadres toshedtheir differences, Ad-

vanisaid: Wein theBJP haveto prove that we are a party

with a difference and not the

party with differences as ouropponentstryto makeitouttobe.Heexpressedhis satisfac-tion that Singh was electedunanimously to lead theparty.

Speaking to the medialater, Singh said enhancing

mutualcoordinationwithinthe party leadership was ontopofhis agenda.Enhancingmutual coordination is a pri-orityforme,hesaid.

I called up Shri RajnathSinghji and congratulatedhim. He brings with him vastexperience of both organisa-tion and administration,tweetedGujaratChiefMinis-ter Narendra Modi earlier inthe day. Madhya PradeshChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhanchosetobe presentforSinghselection.

While the BJP is likely toholditsnationalcouncilmeet-ing in mid-February to ratifyhis election, Singh indicatedtodaythat he wouldcontinue

with theexisting centraloffice

bearerstillthen.Advani today also hoped

that Singh would restore theBJPs glory in Uttar Pradesh,

whic h holds the key to thepartys performance in the

Lok Sabha polls next year.Singh faces an uphill task in

this context, given the BJPspoorperformanceduringtheUP Assembly elections lessthanayearago.

He also faces the chal-lenge ofhaltingthe BJPs de-cline in Karnataka, followingthe exit of party stalwart B SYeddyurappa.Singhtoday didnot rule out the possibility oftrying to get Yeddyurappabackin thepartyfold.

Addressingparty workersgathered at the BJP head-quarters, Singh attacked therulingCongressandexhortedthe cadres to bring the BJP-led NDA to power. He tar-g et ed H om e M in is te rSushilkumar Shinde for hisHindu terror remarks andalleged that this was part of

Congresssattemptsto infusecommunalpoisonin theso-ciety.DefendingRSSasa na-tionalist organisation, he al-leged that the Congress wastryingtomalignit.

Verma panel recommendssweeping changes in laws

New BJP chief Rajnath tellsGadkari you are not alone

Security up ahead ofR-Day as ULFA targetspolicestationGUWAHATI: SecurityhasbeensteppedupacrossAssam astheanti-talkfactionof ULFA, whichhadearliercalledfora boycottofRepublicDay,targeteda policestationinSivasagardistrictbor-deringNagalandon Tuesday.Onepolicemanwasinjuredwhen agroupofrebelsfired indiscrimi-natelyonthe policestation.

Officialsourcessaid therewerein-telligencereportsofanti-talkULFAfactionleaderPareshBaruaaskingcadresto target policeand secu-

ritypersonnelparticularlyinupperAssamdistrictsasalsothestatecapital.Whilea groupofULFAmilitantsattackedthe NamtolapolicestationinSivasagardistrictonTuesday,11 rebeloutfitsoftheregion. ENS

Shocked tosee HomeSecy patting top cop

Apex court puts downnorms to forbid

adjournments of trials under NDPSActUTKARSHANAND

NEWDELHI, JANUARY 23

REGRETTINGthe laxityand callousness with

which people are put behindthebarwhiletrialsmoveatasnails pace, the SupremeCourt on Thursday orderedthatno adjournmentshallbegrantedby anycourtin drugcases. It also passed a direc-t ion to set up ex clusivecourts in states to handlesuchcases.

A Benc h of Ju stice s D kJainandJSKheharpassedaslew of directives to ensurethat the rights of accused tospeedy trial is not diluteddue to the existing lacuna inthe trials conducted underNarcotic Drugs and Psy-c ho tr op ic S ub st an ce s(NDPS)Act.

Thecourt alsocalledfor

thenotificationof a CodeofCriminal Procedure provi-sion prescribing stern rulesagainst adjournments. Wedirect that no NDPS court

wou ld gran t ad jou rnm entsat the request of a party ex-cept where the circum-stances are beyond the con-trol of the party. This mustbe treated as an exception...

Adhere nce to this p rinci plewou ld go a l ong way. .., itsaid while incorporating asuggestion by amicus curiae

Anita Shenoy .It directed courts to re-

turn to the erstwhilemethod of holding sessions

trials and examining wit-nesses on consecutive daysover a block period of 3-4days. The court said thatthoseaccusedinNDPScasesshouldbe givenchargesheetsandother documentsin elec-tronicform.

The Bench passed sev-eral directives for putting inplace required infrastruc-ture and engaging trainedmanpower for swift trials.Each state, in consultation

wit h the Hig h Cour t is di-rected to establish SpecialCourtstodeal withoffencesunder the NDPS Act. Thenumber ofthesecourtsmust

beproportionateto,and suf-ficientfor,handling the vol-ume of pending cases in thestate,orderedthe court.

The court ordered for aqualitativeand quantitativeoverhaulof theforensiclabsand asked the Centre andstatesto setup suchlaborato-rieswithadequatestaff.Theapexcourtalsocalledforap-pointment of nodal officersin the departments dealing

with the NDPS cases.The directions came on

an appeal by one ThanaSingh, whowas chargedwithan offence under the NDPS

Act , enta ili ng a maxi mumjail te rm of 20 years. He hasspent 12 years in jail but thetrialwasyetto start.Hisbailrequests too were turneddown, compelling him tomove the apex court. Thecourthas granted him bail.

Gangrape victim attemptssuicide in Ahmedabad court

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

AHMEDABAD,JANUARY 23

A GANGRAPE victim al-legedly attemptedsuicidebe-fore a Metropolitan magis-tratehereonWednesdayafterthehearinginhercasewasad-

journedfor threemonths.As she con sum ed the

pesticide, leading to a hugecommotion in the court-

room, magistrateS V Parekhlefttheroom. Thewomaninherearlythirtieswas rushedto V S Hospital where herconditionissaid tobe stable.

T h e w o m an w a s a l -legedly gangraped in 2007by four employees of M Jgarment store located atCTM circle in Ahmedabad.There are seven accused in-cluding two women who are

said to be part of the con-spiracy. Sheallegedthat them a in a cc u se d M a he shVaishnav, the owner of thestore, alongwiththreeotheremployees of the storespiked her drink and rapedher on April 6,2007.

Initially the victim nar-rated the incident to hermotherbutavoidedapproach-ingpoliceoutoffear.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

NEWDELHI, JANUARY 23

NOW you can call up a tollfree number from anywherein the country to complainabout the quality of the foodservedon trains. Railwayshaspressedinto serviceits nation-

wide, centrali sed cal l centrededicated to food-relatedmatters, which will attend to

complaints in real-time,which means immediately.

The number, 1800-111-321, will be operational alldaysbetween7amand10pm.The moment it receives anycomplaint from a passengerabout food quality, quantityovercharging etc, it will con-tact the catering manager ofthevendoronboardthetrainto fix it during the course ofthejourney.

We have also formed lo-calsquadstocarryoutsurprisechecks on trains for cateringand cleanliness-related issues

toseethatthesystemisworkingperfectly, said Railway Min-isterPawanKumarBansal.

Railways may also comeup with its first food-testinglaboratoryso thatcomplaintsof quality and hygiene can bechecked.

Railwayshasdecidedtoex-tend the catering contracts ofallvendorsservingfoodonpre-mium trains like Rajdhanis,

Shatabdis and Durontos foranother four months, during

which theministry will firm upnew contracts to be awarded

with r evised g uidelines. Thenew contracts will be for five

years extendable for anotherfivesubject toperformance.

As per the revised norms,the number of trains eachcatering company can servemay be reduced further andthis time, every catering ven-dorwillhavetooperateoutofmodern, state-of-the-artbasekitchensfrommajor stations.The aim is to come up with

around250such basekitchensacross India. The basekitchens might take a year tocomeup.

Wewill providethelandat nominal rate of one rupeeper square foot to set up thebase kitchens, which is overand above the license fee wecharge. Vendors will have toabide by a set of new stan-dards for these kitchens,

Bansalsaid.To make sure that ven-

dors serve only known,branded products on certainitemslikecurd andbread,theministry is in the process ofempanellingbrands fortheseproducts so that only thesebrands can be served in therailwaypremises.

Railways annuallysuffersalossofaroundRs54croreinthe total food business esti-mated to be around Rs 1919crore. There are about 5.22lakh meals served on railpremises.

Now you can call up from trainto complain about food

Indiawill continuetraining Lanka troopsoutside TN: Antony

NEWDELHI: India will con-tinuetrainingSriLankanmil-itary personnel despiteprotestsbyafewpoliticalpar-ties but will ensure that thistraining is carried outside ofTamil Nadu, Defence Minis-terAKAntonyhassaid.

Therearemilitaryinstitu-tionsinmanypartsofIndiaandoutside Tamil Nadu also. Ononeside,we willrespect senti-ments of Tamil Nadu and we

willavoidthatarea.Atthesame

time, in other institutions, wewill c omplete the training a sperour commitment,he saidinreplyto queries onthemili-tarytrainingprogramme.

When asked to commentonSriLankanForeignMinisterG L Peiriss view that TamilNadupoliticiansarecynicalinraisingobjectionsovertrainingof military personnel, he said,Ido notsubscribeto theviewthat objections or sentimentsraised by Tamil Nadu leadersare cynical. Even now, the re-liefandrehabilitationisnotgo-ingontheexpectedspeed. ENS

NHAI consultant killed, kinrecall Satyendra Dubey case

GOPUMOHAN

CHENNAI,JANUARY 23

ITS been over 40 dayssincePauloseThomas,an

expert consultant for theNationalH ighways Authorityof India (NHAI), was founddead in his apartment inCoimbatore. His family wasfirsttoldthathehad sufferedacardiacarrest.Thentheywereinformed thathe hadhangedhimself. But the autopsy re-port ruled out suicide or car-diacarrest,confirming a caseofmurderinstead.

As team leader for Inter-continental Consultants andTechnocrats (ICT), Thomas,68, was entrusted by theNHAI to oversee the qualityofworkonthefour/six-laningof NH 47, from Chengapallinear Coimbatore to Walayaron the Tamil Nadu-Keralaborder. The nearly Rs 1,000-

crore project is being under-taken by infrastructure firmIVCRL Chengapalli TollwayLtdon design,build, finance,operateandtransferbasisforaconcessionperiodof27years.

Thomass family mem-bers have alleged that hisdeath could be connected totheproject. Hisson,Dr SurajThomas, a surgeon in Lon-don, drew parallels with thecaseof SatyendraDubey, theNHAI engineer who waskilledinBiharin2003afterheblewthewhistleonirregulari-tiesin theGolden Quadrilat-eralhighwayproject.

The night before hisdeath,my fathertriedto con-tact the manager four times,buthiscallswentunanswered.Perhaps he saw something

suspicious in some file. I amsurethere wassome business

motivetothemurder,asinthecaseofSatyendraDubey.Thepoliceshould lookatthe billsand other contract-relateddocuments before and aftermy fathers murder, saidSuraj, alleging the involve-ment of his fathers col-leagues.

Thomas, a Kerala StatePublicWorksDepartment en-

gineer who retired in 1998,had joined ICT about 18months ago. On December11,atabout11:30am,hisfam-ily in Muvattupuzha, in Er-nakulam district, Kerala, re-ceivedacallfromacolleague,identified as Ravindran, say-ingthathehadbeenfoundun-consciousin hisapartment.

Thefamilymembersweretold that Thomas was sus-pectedtohave suffereda car-diac arrest, and that he hadcomplained of chest pain

when he left office the previ-ous day. They were told thatThomass driver had calledhim in the morning as usual,but did not receive any an-swer. According to phonerecords, the driver made thefirstcallat8:41am,andthenat

10:36am. Thephonerecordsshowed two more calls from

twodifferentnumbers.Someoffice staff then broke intoThomassflat,and reportedlyfound him unconscious. He

was taken to hospital, wher e

hewas declaredbroughtdead.But the accident register

(4568082) atthe CoimbatoreMedical College Hospitalrecorded that Thomas wasbroughtinat12:45pmbyAnilJohn, the project manager,

who reportedly informed thehospital authorities that he

was found hanging.The doctors noted that

there was a ligature mark onhis neck and his tongue wasprotruding, indicating a caseof strangulation. A case wasregistered(1610/12)at theB-4Race Course Police Station,Coimbatore, under Section174ofCrPC(suicideorsuspi-cious death). Last week, theautopsyreportconfirmed thatThomashadbeenmurdered.

Themaindooroftheflathasa self-lockingsystemif thebuttonontheknobis pressedon exit. The inside latch wasnot locked. This means who-ever murdered my fathercame in with his permissionand also knew how the locksystemworked.Itisaclearin-dicationthatsomeoneknowntomyfatherisinvolvedinthecrime,saidSuraj.

We are following someleads. The SIT is interrogat-ingeveryonewhowasintouch

with Thomas ordealt with theproject. However, as of nowthere is nothing to show thatthe manager or others sus-pected by therelativeswouldbenefit from the murder. Sofar, we have not been able toestablish a motive, said In-

spector T H Ganesan, who isheading the special team

probingthecase.Thomass family mem-

bershave alleged thathis col-leagues tried to avoid a post-mortem examination. But

Coimbatore city police com-missioner A K Viswanathansaid it was the relatives whoinitially tried to avoid an au-topsy.Butweinsistedoncon-ducting the examination as ismandatoryunderthelaw,hesaid.

We have questioned hisfellow workers several timesbut nothing concrete hasemerged.Wehavenosubstan-tial evidence at the moment,but are not ruling out any-thing,saidViswanathan.

Nothinghascometoourknowledge about any kind ofirregularity in the project,there is nothing on record.ICT has limited role in theproject...weonlymonitorthequality of work done no

agreement,nobillsor anypay-ment, said Suresh KumarPuri, one of the presidents ofthe consultant company un-der which the ICT staff atCoimbatorefunction.

Ganesh Kumar, a seniorNHAIengineer whohasbeendeputedtooverseetheproject,saidin suchBOTprojects, themoney comes from the con-tractor and not from the gov-ernment. The investigationteamcontactedmeseekingde-tails about the functioning ofsuchprojects,hesaid,addingthathehasnotfoundanythingto indicate professional rea-sonsbehind thedeath.

Iknownothingcanbringback my father, but I want tomakesurethattheculpritsarebroughttojustice.Iwillfightto

the end to see that happen,saidSuraj.

Family first told cardiac arrest, then suicide; autopsy confirms murder

Thomas was overseeingquality of work on NH 47

The Benchpassed several directivesforputting in place required infrastructure andengagingtrainedmanpower for swifttrials