Chandigarh Confidential: Second-term jinx

On Saturday,Vice-President Hamid Ansari was in Chandigarh for the golden jubilee celebrations of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana. At the function held at the PGI Auditorium,Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil and a long line of dignitaries gave eloquent speeches,which lasted half-an-hour to 45 minutes,or even more. All this had even the Emcee yawning,as she coaxed the fatigued audience to keep the music on (read clap). A welcome change was the chief guest himself. Ansari wrapped up his short,engaging speech in six minutes,leaving the audience visibly relieved and ready to cheer for his presidency. As the race for the Rashtrapati Bhawan hots up,Ansari can certainly do with all the good wishes he can gather.

Solar-powered sun-in-law

The head of a Haryana department is interested in the goings-on of another department much more than his own. The reason is that his father-in-law owns a solar power plant in the state. Our babu is highly concerned about the framing of all policies related to alternate energy sources. So much so,when he recently got a chance to head the other department for just two days,he eagerly lapped up the opportunity.

Margins matter

Wafer thin winning margins in some constituencies during the Assembly elections remain hot topics of discussion. Those with higher margins consider themselves “superior” to those who had just scraped through. Recently,Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali got upset at a function when he got less time to speak than his fellow MLAs who are otherwise senior to him. Ayali,after the function,told the organisers to keep in mind that he had won by more than 15,000 votes and not by just a few hundreds,as some others who were given more time to speak.

Look before you leap

While on the one hand,Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal,has recently issued orders to state officers to maintain decorum and punctuality and be available in offices from 9 am to 5 pm on every Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday to conduct official work and listen to the grievances of the people,the CM seems to forget that there is acute shortage of Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officers in Punjab. With many holding three to four additional charges,how can such officers can be present in offices at one time? For example,in Jalandhar there are around 20 cadre posts of PCS officers,but only four posts are occupied. The rest have either been filled by giving additional charge to subordinate officers,by re-employing retired PCS officers or giving additional charge to these four PCS officers.

Mum on Fauji

Haryana Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan Fauji’s case has turned murkier with the INLD demanding that circumstances leading to his present health condition should be investigated. Two weeks ago,Fauji was admitted to PGI Chandigarh following severe poisoning. The circumstances indicated that it was an alleged suicide attempt — he was found in a bathroom after breaking open the door. All kinds of rumours are doing the rounds about the incident. Recently,Ajay Singh Chautala had demanded a thorough probe into the incident and demanded that the state should come clean on Fauji’s condition. The government,has preferred to keep mum,which has further accelerated the pace of rumour mills.

Shake up

The change of guard at the top generally leads to a shake up. The new Haryana chief secretary effected his first administrative reshuffle,though it remained confined only to districts. Hence,suspense continues as to who will get what when the turn comes for the top bosses. Right now,there are many officers who were stuck to lucrative posts for a longer than required duration. The rat race to grab some plum posting has already started not only to the Chief Minister’s Office but to the new chief secretary’s office as well — especially by those who have been facing drought for many years now.

Posting in Mirchpur?

After failing to get “willing” police personnel to be posted at the police post in Hisar district’s Mirchpur village,where a major community clash took place last year,the Haryana Police has now outsourced the posts of three cooks and two sweepers who will be posted at the police post. After announcing and subsequently cancelling such recruitment for over four times,the police have again decided to hold a recruitment drive for the police post in Hisar on May 11.

Dalal gallery

With his tenure coming to an end in October,Haryana DGP Ranjiv Singh Dalal seems to be becoming more and more self-obsessed. Be it the waiting area next to his cabin in the police headquarters in Panchkula or the room at his camp office at Chandigarh residence,dozens of pictures showing Dalal in various poses is hanging on the walls. He also has a huge LCD screen in his headquarters office,on which a slideshow — showing his own pictures at different occasions,moods and in different attires — keeps running till the time he is in office. The situation is such that his subordinates have calling the waiting areas as “Dalal galleries”.

red-faced reprimand

After having received a dressing down from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for being mute spectators to the thrashing of a runaway couple outside the court,a few Punjab Police officers were reprimanded later by the state Advocate General (AG). For,the high court had immediately summoned the the AG and senior prosecutor for Chandigarh,expressing its serious displeasure over the inaction. Though the senior lawyers cut a sorry figure in the court,they ensured that the police officers bore the brunt later. The officers were allowed to leave only after they received an earful and warning from the AG.

Phew!

The news of Advocate Anupam Gupta having being designated a senior lawyer was a surprise for those in the fray. Eagerly awaiting the conclusion of the Full Court meeting held earlier this week,the 22 candidates were keeping a close watch through their “sources” when they heard a “rumour” that Gupta has been made senior lawyer suo motu. Refusing to believe this,some contestants — who had been busy completing paper work and necessary formalities to apply for the senior lawyer’s gown — were confused how to confirm the “rumour” till another rumour struck them. The other rumour,more discomforting,was that the Full Court (attended by all high court judges) had rejected all other names but suo motu made Gupta a senior lawyer. It took them little time to forget about Gupta,as they got busy in confirming their fate. Much to their relief,discussions on their names were only deferred till the next meeting.

Yet another turn

Having already seen umpteen adjournments,recusal from half-a-dozen judges,the PIL demanding action against Sacred Heart School for allegedly expelling Ruchika Girhotra at the behest of S P S Rathore,took an interesting turn earlier this week when the high court was “apprised” that the petitioner,an NGO,was not even registered. While counsel for the petitioner contested the claim,disgraced former DGP Rathore’s wife did not waste the opportunity to launch an attack on the petitioner. While she and her lawyer accused the petitioner of filing the petition to gain publicity,a lawyer representing a respondent suggested that the lawyer representing the NGO can file it in his personal capacity. However,the suggestion was unanimously rejected after the court and lawyers opined that the PIL has been hanging fire for the past two years and will result in unnecessary delay.

Dutiful son?

Doting son Sukhbir Singh Badal has been lobbying hard in New Delhi for his father Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to be the next vice-president. There are smirks in various quarters that this is killing two birds with one stone — Badal moves to Delhi and the way is clear for Sukhbir to take over the coveted office. Never mind what the humourous,witty Badal Senior has been telling friends in jest about keeping the reins in his hands: “Raaj te khaaj aap hi karke maza aanda hai. (There is nothing better than self when it comes to ruling and scratching oneself)”