‘Forced’ marriage: ‘Record minor’s statement’

Nearly two months after her wedding,the girl escaped and sought action against her husband and the sarpanch.

HUDA plot allotment to go to larger bench

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday referred the issue of allotment of institutional plots advertised for sale by the Haryana Urban Development Authority in Faridabad to a larger bench for adjudication. The directions were passed by a division bench headed by Justice Hemant Gupta on a bunch of petitions that challenged the allotment. The case has been sent to the Chief Justice of Punjab and the Haryana High Court,requesting the Chief Justice to constitute a larger bench.

Notices on power dues of Fatehabad bar body

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to Haryana and Dakshan Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN),Fatehabad,and the Registrar of High Court on an appeal filed by the Fatehabad District Bar Association.

The appeal has been filed against the judgment,dated January 9,passed by a single Bench on the issue of liability to pay electricity bills for the bar room and bar library of the said association.

The bar association has stated in the public interest litigation that it is not liable to pay the arrears of the electricity bills — Rs 4.50 lakh — for the bar room and bar library in view of a ruling given by a division bench of the High Court,headed by Justice M M Kumar.

In a different case,the division bench of the High Court had noted that the electricity bill of the bar room and bar library had to be paid by the administration of the High Court,since the bar room and bar library of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association were an integral part of the High Court complex.

Earlier,the appellant association had approached the High Court through a petition against the action of the DHBVN in disconnecting electricity connection to their bar room and bar library. A single Bench of the High Court had directed the DHBVN to restore the connection,subject to the final outcome of the petition.

However,another single bench had on January 9 directed the bar association to pay 50 per cent of the electricity dues within a month from the date of the said order,and to pay the remaining dues within the next six months.

Haryana told to file status report on rights panel

The Haryana government has yet again failed to convene a meeting on the issue of having a human rights commission in the state.

On the last date of hearing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court,the Haryana government had given an undertaking that a meeting would be held to decide the issue on January 31. However,counsel for Haryana on Monday told the High Court that the said meeting would take place on February 17.

Taking the statement on record,the High Court directed the state to file a status report and posted the case for March 6.

The development took place during the resumed hearing of a PIL filed by People’s Union for Civil Liberty,Panchkula. The petitioner had alleged that despite several cases of murder and other offences,the Haryana government had failed to set up a human rights commission.