Delhi underground : A different tint

No grey area

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg wants to ensure that all doubts regarding the rules enforced by him are cleared in time. After the traffic police began their crackdown on tinted car windows,Garg updated his Facebook account with a declaration: “Does my official or personal car carry film… There have been queries whether my official or personal car has black film. Answer is NO. I would never enforce a law,which I do not follow myself. By the way,I do not have a personal car but my wife,who is a doctor working for GOI,has a car and the same does not have a black film. We would ensure that most the powerful man in the city also abides by this law. We would make examples out of powerful people violating rules.”

‘Legal’ sting

The Delhi High Court turned the tables on a petitioner who had claimed illegal construction at another person’s home in Gautam Nagar,South Delhi. After the lawyer for the other property owner told the court that the petitioner had demanded Rs 25 lakh in lieu of not filing the plea,the bench headed by Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri asked for the recorded evidence. “There is a video-recording establishing his conversation about the money with the father of the property owner against whom this application has been filed,” the counsel had told the court. Justice Sikri asked for the CD and the transcript of the reported negotiation. “The MCD shall also take action if any part of the petitioner’s property is unauthorised. We will pass rest of the orders after watching the CD,” said the judge.

I swear…

Oath-taking proved a tough task for some councillors elected to the East Municipal Corporation. A few councillors were unable to take oath as they did not know how to read. As a result,an official from the Municipal Secretary department,who was hosting the swearing-in ceremony,had to stand behind the councillors and prompt them.

Holds no water

The Chief Minister has been trying to put on hold a few of the bureaucratic transfers in her Cabinet,both before and after the Commonwealth Games. So,when the Home ministry once again ordered the transfer of then DJB CEO Ramesh Negi last month,the Delhi government tried to stay it. Unaware of the political developments,the embarrassment came when the Ministry sent a show-cause notice to Negi,asking him to explain another deferment in his transfer. Left with no option,the Delhi government finally decided to replace Negi with Debashree Mukherjee (UT-91) — seven years junior to her predecessor — with orders that were passed on Sunday. Mukherjee is the first woman to be heading the water utility ever since its constitution in 1998.

Metro unmanned?

Delhi Metro’s former Managing Director E Sreedharan was missed on the 18th Foundation Day of the agency. Unlike the previous years,this time the preparations for the ceremony seemed lax — the sound system was acting up,the citations were left unread and the sequence of events went haywire. Many in the audience were heard saying the event had lost its glory with the ‘Metroman’ now gone.