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Journalism of Courage
Court asks for progress report on garbage case
The High Court has summoned Delhi’s Development Commissioner has to explain the progress in acquiring a plot for a landfill site for disposing of the city’s garbage. Acting Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice K.S. Gupta today asked Delhi government standing counsel Arvind Nigam to place before them the response of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on the allotment of the four landfill sites that the government had identified for the purpose.
During the hearing of a PIL filed by advocate B.L. Wadhera seeking a comprehensive plan for garbage disposal in Delhi, the court was told that the municipal landfill sites would be exhausted within the next six months. The MCD, in turn, had said that though the government had written to the DDA for the allotment of one of the four sites found suitable for use as a new landfill site, a response was awaited. The Central Pollution Control Board, the MCD and the NDMC were asked, on November 19, to inspect immediately a 168-acre site identified by the MCD.
Vijay Panjwani, counsel for the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), was asked to file the inspection report regarding the suitability of the sites, some of which are said to under the green belt. Panjwani, however, maintained that due to election process, the staff strength of CPCB got depleted because of which the inspection could not be carried out. The court had last week decided to take up the case on a weekly basis considering the seriousness of the issue.
3 witnesses depose in Personal Point case
Three prosecution witnesses deposed in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate N.K. Gupta in connection with the Personal Point triple murder case today. One witness was the father of one of the victims, Sujata Shah. The other two witnesses were a detective and a constable stationed at the Okhla police station. Sukumar Shah, father of Sujata Shah, confirmed that his daughter had accompanied Dr Sunil Kaul on June 6, 1996. He told the court that it was Kaul’s wife, Shobha, who informed him that Kaul, Sujata and Deepa Gupta (the third victim) had visited Subhash Gupta’s Okhla factory and that Kaul’s license was recovered from there. “Thereafter Shobha Kaul went to Okhla police station where Subhash Gupta’s son was also present,” said Shah.
“Next morning I went to the Chittaranjan Park police station to lodge an FIR,” he added. He also informed the MM about a diary which reportedly contained a mysterious line: “I will get you murdered.” The diary, he said, belonged to his elder daughter, Suvarna Shah. Vikram Singh, owner of a detective agency, gave his statement, saying that Subhash Gupta had hired him to investigate the credentials of Sujata Shah, with whom he wanted to get married. “She was not found to be involved with any person,” he said, in reply to the the defence counsel’s query on Sujata.
Constable Harbir Singh stated that he visited the Hodal police station under the instructions of the SHO and brought back 10 sealed parcels, out of which seven were deposited in the malkhana and three were given to the SHO. “I again went to Hodal police station on June 25, 1996 and brought back eight negatives and 11 positives of photographs of Dr Sunil Kaul,” he said, adding that they were handed over to the SHO.
MCD to shift zonal office from East Delhi school
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to shift its zonal office from a school after a petition was filed on the issue in the Delhi High Court. In an affidavit filed before a division bench comprising Justices Devinder Gupta and Mukul Mudgal today, the MCD said that its school building in east Delhi’s Naveen Shahdhara area would be vacated by this evening. The petition had stated that the number of classrooms had been reduced considerably due to the presence of the office and this had forced the teachers to hold classes in tents. Fourteen of the 19 rooms in the school were being used by the MCD. “Only the cash chest and the cash distribution section in two rooms will be retained,” the court was told.
On October 29, the court had refused to accept the MCD’s contention that the zonal office was being temporarily operated from the school building and had asked it to use the premises only for educational purposes. The direction came during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by the All India Lawyers’ Union (AILU).
