04082024-TTB-01.qxd 8/3/2024 11:58 PM Page 1 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 215 | 30 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  D E L H I AZAD CONSULTS PARTY LEADERS ON STRATEGY FOR ASSEMBLY POLL J&K US TO DEPLOY MORE JETS, WARSHIPS IN WEST ASIA WORLD /thetribunechd FIRST PUNJABI WOMEN SETTLERS IN THE US SPECTRUM SC: ONLY REGULAR VCs FOR 36 STATE-AIDED VARSITIES IN BENGAL BACK PAGE sunday | 4 august 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Mann visit declined over security, lack of business opportunity CJI: Fed up with delayed trial, litigants opting for settlement Ajay Banerjee Says Lok Adalats must be used as alternative to redress disputes Tribune News Service Satya Prakash New Delhi, August 3 The Government of India refused political clearance to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s visit to the Paris Olympics over “security” concerns and “lack of adequate opportunities” for the business delegation that would have accompanied him. Providing adequate cover to the ‘Z-plus’ protectee would have been challenging for the host country during the games as their policing resources were already stretched, sources have said. Further, the Centre advises against visit by business delegations to France during August, when a large section of the workforce there takes a break due to the annual summer vacation. The CM’s entourage of 19 would have comprised at least two ‘Invest Punjab’ officials. Such a visit Tribune News Service Bhagwant Mann would have been “less effective”, the sources said. Being the Chief Minister of a sensitive border state, Mann is not a normal ‘Z-plus’ protectee as there is heightened threat from fringe elements in Europe. India has arrangements with host countries to provide local security to those with ‘Z plus’ cover during their travel. Under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs norms, Z-plus cover entails 36 personnel, continued on page 9 New Delhi, August 3 Highlighting the role of Lok Adalats as an alternative dispute redressal mechanism, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Saturday said people were often so fed up with court proceedings that they just want to get away from courts as the process itself becomes a punishment. “People are often so fed up with court proceedings that they resort to whatever settlement they can. They think ‘just keep us away from courts’…,” the CJI said at the commemoration function of Special Lok Adalat Week in the Supreme Court that ended on Friday. “This is also a problem which we see as judges. The process is the punishment and that’s a cause for concern for all of us judges. Very Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Union Minister of State for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal in New Delhi on Saturday. ANI CAUSE FOR CONCERN ❝ People are often so fed up with court proceedings that they resort to whatever settlement they can. They think ‘just keep us away from courts’… that’s a cause for concern for all of us judges. DY Chandrachud, CJI often we say we will not allow this matter to be settled. Because the settlement reflects the pre-existing inequalities in society. So as judges we try... and say that we will not settle it and we will try and get you a better outcome,” Justice Chandrachud said. He narrated how Justice Vikram Nath rejected a settlement offer of Rs 1 lakh in a Lok Adalat and instead awarded Rs 6 lakh in addition to the settlement amount. During the week-long Lok Adalat between July 29 and August 2, several Benches of the Supreme Court assembled every day afternoon and disposed of more than 1,000 civil, matrimonial and land acquisition disputes by directly interacting with the parties. “I hope that we will now institutionalise this process of dispensing justice through Lok Adalats because it’s been one of my initiatives that whatever we do as a court must be institutionalised. It shouldn’t be that it is just a one-off initiative, which is then forgotten for the future, unless until 15 years later somebody else picks it up. We must ensure that it continued on page 9 Haryana slaps ~134-crore fine on pvt mining firm Wayanad rescue ops in final Bhartesh Singh Thakur Illegally excavated minerals in Panchkula Chandigarh, August 3 The Haryana Department of Mines and Geology has imposed a penalty of Rs 134.09 crore on a private firm over alleged illegal mining in Rattewali block of Panchkula. In an “action taken report” submitted before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the department said the mining operations of the firm, Tirupati Roadways, had been suspended by the Director General of Mines and Geology, J&K admn sacks 5 cops, teacher for narco-terror links Srinagar, August 3 The J&K administration on Saturday sacked six government employees, including five policemen, for their “involvement in anti-national activities”, officials said. J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha invoked Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution to terminate their services. “Their activities had come to the notice of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as they found them involved in acts prejudicial to the interests of the state,” a spokesperson said. The employees have been identified as Head Constable Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, Selection Grade Constables Saif Din, Khalid Hussian Shah & Irshad Ahmad Chalkoo, Constable Rahmat Shah and teacher Nazam Din. — TNS FILE Tribune News Service Haryana, Mandip Singh Brar, vide an order dated May 22. Tirupati Roadways was the highest bidder at Rs 11.72 crore per annum for the Rattewali block, having an area of 45 hectares, during an eauction in 2017. The firm was permitted to extract 8.39 lakh MT of boulders, gravel and sand annually. It commenced mining operations on March 21, 2020. During a surprise check on May 11, 2022, a team of the Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) found that between May 5 and May 11, a total of 1,868 trucks were involved in transporting the mined material whereas bills mentioning GST, royalty, etc., were issued for only 518 trucks. It was found that continued on page 15 Punjab ex-AIG shoots son-in-law in court over matrimonial dispute Ramkrishan Upadhyay & Amit Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 3 Harprit K Singh, a 2011batch Indian Civil Accounts Services officer, was allegedly shot dead by his father-inlaw, Malwinder Singh Sidhu, a retired AIG of the Punjab Police, at the mediation centre in the District Courts, Sector 43, here today. Four rounds were fired, of which two hit Harprit in the chest and neck. The daylight murder led to chaos in the court complex. Lawyers and the mother of the deceased locked the suspect in a room before informing the police. Harprit was rushed to the PGI in a private car, where doctors continued on page 9 Retired AIG Malwinder Singh Sidhu in police custody after he allegedly shot Harprit K Singh (inset) at District Courts Complex in Chandigarh. MAJOR SECURITY LAPSE The shooting incident inside the court complex has raised concerns about the security measures there. The failure of security personnel to frisk Sidhu while he was entering the building has revealed a significant lapse in the security protocol. There was no CCTV camera at the spot where the incident took place. stage, toll mounts to 218 Wayanad (Kerala), August 3 The toll in the Wayanad landslides increased to 218, the district administration said on Saturday. The 218 dead include 90 women and 30 children, the administration said in a statement. Of the 218 bodies recovered from the landslides-hit areas, 152 have been identified by relatives, it said. It further said that 143 body parts had also been recovered till date. Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Manipur peace pact fails amid fresh violence PANDOH FLOODGATES STUCK DUE TO SILT A serious situation has developed at the Pandoh Dam as two of its five floodgates are stuck due to silt, raising concern with the dam authorities and residents living along the Beas in Mandi district. Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the search and rescue operations which began on July 30 had reached the final stage. — PTI Manu Bhaker Off mark: Manu misses her third, Deepika first ROHIT MAHAJAN IN PARIS S HOOTER Manu Bhaker became nervous going for her third medal; archer Deepika Kumari cracked under pressure of her own making as she chased her first, and two more chapters were added to India’s sob story of nearmisses at the Olympics. Saturday morning at Paris was cooler than the past few days, and the Indians at the Athletes’ Village, equipped with new ACs, may have slept better than before. Deepika wouldn’t sleep better tonight, despite the ACs, because she missed what she later termed her best-ever chance to win an Olympic medal. Deepika (30) is in her fourth Olympics; in the quarterfinals today, she had a great chance to make the medal round — she won the first and the third sets against Suhyeon Nam of South Korea — and then cracked under pressure. Having scored a poor six with her second arrow in the second set — after delaying the release — Deepika became nervous and overcompensated and released the second arrow in the fourth set too early. A sev- Deepika Kumari PARIS 2024 MEDAL TALLY HAUL INDIA 00 00 03 03 en, a terrible seven, and there was no coming back from there. Suhyeon, who later won the silver, came back from 2-4 down to win 6-4, knocking out Deepika, adding more tears to the Indian’s reservoir of Olympic sorrow. Earlier, Bhajan Kaur, who turns 19 this month, lost in the pre-quarterfinals to Indonesia’s Diananda Choirunisa, beaten in a shootoff, leaving only Deepika in the fray. “It’s the weight of own expectations… Those were bad two shots and I feel like I have gifted her the match,” Deepika said. Manu was similarly crestfallen, but she has the satisfaction of winning two Olympic medals, a finalist continued on page 15 SHOP ONLINE www.dukeindia.com Imphal, August 3 Just a day after an agreement was signed between Hmar and Meitei representatives to restore peace in ethnic violence-hit Jiribam district of Manipur, the apex body of the Hmar community said the pact stood “null and void”. Fresh violence was reported in Jiribam on Friday as shots were fired and an abandoned house in a Meitei village was torched, an official said. Meanwhile, Ten Kuki-Zo MLAs of Manipur have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to ensure that Assam Rifles continued to guard sensitive areas of the ethnic strife-torn state and were not replaced by the Central Reserve Police Force. INSIDE 1 BUY GET FREE Centre wants states to hasten human relocation from tiger reserves Aksheev Thakur SAVING THE STRIPES Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 3 The Centre has asked various states to expedite the process of relocating families from villages located inside critical tiger reserves across the country. In an RTI response to The Tribune, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the Union Environment Ministry, has asked the wildlife departments of 18 states to submit their action 54 591 64,801 TIGER RESERVES ACROSS 18 STATES IN THE COUNTRY VILLAGES ARE LOCATED WITHIN CRITICAL ZONE OF THE RESERVES FAMILIES RESIDE IN THESE VILLAGES Uttarakhand: 1,379 of 1,393 Gujjar families relocated from Rajaji Tiger Reserve Rajasthan: 7,395 families awaiting relocation from plans regarding the relocation. In the 54 tiger reserves across the 18 states, 591 villages comprising 64,801 fam- ilies still existed inside the core tiger area, said the NTCA. “The relocation process is very slow and it Ranthambore reserve, 742 from Sariska Uttar Pradesh: None of 4,369 families shifted out from Dudhwa reserve poses a grave concern in the light of tiger conservation. It will be highly appreciated if the issue is taken up on prior- Today’s issue is of 30 pages, including six-page Spectrum and 4 page Delhi Tribune. ity and a timeline should be framed,” Additional DGF (Project Tiger) and NTCA member secretary GS Bhardwaj told the state wildlife departments. The Wildlife Protection Act requires states to carry out relocation as tiger habitats are required to be kept as “inviolate for the purposes of tiger conservation”. “The relocation of families, however, is voluntary. It can be carried out only if gram sabhas and families agree. Those continued on page 9 T-Shirts . Shirts . Trousers . Denims . 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