20032025-CT-01.qxd 3/20/2025 12:12 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune E-AUCTION OF 12 RETAIL LIQUOR CLUSTERS FETCHES ~792 CR RESIDENTS, POLICE SHARE LAW & ORDER CONCERNS ACTOR SANJANA SANGHI VISITS GOLDEN TEMPLE The government has fetched a revenue of ~792 cr from e-auction of 12 retail liquor clusters in Mohali dist. P2 Session provides a platform for residents to share their concerns over law and order, traffic. P3 Reminisces about her childhood trips from Delhi to Amritsar by train with her mother and brother. P4 » » WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH Exhibition: ‘Writing in French – A world of voices’, on till March 31, Alliance Française, Sector 36, 9 am to 6 pm Chandigarh Lit Fest: Literati – Spring Edition 2025, CII Headquarters, Sector 31, March 22, 11 am, entry is free for all Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi: 29th Annual Art Exhibition, Sobha Singh Art Gallery, Sector 16-B, on till March 23, 10 am to 7 pm Art Mela: Curated by Mehak Bhan, House No. 105, Sector 11, on till March 26, 12 noon to 6 pm Press Photographers Awards and Exhibition: Underpass Gallery, Sector 17, on till March 28 from 10 am to 8 pm APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 29, 56 and Dhanas P’kula: Sector 15 Mohali: Sector 71 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 30°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 30.2°C | MIN 16.5°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6.34 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6.25 AM » THURSDAY | 20 MARCH 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Board may reduce number of Arrest of music producer Pinky illegal: High Court EWS flats in Sec 53 scheme CHB gets a lukewarm response to 80 flats in demand survey Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 19 With the flats for economically weaker sections (EWS) getting a lukewarm response in the demand survey, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) is considering cutting down on their number in the proposed self-financing housing scheme in Sector 53 here. The CHB has planned 192 HIG units, 100 MIG houses and 80 EWS units in the scheme. Before going ahead with the project, the board carried out a demand survey from February 22 to March 3. Out of a total of 7,468 applications, only 1,118 were received for 80 EWS flats, while the remaining were for the HIG and MIG units. According to sources, the CHB officials were now planning to reduce the number of EWS units in view of the poor response to this category. If the number of flats was scaled down, then a fresh layout for the scheme would be prepared and all permissions have to be taken afresh, which would further delay its launch, added the sources. Flats for the economically weaker sections at Maloya. FILE PHOTO 1,118 APPLICATIONS FOR 80 EWS FLATS The CHB has planned 192 HIG units, 100 MIG houses and 80 EWS units in the scheme. Before going ahead with the project, the board carried out a demand survey from February 22 to March 3. Out of a total of 7,468 applications, only 1,118 were received for 80 EWS flats. The proposed housing scheme was put on hold by the Administration in 2023. The CHB was considering launching the scheme only after receiving adequate response from interested eligible persons as well as obtaining requisite approvals. In August 2023, then UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit had put on hold the General Housing Scheme, deeming it unnecessary. This led to the cancellation of Rs 200-crore tenders issued on August 2, 2023, for the construction of 372 flats on nine acres. The board had made efforts to revive the scheme, which was scrapped in 2018. The prices in the revived c m y b scheme were fixed at Rs 1.65 crore for three-bedroom unit, Rs 1.40 crore for two-bedroom and Rs 55 lakh for two-bedroom (EWS) flat each. When the scheme was first introduced in 2018, the prices were considerably higher at Rs 1.8 crore, Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 95 lakh for the three categories, respectively. Only 178 applications were received for 492 flats available that time, after which the scheme was cancelled. The last CHB scheme was floated in 2016 for 200 two-bedroom flats in Sector 51. Raps Punjab Police for violating constitutional rights Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 19 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has declared the arrest of music producer Pushpinder Pal Singh Dhaliwal, also known as Pinky Dhaliwal, illegal while citing serious violations of constitutional and procedural safeguards. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar held that Dhaliwal’s detention by the Mataur police in Mohali was in “direct contravention of Article 21” of the Constitution and an “incurable illegality” that vitiated the entire proceedings against him. The court found that Dhaliwal was subjected to custodial interrogation even before an FIR was registered against him. Referring to official records, the court noted that he was picked up from his residence at 7:30 pm on March 8 under the pretext of questioning. A daily diary report entry was recorded at 7:48 pm upon his arrival at the Mataur police station. But, the FIR was not lodged against him at that stage. Justice Brar noted that officials failed to provide a copy of the FIR or the arrest memo when the Warrant Officer arrived at the police station. It WHAT COURT OBSERVED The court observed that the police failed to comply with Section 35(3) of BNSS, which mandates the issuance of a notice before arrest. Instead, the police proceeded directly to arrest Dhaliwal, violating Section 35(1)(c), which lays down twin conditions for making an arrest in cases punishable with imprisonment exceeding seven years – There must be credible information that the accused has committed a cognisable offence punishable with imprisonment of more than seven years. Also, the police officer must have reason to believe, based on such credible information, that the accused has committed the offence. was only at 2:26 am on March 9 that the Station House Officer handed over a copy of the FIR along with a DDR, the memo of personal search, and the memo of arrest. The Warrant Officer’s report further indicated that both the personal search and arrest memos were signed — along with the witnesses and the detainee — only at 2:30 am. Holding that the detention was “illegal in the eyes of law”, Justice Brar referred to “total non-compliance” with Section 47 of the BNSS and a violation of Article 22 of the Constitution. The Bench observed that Dhaliwal was informed of the grounds of his arrest only after a lapse of seven hours, that too in the presence of the Warrant Officer. Such procedural lapses, the court asserted, were in “clear contravention of the principles laid down in Supreme Court’s judgment in Vihaan Kumar’s case.” The Bench also took note of the fact that the police only registered the FIR and issued the arrest memo after the Warrant Officer’s arrival, terming it a “deliberate attempt” to obscure procedural irregularities and justify their illegal actions. “No reasons were recorded by the police to establish that the information received was credible or that the arrest of the detainee was necessary,” Justice Brar asserted, while allowing the habeas corpus petition. The court ordered Dhaliwal’s “immediate release” unless required in connection with another case. before parting with the case, Justice Brar asserted: “Consequently, the arrest of the detainee in connection with FIR stands vitiated and is declared illegal.”