THE TIM

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THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABADTHURSDAY, JUNE 19, 20144 TIMES CITY

Ahmedabad: The Nanavati commis-sion probing the 2002 riots has movedthe Gujarat high court for a review ofits order asking the probe panel tosupply all intelligence documents tosuspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt.In its review petition filed on Wednes-day, the commission has argued thatthe high court cannot issue such anorder.

The HC had earlier asked theprobe panel to supply Bhatt all intelli-gence documents — even those thatwere classified — for inspection.

Chairman of the inquiry commis-sion, Justice G T Nanavati, said thatthey had sought a review of the highcourt order. A division bench of thecourt is likely to take up the matter onThursday.

On Monday, the high court had di-rected the commission to allow Bhattto inspect all state IB documents sothat the IPS officer could file an affi-davit. In October last year, the HC had

asked the state government to supplyBhatt all the 47 documents he hadsought for inspection, even if theywere classified.

However, the government hadraised the matter of relevance andconfidentiality to oppose the highcourt order. But the HC rejected thegovernment’s objections.

As the high court was unmoved onthe issue of relevance and permittedBhatt to begin inspection withinthree days and file affidavit by June27, the IPS officer went to the commis-sion. But the probe panel suppliedhim only those documents that werenot classified and informed him that

it would seek a review of the HC order.Bhatt refused to inspect those docu-ments which had been supplied tohim earlier also.

Bhatt has been demanding thesedocuments of the subsidiary intelli-gence bureau (SIB) to depose beforethe commission. In 2011, he had filedan affidavit in the Supreme Court al-leging that the SIT had tried to shieldthen chief minister Narendra Modiand others by not recording his state-ment implicating them in offenceslike Gulbarg Society massacre thathad taken place after the Godhra car-nage.

On October 12, 2012, advocate gen-eral Kamal Trivedi had assured thehigh court that all documents wouldbe supplied to Bhatt for inspection.But the government supplied only 14documents to the probe panel andwithheld 23 others by saying that theywere ‘classified’. Of the 15 documentsgiven to the probe panel, the govern-ment recommended that only five begiven to the police officer.

Justice (retd) G T Nanavati and Sanjiv Bhatt

IB papers for Bhatt: Riotsprobe panel seeks review

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Gandhinagar: Rajiv Topno, aGujarat-cadreIAS officer of1996 batch, hasbeen appointedprivate secreta-ry to PrimeMinister Na-

rendra Modi. Earlier, Topno hadserved at the Prime Minister’sOffice (PMO) under ManmohanSingh too for almost five years.His five years of central deputa-tion was to end this month buthis term has been extended.

Under Manmohan Singh,Topno was a director at thePMO. Now he has been appoint-ed to the crucial post of PS to theOM. He will be the youngest IASofficer to serve at this post.

Topno’s last posting in Guja-rat was as managing director, In-dextB. Earlier, he had served ascollector at Vadodara and atBharuch. He was promoted lastyear after a delay of over 18months due to a pending inquiryagainst. TNN

Rajiv Topnoappointed

PM’s pvt secy

Ahmedabad:Gujarat high court is going to hearthe petition questioning constitutional validityof the anti-conversion law of 2003 and the amend-ments made to it by the state government in 2008.The amendments had made it mandatory for aperson keen to change his religion to get priorpermission from the government.

The petition challenging the law and theamendments was filed in 2009 by Archbishop ofGandhinagar, Stanislaus Fernandes, and socialactivists P K Valera, Hanif Lakdawala, ValjibhaiPatel and Dwarikanath Rath. A division benchhad admitted the petition but no hearing tookplace after that. Last week, the petitioners re-quested court to hear the case. The bench of ChiefJustice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J BPardiwala had posted it for hearing on Thursday.

The petition filed through senior counsel Gir-ish Patel claims that that the provisions of theGujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, as well asthe rules amended in 2008 are constitutionallynot valid. The prior permission of a district ma-gistrate that has been made mandatory beforeperforming any ceremony of conversion or par-ticipation in such ceremony, directly violates thefundamental right of freedom of conscience and

freedom to profess, practice and propagate reli-gion granted under Article 25 of the Constitu-tion, the petition says.

It further contends that a secular state cannotintervene in any case of free and voluntary reli-gious conversion for granting or refusing per-mission. A state cannot regulate or control freepractice of religion on the pretext that it was nec-essary to prohibit conversion by force or allure-ment. The petition says that basic distinction be-tween the Gujarat law and the laws in Orissa andMadhya Pradesh was in respect of the mandato-ry requirement of prior permission. The pet-itioners told the court that the apex court in 1977had upheld the validity of Orissa and MP’s laws.

The petitioners have also maintained that theAct is mainly aimed at preventing dalits and adi-vasis from converting to another religion, andforcing them to remain in the Hindu fold.

Hearing likely today onanti-conversion law

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: An Industrialcourt on Wednesday ordered aninterim stay on the deputy la-bour commissioner’s decisionto cancel the registration ofGandhian institution MajoorMahajan Sangh (Textile LabourAssociation).

The TLA filed an appeal be-fore the court against the com-missionerate’s order passed inMarch. TLA’s advocate DhimantVasavada said that the stay hasbeen granted on certain condi-tions that TLA would continueits routine work, and it wouldnot take any policy decisionmeanwhile. The court also saidthat in the meantime the affairsof the association would belooked after by the registrars ofthe court as well as the tradeunion. The lawyer said that thecourt has intervened in this casein order to ensure transparencyin the Gandhian institution.

TLA’s registration was can-celled on February 28 after itfailed to satisfy the commission-er over the appointment of for-mer mill workers in its high-powered executive committee.

This was allegedly in violationof its constitution. A police com-plaint was also lodged against itfor the alleged siphoning off ofRs 2 crore from the funds givenfor disbursement among theworkers of closed mills. The dep-uty labour commissioner had al-so given a green signal to carryout legal action against the of-fice-bearers of the association.

TLA’s constitution prohibitsappointment of any worker ofclosed mills in its high-poweredexecutive committee. But on Ja-nuary 2, it came up with a notifi-cation and decided to includeworkers of closed mills - Kusab-hai Punjabhai, Natwarlal So-mabhai, Chandubhai Kanjibhaiand Antubhai Johnbhai in theexecutive committee.

Industrial court stayscancellation of Majoor

Mahajan Sangh’s registration

Ahmedabad: The chief information com-missioner (CIC) D Rajagopalan has asked theGujarat high court to furnish informationunder the Right to Information Act pertain-ing to its system for monitoring the lower ju-diciary.

The commission ordered so after the HChad refused to part with the information onthe grounds that it wasn’t bound to revealthese details under the information laws.

The applicant, Kalpeshkumar Gupta, fil-ed a query under the RTI Act on June 22, 2012,asking the public information officer of thehigh court for details of the monitoring sys-tem on issues like status of pending cases, pe-riodicity and use of information technologyin monitoring. The PIO, as well as the appel-late authority, had said that this informationdidn’t fall within the definition of informa-tion under the RTI Act.

Gupta moved the state information com-mission in August 2012. The CIC said the ap-plicant wanted to know about the monitoringsystem and whether IT is effectively used bythe higher judiciary to monitor the subordi-nate courts. He further noted, “The commis-sion feels that such information is normallycovered under Section 4 of the RTI Act andmade part of the proactive disclosure of the

Gujarat high court, so that the applicantsknow about the functioning of the high courtand monitoring of subordinate courts. Thecommission, therefore, feels that the infor-mation sought by the appellant needs to begiven by the PIO within 30 days, free of cost, asper 7(6) of the RTI Act.”

This is not the first time that the HC hasbeen asked to furnish information. Last year,the CIC asked the high court not to interpretRTI laws on its own and just implement them.In response to an appeal by social activist In-dukumar Jani, the CIC asked the HC to fur-nish information on provisions of leave anddays of judicial work undertaken by HC judg-es. The HC had refused the information by cit-ing the law, but the CIC intervened and said,“Gujarat high court has been entitled to formrules under the RTI Act, which is obviouslyfor the purpose of better implementation ofthe law. The high court does not have power totake any decision about interpretation of thesection mentioned in the Act.”

CIC asks HC to reveal howit monitors lower courts

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Gandhinagar:The Gujarat gov-ernment is now aiming big to tapthe IT sector. The state will soonhave new information technolo-gy and IT-enabled services andelectronic policies under whichthe government hopes to attractRs 1.55 lakh crore investment innext five years.

The state science and tech-nology department has publish-ed a draft report for three newpolicies IT/ITeS, electronics ande-governance. The governmentis expected to formalize thesepolicies in the next two monthsand has sought suggestions fromindustries concerned. Sourcessaid the state government aimsto overhaul this sector in nextfive years.

A senior government officialsaid, “With new IT/ITeS andelectronic policies, we aim to in-crease production in these sec-tors by at least five times. Wehope to increase IT/ITES indus-

try’s turnover to Rs 75,000 croreand electronics industry’s turn-over to Rs 80,000 crore.”

The official added, “We ex-pect that these two sectors willgenerate direct employment for15 lakh people in the next fiveyears. In IT/ITeS sector focuswill be on financial services, mo-bile applications, animation, 3D,gaming and digital entertain-ment. We aim to establish Guja-rat as a globally-recognized hubfor the ESDM industry with em-ployment opportunities for 5lakh people by 2020.”

To attract investments from

industries in these two sectors,the government, for the firsttime, has proposed major finan-cial and other incentivesthrough these two proposed poli-cies. These incentives will be inaddition to those provided underthe central government’sschemes.

The state has also proposednew e-governance policy forstrengthening government ser-vices. Under this across thecounter delivery of 500 differentservices through multiple chan-nels will be provided in a phasedmanner.

Draft IT policy eyes`̀1.55L cr investments

Kapil Dave | TNN

Ahmedabad: The plot, nearSurdhara circle opposite Sun NStep club in Memnagar, will nowhave 1,000-odd flats and a mall.Sources say, the trustees of Ah-medabad Panjrapole, throughthe charity commissioner, hadplaced an ad for the sale of land..“Bids were invited, only onebuilder expressed interest,” saidAshok Gandhi, one of the trust-ees of Ahmedabad Panjrapole.

Sources said that the dealwas finalized at Rs 76,000 per sqyard against the existing jantrirate of Rs 36,520 per sq yard inthe area —the market price herehovers in the region of Rs 60,000-75,000 per sq yard.

Deepak Patel of Essam Infrasaid, “The land has got non-agri-culture (NA) permission forboth residential and commer-cial projects. We have paid the re-quired amount in the charitycommissioner office.”

Deal finalizedat double the

jantri rate Himanshu Kaushik | TNN

Ahmedabad: The admissionto the first year of Bachelor ofScience (BSc) and Bachelor ofPharmacy (BPharm) again be-gan amidst controversy withthe banks only issuing the re-quired pin for online registra-tion. The banks did not issuethe information booklet.

It is worth recalling that theadmission to BCom had also be-gan amidst controversy withseveral branches of the privatebank running out of pins. OnWednesday, as the distributionof the forms began the studentsalso raised a hue and cry overthe form fee of Rs 350.

The Admission Committeefor Professional Courses(ACPC) which is conductingthe admission has decided tohave one form for pharmacyand BSc. The forms will beavailable from June 18 to June27, while the online registrationcan be done tillJune 30.

However, StXavier’s Col-lege began itsown admissionprocedure as they have beenpermitted by the university.Though the admission proce-dure began on Wednesday,there was still uncertainty overMS University and BhavnagarUniversity joining the process.

NSUI staged a demonstra-tion at GU to protest against theform fee of Rs 350.

BSC intake process begins amid row TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Students in a queue for payment of form fee at Gujarat University

Aneri Nihalani

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Wednesday directedthe state government to come up with suggestions on how totrace missing minor girls from outside the state. In response to ahabeas corpus petition, a bench headed by Justice A S Dave askedthe state government to file a report that contains suggestions tosolve the issue of missing girls. The court also asked the state gov-ernment to find out how to use social media to take effective stepsin this direction. The report is sought within 15 days. Two yearsago amid the uproar in the society over missing kids, the HCasked the government to resolve the issue. The state governmenthad ensured the high court that it would form a special cell totrace and bring back missing children. It also promised that amechanism would be set to immediately trace them by enhanc-ing security and improving monitoring systems at railway sta-tions and bus stops.

HC extends stay on razing of Mughal-era structure: TheGujarat high court on Wednesday extended its stay on demoli-tion of Azamkhan’s Sarai near the Bhadra Fort. The Sarai, aspecimen of 17th century Mughal architecture, was to be demol-ished for the construction of an eight-floor court complex.

The high court has asked the petitioner IM Khan to provideinformation about the area of the Sarai which he wants to besaved as a historic monument. He said that the executive engi-neer of the roads and buildings department has submitted beforethe HC that, in 1902, the British had built barracks in the dilapi-dated Sarai after pulling it down. TNN

Report on missing girls sought

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Uni-versity’s plan to declare the provi-sional merit list for admission intothe commerce faculty-run courseson Wednesday morning did notmaterialize till late in the night.The admission process for Bache-lor of Business Administration(BBA), Business of Computer Ap-plication (BCA), and Master ofScience in Information Technolo-gy (MSC (IT)) and Bachelor ofCommerce has been centralizedthis year.

The university had an-nounced that the merit list wouldbe declared on Wednesday, so thatthe choice filling process could be-gin from Thursday. Sources saidthe university was expected to de-clare the same by midnight onWednesday. The delay in declaringthe list was caused by the decisionto extend the registration processby one day, sources claimed. A to-tal to 34,321 forms were sold.

The choice filling round willbegin as per the schedule, univer-sity officials claimed. They addedthat if a student did not want ad-mission in a particular college, heor she should refrain from fillingup the name in his choice form.For if once granted admission, astudent would find it difficultchange the college. tnn

Commerceprovisional merit

list delayed

Ahmedabad:Nearly 300 seats inseven polytechnics that were offeringcourses in costume design are void. TheAICTE on Wednesday rejected repeatedpleas by Gujarat’s directorate oftechnical education to grant thempermission to resume this particularcourse. A senior directorate official,while explaining the goof-up said, “Fourof the seven colleges had ambitions ofstarting a fashion technology course inplace of the costume design. Theydiscontinued the costume designcourse for the new technology course.The AICTE rejected their demand. Also itrejected to resume their originalcostume design course.”

Polytechs cannotteach costume design

Ahmedabad:With the JEE Advanced results due to beannounced soon, the Indian Institute of Technology

Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) is planning toorganize an ‘Open House’ on June 21and 22 that will host JEE Advancedqualified students from across India.The purpose of the event is to give thestudents an understanding of different

engineering branches, career opportunities, andeducational innovations and special facilities at IIT-Gn.The Open House was introduced in 2013 as a single-dayevent. This year the event will be held over two days andwill provide overnight accommodation to participantscoming from outside the city. JEE Advanced results willbe out on June 19. Prof Sudhir K Jain, director, IIT-Gn,said, “Many students have doubts about the differentdisciplines at IITs and which ones to choose.”

Open House at IIT-Gn afterJEE Advanced results

Archbishop of Gandhinagar andothers filed a petition in 2009saying that the provisions of theGujarat Freedom of Religion Act,2003, and the rules amended in2008, are constitutionally not valid

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SCW visits Sayla victim:Chandrika Parmar, 15, whowas set ablaze on Sunday is un-dergoing treatment at CivilHospital, where State WomanCommission members visitedher. SWC member Maheshwa-ri Chauhan sought details ofthe case. TNN