KHSTU writes to Bindu seeking discussions on marks normalisation
In a statement on Tuesday, the KHSTU said decisions taken without any discussions on such grave issues as normalisation had led to change in candidates' ranks, putting students under immense stress and resulting in setbacks in courts. This created wrong precedent and allowed mistakes to continue, the association alleged.
The government should organise discussions and deliberation instead of taking unilateral decisions so that apprehensions of State higher secondary students' who were unfairly disadvantaged could be addressed.
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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Now, CBI to probe assault on Colonel Pushpinder Singh, his son in Patiala
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday transferred the investigation into the assault on Col Pushpinder Singh and his son in Patiala on March 13 to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The bench of Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj which passed this order on Tuesday morning said the Chandigarh police had failed to conduct a fair and impartial investigation. A detailed order is awaited. The court was earlier informed that all the five accused, four of them police inspectors, are absconding and no non bailable warrants have been issued against them. Earlier on Monday, Justice Bhardwaj had pulled up the Chandigarh Police for failing to arrest any of the accused Punjab Police personnel despite anticipatory bail having been denied nearly two months ago. SP Manjeet Sheoran, an AGMUT cadre IPS officer who was heading the investigation, was present in the court today but failed to convince the court about the fairness of his team's probe. Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj asked why no arrests had been made so far. Terming the delay 'intentional,' the judge said the police's conduct amounted to shielding the accused and was 'setting the wrong example.' The court heard sharp arguments from the victim's counsel PS Ahluwalia, who accused the authorities of 'orchestrating the investigation to dismantle the case' and 'betraying the court's trust' by walking back on their own previous stand. 'The accused are all serving officers of Punjab Police. This court had transferred the case to the UT precisely because there was no confidence in a fair probe by Punjab Police. But what is happening now is no different. The same influence is operating,' submitted the opposing counsel. At the heart of the hearing was the removal of Section 307 IPC (attempt to murder) from the case, a section that had initially been invoked by the police and cited by the State itself to oppose anticipatory bail. 'My Lords, it's on record — the State had earlier argued that custodial interrogation was necessary to ensure a fair probe and protect witnesses. They relied on Section 307 to oppose bail. And now, they are withdrawing it without explanation,' Ahluwalia submitted, reading from previous court orders and the State's own affidavits. Quoting from the affidavit filed by the State to oppose pre-arrest bail, he said: 'The petitioner, being a serving Inspector in Punjab Police, holds continued influence and has shown a propensity to misuse his position. If granted bail, there is a real risk of tampering with evidence and intimidating witnesses.' 'Today, that same State is arguing the opposite,' the counsel told the bench. 'What changed? The facts haven't changed. The injuries are the same — two fractures on the Colonel, a broken nose on his son. Eight injuries in total on the Colonel, five on the son, all confirmed in medical records.' Referring to the High Court's earlier remarks, counsel pointed out that the bench had found prima facie evidence to support charges under Section 326 IPC (grievous hurt with dangerous weapon), punishable with life. 'Use of lathis by trained police personnel in such a brutal manner brings the danda under the category of dangerous weapons,' the court had observed. 'Even Section 326 is not being pressed now. They are systematically dismantling the case,' the counsel said. 'It is not just evidence tampering — it is record manipulation on affidavit.' The court was also shown the status report of the DSP, which records that a senior constable handed over the Colonel's official ID card and mobile phone, and these were returned to him only on the evening of March 14. 'This proves the snatching of the ID and phone. These items were never lost or found — they were taken. And this is not just anyone — he is a serving officer in the Prime Minister's Office, under the Cabinet Secretariat. This is a national security breach.' To discredit this, the police have now produced a new witness under Section 164 CrPC claiming the phone and ID card had merely fallen to the ground and were picked up. 'This is not a witness. This is a planted shield,' the counsel submitted. 'An accused, a prosecutor, and the investigator are all singing from the same script — to protect the officers. This is the first time I am seeing a 164 statement being used not to bolster a prosecution, but to undo one.' The bench also questioned the pace of the investigation. 'You were given four months — not to sit idle. If it could be completed in one month, it should have been,' the judge remarked, after the UT counsel said the final report would be filed by August 3. The court was informed that five Punjab Police inspectors have been named as accused — Inspectors Ronnie Singh, Harjinder Singh Dhillon, Happy Boparai, Rajvir Singh, and Jai Singh (a constable). Ronnie Singh's anticipatory bail was dismissed on May 23. Yet, none have been arrested, and no non-bailable warrants have been issued. 'They are absconding, and police are watching,' the counsel said. 'After the bail was dismissed, no NBWs have been issued, no coercive action taken. Are they waiting for a red carpet?' The bench underlined that the duty of the police is not to protect the accused. 'If the accused are not cooperating, NBWs must be issued. Investigation must be bold, impartial, and without fear,' the judge said. The counsel also accused the police of forging medical records to show that the accused were injured and sought treatment first. 'At page 112 of the record, pm was tampered to read AM. It's such a naked forgery that even a layperson can spot it,' he said. 'The police didn't get this examined by an expert for four months — because they didn't want it authenticated.' He further argued that the initial FIR was registered based not on the Colonel's complaint, but on the statement of a dhaba owner, which the bench acknowledged. 'This FIR is not a complaint. It's a police draft — the dhaba owner says the assault happened because the Colonel and his son were 'eating on the trunk of their car.' This is language crafted for future use. They anticipated the fallout, and planted this version.' The court also took note of its April 3 transfer order, which had directed that an IPS officer posted in Chandigarh lead the probe, based on Punjab DGP's consent. Counsel submitted that even now, statements of key family members have not been recorded under Section 161 CrPC. 'We have been begging for our statements to be recorded. My client's wife and brother-in-law were in touch with Punjab's top officers the night of the incident. They are crucial witnesses. But the police won't touch them — because it would implicate their own seniors.' As the hearing concluded, the bench remarked that the investigation has not met the court's expectations post-transfer. 'Once this court entrusted the probe to an IPS officer, the expectation was that a fair investigation would follow. That has not happened.'
Hans India
2 hours ago
- Hans India
BRS failed to bring even single drop of water to Nalgonda: Addanki Dayakar
Hyderabad: The Congress party on Tuesday countered former Minister Jagadish Reddy's statements, alleging that his statements are a pack of lies, as the previous BRS government has failed to provide even a single drop of water to erstwhile Nalgonda district. MLC Addanki Dayakar held that not a single project was constructed which would serve irrigation purposes. In a media statement, he said that Jagadishwar Reddy's comments were devoid of facts. The MLC accused the BRS MLA of lying shamelessly without building a single project and not providing a drop of water to the erstwhile Nalgonda district. He accused the previous government of pushing the State into bankruptcy and its failure to complete the SLBC project tunnel. He questioned whether the BRS built projects during its term, which would match the endurance of projects like Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam. The MLC said that people were happy under the Congress government after unseating the BRS regime, as it had betrayed the Telangana and Nalgonda people during its ten years rule. He advised Jagadish Reddy to look at the comprehensive plan of CM Revanth Reddy in Nalgonda's development, before jumping to conclusions.
The Hindu
7 hours ago
- The Hindu
When the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examination came under fire
The seemingly impeccably designed Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examination (TNPCEE), which was once the State's single window system of intake of students to professional courses like engineering, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary, agriculture and other allied ones, was not bereft of controversies and legal wrangles. In 2004, Anna University, the nodal agency which was tasked with conducting the TNPCEE on behalf of the State government since its inception in 1984, decided to not value 22 questions in different subjects. The break up went like this: seven out of 90 questions in Mathematics were omitted, three out of 60 questions in Physics, 10 out of 60 in Chemistry, and 2 out of 140 in Biology were not valued. It all began when, soon after the exam, there were widespread complaints from candidates and their parents over ambiguity in the answer keys of some of the questions. They said some of the questions were out of syllabus, for some questions the answer keys were wrong and for some other questions, there were multiple correct answers. Anna University was quick to act: it set up an expert panel to evaluate the ambiguous questions and offer a solution. The committee advised deletion of these questions and redistribution of the marks for these questions to the other questions. Also Read | How entrance examinations for professional courses made an entry into Tamil Nadu This invited a flurry of court cases, which stalled the entire admission process for close to two months. Petitions contended these questions carried 8.8 marks and the entire merit list got exhausted within the range of 2-3 marks from the first candidate to the last one. Soon after the decision of Anna University was known regarding the ambiguous questions, scores of candidates approached the Madras High Court with various pleas, including setting up of an expert committee to find an acceptable solution and calling for re-examination. The cases were bunched together and heard by a single judge, Justice Prafulla Kumar Misra. After hearing senior counsels representing many of the candidates, Justice Misra directed Anna University to revalue all answer papers while laying down guidelines for valuing a few specific questions. Also Read | Opposition to entrance tests dates back 3 decades Justice Misra's order stated that 'question numbers 27 and 33 in Biology question paper (version code MA-7) and question numbers 11, 64 and 77 of physical science (version code BS6) shall not be deleted and mark should be awarded to any student who has indicated any of the correct choices'. These questions were deleted on the ground that they had more than one correct answer. Similarly, the judge ruled that question number 105 (MA-7) is to be revalued and option number 4 should be taken as the correct answer and not option number 3 as indicated by the committee. This question was: Highly concentrated mineral in the cerebro-spinal fluid is: (1) Pottasium, (2) Sodium, (3) Magnesium, (4) Chlorine. The petitioners, the judgment said, contended that option 4 was the correct answer, which was also the option indicated by the paper setter as the correct answer. The expert committee, however, had suggested that option 3 was the correct answer. In the counter affidavit by Anna University, the committee was stated to have opined that that chlorine being a gas in its natural form could not be considered as mineral and, even though Potassium and Sodium could be classified as minerals, those were not stable in free form and they react violently and become other compound; hence, the only other choice is Magnesium. They have referred to textbook P-239 in support of their opinion. 'A perusal of the relevant pages as indicated makes it crystal clear that the question has been set by the paper setter with reference to the discussion relating to chlorine,' the judgment asserted. Also Read | Tamil Nadu's turbulent relationship with professional course entrance tests While some petitioners appealed against Justice Misra's judgment, there were a few pending writ petitions before the High Court against considering improvement candidates on par with regular Plus Two students. All these petitions were bunched and placed before the First Bench comprising Justice Subhashan Reddy, the then Chief Justice of Madras High Court, and Justice Prabha Sridevan. After hearing both sides, the First Bench directed Anna University to revalue 11 of the questions that were not valued. It also came down heavily on Anna University for reviewing answer keys of paper setters by an expert committee. 'The paper setter chooses questions from question bank where the key answers are already provided. By setting up the expert committee, the paper setter is reduced to just a clerk, as the key answer which is indicated has got absolutely no weightage as against the opinion of the expert committee as the University conducting the examination only takes note of the views of the expert committee for awarding marks. This practice has to be discontinued,' the order read. Anna University was directed to 'take necessary steps to recompute and hold fresh counselling accordingly by including improvement candidates also'. The process of admission finally resumed on August 10 after nearly a two-month ordeal for the candidates and their parents.
