Madhu Koda's money trail abroad unravelled

NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax sleuths, on the trail of former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, have hit a jackpot. They have 
uncovered details of transfer of at least $110 million (about Rs 550 crore) to a frontman in Dubai for overseas investments and acquisitions by Koda’s associates.

The findings are a setback to Koda who has denied doing any wrong, and challenged the agencies to prove the charges against him.

The breakthrough came when officials seized records of Mumbai-based Balaji Bullion and Retailers, suspected to have been used to transfer at least $10 million to a Dubai frontman, Abdul Bhai. Investigators suspect the firm could have sent as much as Rs 990 crore, sources said.

Sources believe $100 million (Rs 500 crore) might have also been sent to Abdul Bhai through Mumbai-based contact, Manoj Punamia.

Tax officials have been able to get a ‘‘confession’’ from Mumbai-based aide Arvind Vyas that he arranged delivery of $1 million to Sanjay Chaudhary — who oversaw Koda’s operations in Dubai.

Mumbai-based Arvind Vyas has ‘confessed’ that he arranged delivery of $1 million to Sanjay Chaudhary — a key aide of former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda.

Both Vyas and Chaudhary are directors of Balaji Bullion and Retailers which has on its board another accomplice of Koda — Vinod Sinha. The concern seems to have been floated specially for the purpose of funnelling the money for investments and acquisitions in Dubai, Liberia and other places.

The launch of the firm is testimony to the planning that went into managing the flow of money, and has surprised investigators, considering the background of Koda’s aides, Sinha and Chaudhary. Sinha was a milk vendor not long ago, while Chaudhary’s father hawked chewing tobacco on his bicycle till recently.

Chaudhary had allegedly registered two companies — Cam Pech Manufacturing LLC and Blue Techno — in Dubai which were part of a web of deception that was used for handling Koda’s investments and assets abroad. Vijay Joshi, Vikash Sinha and Dhananjay Chaudhary helped Sanjay Chaudhary with money laundering in Dubai.

Investigations have brought out evidence of the alleged largescale corruption that flourished under Koda, with former CM and ministerial colleagues along with leading lights of UPA allies — JMM and RJD — milking the political instability in Jharkhand.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Madhu-Kodas-money-trail-abroad-unravelled/articleshow/5191120.cms

SC judges declare assets on website

NEW DELHI: Two months after the Supreme Court, faced with demands and growing pressure from within, resolved to make public the assets and 
liabilities of its judges, the details were put up on its official website.

The significant step towards transparency was marked by some surprise revelations — one of the judges doesn’t own even a two-wheeler, while another has a Yamaha motorcycle as his sole vehicle. There are details of land, houses, investments in shares and flats as well.

Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan owns land in Kerala and Faridabad in Haryana besides a house and a flat. Interestingly, however, he has no fixed deposit or investment in shares. 

In contrast, Justice S H Kapadia, the No.2 in the apex court who is in line to be the next CJI, has the bulk of his investments — Rs 22 lakh of a total of Rs 40 lakh — in shares. The rest is invested in mutual funds, fixed deposits and Provident Fund. The diverse portfolio is in keeping with Justice Kapadia’s reputation of being conversant with matters of finance.

All the judges, except Justice H S Bedi who has been out of the Capital because of bereavement, have posted their assets on the website.

The website also mentions the assets of Justice B N Agrawal even though he retired on October 10. He made a request for including his declaration, arguing that being party to the August 28 decision of the Full Court to disclose assets, he was obliged to do so.

In many cases, lists of assets, liabilities and investments are exhaustive, with the judges disclosing to the last detail jewellery and the latest value of shares in their possession. In other cases, however, the declarations are vague.

The judges had opposed the demand of disclosure, arguing that declarations could make them susceptible to harassment through frivolous litigation. The Supreme Court even opposed in Delhi High Court the January 6 order of the Central Information Commission asking the SC Registry to provide information whether judges declared their assets regularly or not.The stance changed after two HC judges came out in the open to argue for disclosure, leading to the decision by the Full Court meeting on August 28.

A note of caution for those who may rush to conclusions on the riches of judges. Most of them were successful lawyers who earned a lot as senior advocates before joining the Bench from the Bar.

The CJI and his wife own gold jewellery weighing about 20 sovereigns and a 2000 model Santro but hold no shares in any company. He has no fixed deposits. But while he may possibly be the poorest of the lot when it comes to hard cash, the CJI does have decent land holdings. He owns over 12 acres in Kanayanoor taluk (Ernakulam) in Kerala, besides family property worth Rs 3.5 lakh in Vaikom taluk, a two-bedroom flat in Ernakulam and a plot in Faridabad measuring 444 sq yards. His wife owns property in Kottayam.

Justice Kapadia, who does not own a vehicle, appears to be meticulous with his investments, worth over Rs 40 lakh, the bulk in shares. The judge also has property worth Rs 20 lakh in Mumbai and has zero liability. His wife has shares worth Rs 19 lakh at present value. Besides, she has other investments worth over Rs 13 lakh.

Justice Tarun Chatterjee owns one building in Kolkata and a two-third share in ancestral property. He and his spouse own 46 pieces of gold, diamond and pearl jewellery, while FDs and PPF amount to Rs 3.1 lakh. He has two cars, a Chevrolet Tavera and a Honda Civic, and outstanding liabilities of Rs 7.5 lakh. 

Justice Altamas Kabir owns a house in Kolkata’s Salt Lake worth Rs 30.75 lakh. He and his wife possess 127.25 grams of gold and FDs and PPF worth Rs 43.97 lakh.

Justice R V Raveendran appears to be in favour of investing his money in real estate. He owns four residential and an office plot in Bangalore, while his wife has one-fifth share in three commercial properties in the city. She would also be the envy of wives of other judges as she owns 370 grams of gold jewellery, besides 12 carats of diamonds and five kilos of silver.

Justice B S Chauhan has one-third share in two ancestral residential properties in Muzaffarnagar, one-third share in agricultural land (200 bighas) and a residential building in Sector 15-A, Noida. Besides, he has investments worth Rs 9 lakh in Reliance (as mentioned in the declaration), Rs 3 lakh in HDFC, Rs 2 lakh in ABN Amro and Rs 20 lakh in PF.

Justice P Sathasivam has declared that he owns a 1989 Yamaha motorcycle. He also owns a residential plot in Chennai with a market value Rs 45,000.

In addition, he has 12.49 acres of agricultural land. His wife owns five acres.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-judges-declare-assets-on-website/articleshow/5191127.cms

Show-cause notice against four IAS officers

Dwaipayan Ghosh, TNN 23 October 2009, 05:30am IS

NOIDA: UP government on Thursday issued a show-cause notice against four IAS officers in connection with the alleged Noida hotel land scam of 2006.

The four officers include former chairman of the New Okhla Industrial and Development Authority (NOIDA) Rakesh Bahadur, former CEO Sanjeev Sharan, former deputy CEO K Ravindra Nayan and the then divisional commissioner of Meerut Range Dev Dutt, UP government officials said on Thursday.

"All these four officers have been chargesheeted by the state government. They have been asked to respond within 15 days,'' a senior official said. The officers have been charged with selling expensive commercial land at prices way below the established rates to some hoteliers. It was alleged that these officers received a kickback for the same. The `deal' allegedly resulted in the loss of Rs 4,500 crore to the state exchequer.

While Bahadur, Sharan and Nayak are under suspension, Devdutt has retired from his services, officials added.

According to sources, the four IAS officers are among 15 officers against whom the state government lodged FIR on August 13 this year in connection with the alleged scam.

Earlier, fingers were raised over the role of a senior Lucknow bureaucrat in the alleged scam following the suspension of these 15 officials.

In reply to these allegations, state additional cabinet Secretary Vijay Shanker Pandey had earlier stated that several officers were under the scanner but refused to name anyone.

Chief minister Mayawati, who had earlier ordered suspension of 15 officials, has also ordered a probe into the delay in punishing the guilty babus.

Pandey said the probe, to be completed very soon, will cover all aspects, including the role of those officials who had allotted land to hoteliers in violation of Statutory Regulation Act 1991 and Bidding Regulation 2006 which state that commercial land would be sold only though auction.

Officials said the CM had also ordered that all relevant files and the action taken report be brought before her within a fortnight.

The total land involved in the scam was around 65 acres covering 2.62 lakh sq meter.

Supreme Court studies secret report on Dinakaran

THIRUVALLUR(TN): Suspense mounted on Saturday about whether or not the Karnataka High Court chief justice P D Dinakaran would be elevated to the Supreme Court or even continue as a judge.

In what could have significant bearing on Justice Dinakaran’s chances of being on the Bench of the apex court, Thiruvallur district collector, V Palanikumar, sent a detailed report on the judge’s land holdings to the Supreme Court’s registrar-general, highly placed sources said. The “ discreet” inquiry was conducted at the instance of the Chief Justice of India.

The report was discussed at a meeting of the SC collegium that decides appointments to the higher judiciary in New Delhi on Saturday.

Sources said Palanikumar conducted a detailed study during a field visit alongside revenue officials before finalizing his confidential report. It was sent directly to the apex court without involving the state government. The district collector focussed on verifying the sketches and survey numbers mentioned in the original allegations.

The allegations were first made by a group of lawyers in Bangalore, that Justice Dinakaran held land in excess of the ceiling prescribed in land reform laws and had allegedly encroached on government land meant for various kinds of community use.

Though the matter at stake concerns whether Justice Dinakaran is going to make it to the apex court or not, the report submitted by the district collector, in response to a communication from the registrar of the SC, will also determine whether he continues in the judiciary at all.

India-born scientist wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

WASHINGTON: An India-born structural biologist whose quest for scientific excellence took him from undergraduate schools in India to graduate and

More Pictures

post-doc studies in US and research in UK was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for work on proteins that control life. ( Watch Video )

Dr Venkatraman ''Venky'' Ramakrishnan, 58, who had his early education in the temple town of Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, and Vadodra, Gujarat, before he made tracks to the United States, joined the long list of peripatetic Indians who had early education in India but thrived in the western academic eco-system, to have won the Nobel. Also with a chemistry Nobel, Indians or those with an India-connect figure in all prize categories.

The Swedish Nobel Committee awarded the Prize to Dr Ramakrishnan, who is currently affiliated with the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, for his work on protein-producing ribosomes, and its translation of DNA information into life. He will share the Prize with Dr Thomas Steitz of Yale University, Connecticut, and Dr Ada Yonath of Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

In a statement following the announcement of the award, Dr Ramakrishnan expressed gratitude to ``all of the brilliant associates, students and post docs who worked in my lab as science is a highly collaborative enterprise.'' He credited the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the University of Utah for supporting his work and the collegiate atmosphere there that made it all possible. ( Watch Video )

``The idea of supporting long term basic research like that at LMB does lead to breakthroughs, the ribosome is already starting to show its medical importance,'' he said.

The practical importance of Dr Ramakrishnan's work arises from ribosomes being present in all living cells, including those of bacteria. Human and bacterial ribosomes are slightly different, making the ribosome a good target for antibiotic therapy that works by blocking the bacteriums ability to make the proteins it needs to function.

Ramakrishnan, Steitz and Yonath demonstrated what the ribosome looks like and how it functions at an atomic level using a visualisation method called X-ray crystallography to map the position of each of the hundreds of thousands of atoms that make up the ribosome, according to the MRC.

``This year's three Laureates have all generated 3D models that show how different antibiotics bind to the ribosome. These models are now used by scientists in order to develop new antibiotics, directly assisting the saving of lives and decreasing humanity's suffering,'' the Nobel citation explained.

Scientists say growing knowledge of the ribosome has created targets for a new generation of antibiotics. The instruction manual for the creation of proteins is DNA, but the ribosome is the machine which takes information transcribed onto messenger RNA and turns it into proteins.

Elaborating, the MRC said Dr Ramakrishnan's basic research on the arrangement of atoms in the ribosome has allowed his team not only to gain detailed knowledge of how it contributes to protein production but also to see directly how antibiotics bind to specific pockets in the ribosome structure. Dr Ramakrishnan will share the 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.4 million) Nobel Prize money (1/3rd each), in a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.

City Limouzines Fraud

City Limouzines is a finance company who wound up the business by duping the money of their customers on Tuesday. Near About 50 customers when they came to know of this fraud, quickly rushed to the city branch office of the firm which is at Abids in the Hyderabad. After that On noticing the office was closed, they approached the Abids police station. Afterwords the police booked a case against the City Limouzines company under Section 420 (cheating) of IPC at around 8.30 pm.

Police believe that there could be nearly 500 persons who deposited money.

The company had issued preference shares in the name of City Realcom Limited, and lured gullible investors by asking them to invest a minimum of Rs 1,30,000 with a promise that the investor would get a monthly return of Rs 7775 per Rs 1.30 lakh.

The company paid interest every month for three years, but its cheques started bouncing since August.The company is mainly into vehicle leasing. According to the Inspector, the company started its fund mobilization operations in the city in 2006.

For every 2 lakh Rs of the investment, the company offered high monthly returns for a guaranteed period of five years.

Air India pilots getting Rs 8,000 per month

NEW DELHI: Pilots in the private sector are usually among the highest paid professionals in India. But executive pilots who are counted as part of Air India's management have, for the past few months, been taking home barely Rs 4,500-8,000 per month!

Not surprisingly, the `unwell' pilots who are on sick leave aren't keen to get well soon. Captain V K Bhalla, who is spearheading the agitation in Delhi, said: ``AI's management must pay our past three months' dues and roll back the Talibani cut in salaries. Only then will we report for work. We pilots are getting pittance as allowances and performance-linked incentives are not being paid. I have got Rs 6,000 so far this month. Last month, till August 22, I had got Rs 8,000 and then some allowances. It's not just me, most IA pilots (who were with Indian Airlines before the merger with AI) are getting a pittance. On top of that, they also want to cut the performance-based incentive of not just this month, but also the last two months.''

Another senior pilot said he has been getting Rs 4,600 for the past three months while his earlier take home was Rs 2-2.5 lakh. Despite repeated attempts, AI spokesperson could not be reached for comment on this issue.

However, with the management showing little sign of relenting, the strike could be a long-drawn affair.

While maintaining that it won't bow down to striking pilots and that AI has to cut costs drastically to survive, a worried government has called an emergency meeting of all airlines on Tuesday. Aviation secretary M M Nambiar will meet private airlines to stress on two points -- they should not raise fares to cash in on the crisis and should accommodate AI passengers to ensure they are not left stranded when pilots call in sick.

On Sunday, Bhalla, who refused to attend the meeting between some executive pilots and the airline management in Mumbai, said that nobody from the management had got in touch with them over the issue and accordingly only a handful of pilots from Mumbai were present for the meeting. ``Our demand is simple. The management should pay us our dues and call off the cut that it has ordered. While it is paying foreign pilots almost $20,000 per month, are we to believe that it has no money to pay us less than a third of that, specially since we don't even need foreign pilots,'' he said.

On its part, top aviation ministry officials say AI and IA pilots' pay package is much higher than their private counterparts. ``We are going to take a harsh view of the strike as it is inconveniencing the public. It is also not helping the effort to get bailout money from the government and if that does not come, the airline will have to die,'' said a top official.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/business/india-business/Air-India-pilots-getting-Rs-8000-per-month/articleshow/5063507.cms

Balco probe: 'Stay' order for 89 Chinese

NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to restrain 89 Chinese nationals from leaving the country after the Balco incident, which left 41 workers dead.

The Chinese workers, who have been restrained from leaving India, are employed at the Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) thermal power plant at Korba in Chhattisgarh where an under-construction chimney collapsed, leading to these casualties on Wednesday. The death toll may rise further as the debris at the site is yet to be fully cleared.

Immigration authorities across the countries were alerted on Thursday as a number of Chinese employees had fled Korba fearing the ire of the locals in the wake of the rising toll. Officials at airports were asked not to allow these 89 Chinese engineers/workers to leave the country as their presence was needed during the probe into the incident.

Chhattisgarh police chief Vishwa Ranjan told TOI from Raipur that the immigration authorities were only asked to stop these Chinese engineers/workers from leaving India as they may be needed during the "technical inquiry" into the incident.

He said: "Preliminary inquiry doesn't point fingers at them (Chinese engineers/workers). They may assist the officials during the technical inquiry and therefore they have been asked to remain in India."

In the wake of the alert, four Chinese engineers -- on the basis of their passport details -- were stopped at IGIA airport here on Friday night and asked to report to the state police in Chhattisgarh. Eight other Chinese workers, including three women, were also stopped at Raipur and asked to give their statement to the Korba police about the incident.

These Chinese were reportedly employed by Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO), China. The company was awarded the engineering procurement and construction contract for the 1,200 MW project. It had, in turn, outsourced the chimney construction work to Delhi-based Gannon Dunkerley Company Limited (GDCL).

The police have, meanwhile, registered a case against Balco, SEPCO and GDCL. It is learnt that GDCL staff, too, fled Korba, fearing a backlash.

According to news agency reports from Raipur, 40 of the 41 bodies of the labourers have so far been identified. One of the victims belonged to Chhattisgarh while a majority of them were from neighbouring Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

MONINDER SINGH PANDHER ACQUITTED IN RIMPA HALDAR MURDER CASE - ONE OF THE 2005 NITHARI SERIAL KILLINGS CASES

Moninder Singh Pandher, the wealthy businessman at the centre of the Nithari House of Horror was acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in the Rimpa Haldar murder case- one of the 2005 Nithari serial killings cases which had shocked the nation when body parts of girls were found stuffed in drains on the outskirts of the national capital.

The High Court, however, upheld the death sentence to Pandher’s domestic help Surinder Koli pronounced by the special Ghaziabad court early this year.

A Division Bench comprising Justices Imtiaz Murtaja and Kashinath Singh acquitted Pandher in the Rimpa Haldar murder case for lack of evidence against him.

Rimpa's family said they would appeal against the High Court verdict.

The CBI, investigating the case, had already gave a clean chit to Pandher in the Rimpa Haldar murder case. The Special court of Ghaziabad had given death sentences to Koli and Pandher in the case which was challenged by the accused in the High Court.

Pandher was charged under section 120B of IPC for conspiracy in the murder of Rimpa but the defence counsel said that as his client was away in Australia at that time the question of his involvement in the crime did not arise.

But even after the acquittal, Pandher would not be able to come out of jail, as there are 18 cases pending against him in the lower court.

Rimpa went missing from February 8, 2005 and her father lodged a formal complaint with Noida police in July.

The Nithari cases came to light in December 2005 with charges of Koli and Pandher killing girls of the nearby villages after sexually assaulting them.

The CBI took over the probe on January 11, 2007 and submitted its preliminary chargesheet in May, 2007.

As per the case, about 40 girls in the age of 8 to 16 went missing in the Nithari village, in Gautam Buddha Nagar district between 2005 and 2007.

The verdict said that because the CBI had not filed chargesheet against Pandher in the Rimpa Haldar murder case as he was in Australia at that time, the court had acquitted him in the case. This is clear cut lacuna on the part of the CBI.

The High Court said Surinder Koli had already admitted before the CBI that he had killed Rimpa with a knife.

The High Court also took strong exception of the ruling of the Ghaziabad Sessions Judge for summoning Pandher under Section 319 of the CrPC and punishing him for the recovery of a saw from his house where Rimpa was murdered in his absence.

‘When the saw was not used in the murder of the deceased, how could Pandher be involved in the case in his absence’, the High Court maintained.

Karan Pandher, son of Pandher, thanked the CBI for a fair trial in the case on the basis of which the High Court acquitted his father.

Talking to reporters, Karan said the acquittal of his father clearly meant that the CBI had a fair probe. He, however, did not make any comment on Koli.

Karan said the family members were always convinced that his father was not involved in the murder case since he was not in the country at that time.

He said his acquittal affirmed his faith in the probe agency and in the judiciary.

Counsel for Rimpa Haldar, S I Jaffri alleged that the CBI should have clubbed all the cases of Nithari and had filed a combined chargesheet.

SUPREME COURT: PETITIONER MUST BE PRESENT AT THE TIME OF FILING PLEA

The Supreme Court has ruled that the election petitioner must be personally present at the time of filing the petition under section 81(1) of the Representation of the People’s Act in the High Court.

A bench comprising Justices DK Jain and P Sathasivan in case of G.V. Sreerama Reddy & Anr. vs.Returning Officer & Ors. on 11 August,2009 while dismissing the petition of a defeated candidate in the Assembly Elections in Karnataka which were held on May 10, 2008 noted, “In such circumstances it is but proper to interpret the language used by the legislature and implement the same accordingly.

One can discern the reason why the petition is required to be presented by the petitioner personally. An election petition is a serious matter with a variety of

fore, the Legislature has provided that the petition must be presented "by" the petitioner himself, so that at the time of presentation, the High Court may make preliminary verification which ensure that the petition is neither frivolous nor vexatious.

“The challenge to an election is a serious matter. The object of presenting an election petition by a candidate or elector is to ensure genuineness and to curtail vexatious litigations.

“In view of the endorsement by the Registrar (Judicial) on July 7, 2008 that the election petition was presented only by an advocate and not by the election petitioner, we accept the High Court order in dismissing the election petition." Justice Sathasivam, speaking for the bench in a 16-page judgment, added, " we further hold that as per sub-section 1 of section 81, election petition is to be presented by any candidate or elector relating to the election personally to the authorised officer of the High Court and failure to adhere to such course would by contrary to the set provision and in that event the election petition is liable to be dismissed on the ground of improper presentation.

“Since the High Court correctly dismissed the election petition, the civil appeal fails and the same is dismissed." The petitioner GV Sreerama Reddy was the CPM candidate and petitioner number two was his election agent and the petition was filed thorough an advocate. The petitioners were not personally present at the time of filing of the petition.

The main allegation of Reddy was that he was declared elected by the Returning Officer and when he left the place an application for recounting was moved by the Congress candidate, who was subsequently declared elected from constituency number 140, Bagepalli in Karnataka.

SUPREME COURT: INSURERS CAN’T REJECT SURVEYOR REPORT WITHOUT VALID REASON

The Supreme Court categorically held in the case of Sri Venkateswara Syndicate vs. Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. and Anr. that to assess the damage claim, the insurance companies cannot appoint surveyor after surveyor to get a tailor-made report. If the report of the damage surveyor is not acceptable, the insurance companies have to give valid reason(s) for rejecting such a report, said apex court.

A Bench Comprising Justice Markenday Katju and Justice H L Dattu held that the assessment of loss, claim settlement and relevance of survey report depends on various factors. Whenever a loss is reported by the insured, a loss adjuster, popularly known as loss surveyor, is deputed who assess the loss and issues report known as surveyor report which forms the basis for consideration or otherwise of the claim.

Surveyors are appointed under the statutory provisions and they are the link between the insurer and the insured when the question of settlement of loss or damage arises. The report of the surveyor could become the basis for settlement of a claim by the insurer in respect of the loss suffered by the insured. There is no disputing the fact that the Surveyor/Surveyors are appointed by the insurance company under the provisions of Insurance Act and their reports are to be given due importance and one should have sufficient grounds not to agree with the assessment made by them. We also add, that, under this Section the insurance company cannot go on appointing Surveyors one after another so as to get a tailor made report to the satisfaction of the concerned officer of the insurance company, if for any reason, the report of the Surveyors is not acceptable, the insurer has to give valid reason for not accepting the report.

The court said, scheme of section 64-UM of the Insurance Act, 1938 particularly its sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) would show that the insurer cannot appoint a second surveyor just as a routine matter. If for any valid reason the report of the surveyor is not acceptable to the insure, it must specify cogent reasons, without which it is not free to appoint second surveyor or surveyors till it gets a report which would satisfy its interest. Alternatively, it can be stated that there must be sufficient ground to disagree with the findings of surveyor / surveyors. There is no prohibition in the Insurance Act for appointment of second surveyor by the insurance company, but while doing so, they has to give satisfactory reasons for not accepting the report of the first surveyor and the need to appoint second surveyor, the court said.

Surveyors are appointed under the statutory provisions and they are the link between the insurer and the insured when the question of settlement of loss or damage arises. The report of the surveyor could become the basis for settlement of a claim by the insurer in respect of the loss suffered by the insured. Surveyor/surveyors are appointed by the insurance company under the provisions of Insurance Act and their reports are to be given due importance and one should have sufficient grounds not to agree with the assessment made by them, the court pointed out.

The Oriental Insurance Company to assess the damage of a claimant had appointed a licensed surveyor for preliminary investigation. After receipt of the preliminary report, it had appointed Joint Surveyors in terms of Section 64 UM(2) of the Insurance Act. The insurer was of the view that the report was perfunctory. It then appointed yet another surveyor who in turn had appointed the former DIG (Fire) CISF and Fire Adviser to the government of India to investigate and submit a report,who in turn after investigation and survey submitted his report confirming the quantification made by the Joint Surveyor.

AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE 243D FOR ENHANCING RESERVATION FOR WOMEN IN PANCHAYATS TO 50%

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for moving a Constitutional Amendment Bill for enhancing reservation for women in Panchayats at all tiers from one third to at least 50%. This provision will apply to the total number of seats filled by direct election, offices of chairpersons and seats and offices of chairpersons reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Background:

The President of India in her address to the Parliament on 4.6.09 has mentioned the intent to provide fifty per cent reservation for women in Panchayats as women suffer multiple deprivations of class, caste and gender and enhancing reservation in Panchayats will lead to more women entering the public sphere.

According to Article 243G of the Constitution, State legislatures may endow Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary (i) to enable them to function as units of local self-government (LSG), and (ii) to prepare and implement plans / or schemes for economic development and social justice including those in relation to matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution. Panchayats as such have a vital role to play in the welfare and development of the weaker sections of the society, viz., women, SCs and STs. Greater representation of these sections would enhance their voice in these bodies and promote inclusive governance which is critical to the inclusive growth.

Ministry of Panchayati Raj will move a Bill for amendment to Article 243D of the Constitution at the earliest after approval of the Cabinet. The proposed amendment will increase reservation for women in (i) the total number of seats to be filled by direct election, (ii) offices of chairpersons and (iii) in seats and offices of the chairpersons reserved for SCs and STs, to 50% in all tiers of Panchayats.

Enhancement of reservation for women in Panchyats will facilitate more women entering the public sphere and thereby lead to further empowerment of women and also make Panchayats more inclusive institutions, thereby improving governance and public service delivery.

There is no financial implication in operationalization of the proposal.

At present, out of the total elected representatives of Panchayats numbering approximately 28.18 lakhs, 36.87% are women. With the proposed Constitutional Amendment, the number of elected women representatives is expected to rise to more than 14 lakhs. Having more elected women representatives would benefit the entire population of the States and UTs where Panchayati Raj is in existence.

All States/UTs and parts thereof to which Part IX of the Constitution applies would be covered (Part IX does not apply to Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, tribal areas of Assam, Tripura and hill areas of Manipur).