JAMMU: To prevent the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Jammu and Kashmir High Court today issued a circular directing sanitization of district and other subordinate court buildings and premises in J&K and Ladakh on daily basis.
According to the circular, Judicial Officers shall take all necessary measures to sanitize the Court buildings and premises on daily basis. Further, Principal District Judges shall ensure that sanitizers are available in their respective districts for the visitors as well as the staff particularly those manning windows (filing counters, enquiries, front-offices) where there is constant public dealing.
Crowding in the Courts shall be avoided and Thermal Scanners (non-touch) be procured at the earliest and the same be put to use at the existing check points of the Court Complexes, the circular reads. The circular also says that the District Bar Associations and Advocates be asked to advise the litigants not to visit the Courts unless their presence has been directed by the Court. The Courts shall not insist upon the personal presence of the parties unless it is absolutely necessary.
In criminal matters, request for exemption from personal appearance of accused be considered liberally.
Special Traffic Magistrates shall deal with only urgent matters pertaining to release of seized vehicles and defer all other routine matters for the present, the circular adds.
Unnecessary crowding in the Lock up be curtailed and appropriate steps in this regard be taken by all the Principal District and Sessions Judges in consultation with the prison authorities.
It also says that for recording of evidence, grant of remand to the accused/under trials, production of under trial prisoners, the facility of video conferencing be put to use as far as it is possible to do so.
Lok Adalats, Legal Services Programmes and Mediation Programmes shall not be held till further orders.
In cases of absence of parties appearing in person or in cases of non-production of witnesses, passing of adverse orders shall be avoided.
The circular reads that in final argument matters, as far as possible, written submissions be obtained from the parties/their counsels so as to minimize the time for oral arguments.
In civil matters, wherever possible, service of local commissioner be availed of for the purposes of recording of evidence, after obtaining the consent of both the parties.
It also directs for setting up a help line in every District and Muffasil Court Complex for updating the litigants/lawyers about their cases and answering queries.
A dedicated team (comprising a Senior Judicial Officer and a Senior Ministerial Staff) be constituted in each District Court Complex for taking stock of the situation on a day-to-day basis and to take appropriate remedial steps, the circular reads.
Further, canteens and the Bar rooms will not remain operational till further orders.
District, Subordinate Court Buildings To Be Sanitized On Daily Basis
SEARCH FOR DIV COM BEGINS: Sahoo, Shailendra Kumar Top Contenders
SRINAGAR: With the Government appointing Baseer Ahmad Khan as Advisor to Lt Governor, the authorities have begun the search for Khan’s successor in the Kashmir valley.
Sources privy to the developments said that at least two senior officers have been zeroed in for the top bureaucratic position in Kashmir division.
Sources said that government is likely to appoint any one of the two including PHE Secretary Ajit Kumar Sahoo and former Chief Electoral Officer Shalindra Kumar as new Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir.
Shailendra Kumar has already served as Divisional Commissioner in the valley while as if appointed; Sahoo would be occupying the post for the first time. The orders- according to sources- was likely to be issued on Tuesday. (KNT)
Union Finance Minister To Unveil First Financial Statement of UT Today in Parliament
SRINAGAR: The first budget of Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir is set to be unveiled in the Parliament on Tuesday. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present J&K UT’s maiden budget in the Parliament tomorrow at 12:00 noon, after question hour concludes.
“The budget will be approved by the Parliament before March 31 for the next financial year of 2020-21,” they said, adding that Parliament will also give its nod to five months’ budget of ongoing fiscal of 2019 -20 which was necessitated by bifurcation of the erstwhile state.
Annual budget of Jammu and Kashmir was set to cross the figure of Rs one lakh crore and could be around Rs 1.2 lakh crore.
After bifurcation of the State, President of India Ram Nath Kovind gave authorization for utilization of funds in the UT , pending approval of the Parliament. On December 15 2018, the State Administrative Council(SAC) headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik had approved Rs 88,911 crore budget for 2019-20.
The Parliament’s approval for budget is required because Jammu & Kashmir Union Territory is presently without an elected Legislative Assembly. The J&K UT legislature will have powers to pass budget when there will be elected regime like Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.
Post Parliament’s nod to re-organisation of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, the State authorities had started preparations for separate budgets for both the UTs.
They held threadbare discussions with officials of Union Home and Finance Ministries to finalize the budget—(KNO)
Hirdesh Kumar Appointed As New CEO J&K
SRINAGAR: The Election Commission on Monday appointed Hirdesh Kumar as the new Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir. The IAS officer replaced Shailendra Kumar.
According to a notification issued by the commission, Hirdesh Kumar a 1999-batch IAS officer of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre was appointed for the posts.
The notification asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to ensure that the new CEO takes charge “immediately”.
Sources divulged that the outgoing CEO is likely to be given responsibility of important department.
About the new Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, the sources said that a non-local IAS officer is likely to be posted as new Divisional Commissioner Kashmir.
It is worth to mention here that the incumbent Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan was on Sunday appointed as the fourth Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Jammu and Kashmir, Girish Chandra Murmu—(KNO)
Soldier Dies Of Cardiac Arrest In Bla
SRINAGAR: An Army soldier on Monday died of cardiac arrest in north Kashmir district of Baramulla.
Official sources said that a soldier, identified as Omjeet Singh, suffered a massive heart attack while he was on duty in an Army camp in Baramulla on Monday. ‘’Singh was immediately taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead’’, they said.
After completing all the legal and medical formalities, arrangements will be made to send the body of the deceased to his native place, they said.
This is the second death of a soldier in the valley during the last one week. A soldier, identified as M Parameswaran, of 127 Light Air Defence Regiment died of heart attack while he was on duty at Old Airfield Rangreth on March 11.
Missing Tral Man’s Body Found In Soura
SRINAGAR: Body of a 60-year-old man who was missing since March 6 was recovered from a marshy land in Soura area of Srinagar district on Monday.
Station House Officer (SHO) Soura, Tanveer Ahmad said that soon after receiving the information, a police team rushed to the spot and recovered the body from the marshy land.
The police officer identified the deceased as Jalaldin Dar (60), a resident of Noorpora, Tral in Awantipora.
“A case under 174 CrPc has been registered and further investigations taken up to ascertain the cause of death,” SHO said.
He said that a missing report regarding Dar was lodged in police station Awantipora on March 07.
According to reports, Dar was a labourer by profession. (GNS)
Court directs Govt to release Kashmir youth lodged in Agra Jail
SRINAGAR: State High Court Monday issued directions to authorities to release a Kashmiri detenue lodged in Agra Jail of Uttar Pradesh.
The court of Justice Tashi Rabistan issued this direction after annulling the detention of Bandipora youth under Public Safety Act.
Advocate Bashir Ahmed Tak who represented the detained youth told Kashmir News Trust that police had arrested Mudasir Ahmed Wani son of late Ghulam Ahmed, an auto driver by profession on 06 August 2019, shortly after the abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The detenue, a resident of Pazalpora, Matrigam Bandipora was booked under FIR number 28/2019 and subsequently he was shifted to Agra Jail under contentious Public Safety Act.
Advocate Bashir Ahmed Tak contended that the detenue is illiterate and an autodriver by profession who barely known ABC of law. He said the police didn’t give him grounds of detention except putting it on paper that he was a stone-pelter.
The court after hearing the arguments quashed the detention of detenue under Public Safety Act and directed the government to release Mudasir Ahmed from Agra Jail forthwith. (KNT)
Jammu School Sealed For Flouting Closure Order
JAMMU: A private higher secondary school in Samba district was sealed on Monday for allegedly flouting the government’s order of closure of all educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir over the novel coronavirus pandemic, an official said. A team of revenue and police officers, headed by Sub-Divisional Magistrate C P Kotwal, sealed the institution in Vijay Pur area of Jammu region after it was found conducting classes in defiance of the order. It submitted a detailed report to the deputy commissioner, the spokesperson said.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration had last week ordered closure of all educational institutes across the Union territory till March-end as a precautionary measure to deal with the threat posed by the deadly COVID-19.
In a statement on Monday, the administration said 176 people had completed their quarantine period and only two persons tested positive for the infection.
A total of 2,478 travellers and people in contact with suspected cases have been put under surveillance, while 2,095 people are under home quarantine, the official said, quoting the daily media bulletin on COVID-19.
The number of the people who are quarantined in hospitals are 29 and 178 people are under home isolation. As many as 106 samples have been sent for testing, of which 98 tested negative and only two cases tested positive so far, while reports of six cases are awaited till date, according to the statement.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose to 114 on Monday, with Odisha reporting its first COVID-19 patient and a new case each in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kerala, according to the Union Health Ministry.
The Maharashtra government also reported four more patients of the infection, which the Union Health Ministry did not immediately add to its national count.
Many political stalwarts, big-wigs to join BJP soon: Avinash Rai Khanna
Srinagar: Bharitya Janata Party national vice president and in-charge J&K affairs, Avinash Rai Khanna on Monday said that the coming months will spring a big surprise as many political stalwarts in the Jammu and Kashmir are joining the BJP.
Khanna also said that the BJP was fully capable to fight any election on its own and formation or launching of new parties won’t affect the party’s strengthen in Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP J&K affairs in-charge said that many people, with clean past have already joined BJP after realizing that it was the only party that understands the peoples’ issues and is committed to resolve the same on priority basis. “That’s why, Union Cabinet ministers visited far flung areas of J&K and also twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar to get first-hand account of peoples issues. Today, people understand that governance is at their door steps and they are feeling relaxed,” he said.
Asked whether the party was emerging as a strong force and reports were everywhere that some known faces would join BJP in the coming days and months, Khanna said that time is not far that when political stalwarts and prominent leaders of various parties of J&K, will join BJP. “They are in touch with us and will join us soon. We will announce their joining soon,” he said.
To a query whether BJP was feeling unnerved after the launch of Altaf Bukhari led J&K Apni Party, Khanna said that they welcome the new parties on the political turf of J&K, but “BJP was strong enough to fight all alone.” “Come Assembly polls, we will separately contest and will win with a huge margin. People of J&K have understood that BJP is the only party that instead of filling its own coffers understands the peoples’ sufferings and is committed to resolve the same,” he said.
Asked about the detention of political leaders including former Chief Ministers—Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti besides other leaders who have been slapped with the Public Safety Act (PSA), the BJP top leader said that had these leaders really worked for the peoples benefit, there would have been mass protests by their supporters to press for their release. “There was not even a single person who protested to seek release of their leaders. The fact is that these leaders never worked for people in real terms and instead played vote bank politics to gain power,” Khanna said.(KINS)
Coronavirus: Kashmir University makes attendance optional
Srinagar: In wake of Coronavirus threat, Kashmir University Monday made the attendance of employees optional and has informed them that their attendance will not be mandatory till the advisory related to Coronavirus is in force.
The Varsity issued an order that reads: “Pursuant to the Advisory issued by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi and the University of Kashmir vide number I (Coronavirus) Reg/KU/20 dated 11/3/20, it is notified for the information of the bonafide research scholars in the Departments / Research Centres / Satellite Campuses that their attendance in the respective Departments / Centres shall not be mandatory, instead shall be optional during the period the Advisory remains in force.”
The circular further says that all the teachers, supervisors and scholars are also advised to strictly follow the social distancing measures in the laboratories, libraries, seminar rooms and other similar places.(KNT)
