Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Hic, hic, hurray to Indian Army

The Indian Army loves its peg. But this makes a huge dent in the government exchequer.The Indian Army has drawn excess liquor in Delhi to the tune of Rs 27 crore, causing the government a loss of over Rs 10 crore in taxes. The Canteen Stores Department (CSD) depot and the Delhi Area failed to exercise built-in checks and withdrew excess liquor, mostly rum, to the tune of Rs 27 crore in the last one-and-a-half year. This resulted in the loss of over Rs 10 crore in taxes due to the price difference between the Army's subsidised booze and market rates. "Had the Army not overdrawn and sold liquor, most of which is smuggled out in the civil market, the government could have got Rs 10 crore as taxes. Everyone is looting the system," said a senior Army official. Around 43 Army units overdrew about 1.12 lakh cases of liquor, according to top sources in the Army. Sources said that the CSD depot and the Headquarters (HQ) Delhi Area kept issuing liquor to the units without verifying if it was within permissible limits.However, the GOC of the Delhi Area, Maj Gen K J S Oberoi, said, "This is not correct. We haven't overdrawn liquor. There is an official report on this. In fact, we have been drawing below our prescribed quota. I have streamlined the canteen's functioning."But on record, while the HQ Delhi Area admits that excess withdrawal had taken place in certain months, it blames only a couple of units for the slip-up. The Army conveniently passed the blame on to Smart Cards that are now being used by defence personnel to buy liquor from any part of the country. The Army says that officers proceeding on leave don't procure liquor from their parent units or from where they are posted but have been withdrawing their monthly doze from Delhi, since it is a large station.But ex-serviceman K Singh denies an unprecedented surge in liquor sale after the induction of Smart Cards. "Even before the Smart Cards were introduced, officers used to buy liquor from their holiday stations by taking certificates from their serving stations. This is nothing new," says Singh.Incidentally, the Delhi Area says that the Army Battle Honours Mess has underdrawn liquor to the tune of 686 cases and puts the blame of extra withdrawal to the large number of officers who regularly travel to Delhi. However, units like the Research and Analysis Wing's Aviation Research Centre, the National Defence College and the National Security Guard's 52nd battalion and others are not under the Delhi Area's control.

'Judges are acting as collection agents'

The Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishnan, said on Wednesday judges handling petty cheque bounce cases were wasting their time as "collection heads of money lenders".He made this observation while inaugurating six evening courts in Delhi. The evening courts will mainly deal with cheque bounce cases under the Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act."Section 138 is a problem. Cheque bounce cases have been on the rise in the country. In Delhi, there are around six lakh cases and in Mumbai around 8 to 10 lakh cases," Balakrishnan said in the Patiala House Courts."Judges handling these cases have become mere collecting head of money lenders," the senior most judicial officer said. The CJI explained that as most of the litigants who file cheque bounce cases want their money back, the judges end up acting like "collection heads". As a solution, he wants the evening courts to handle these cases. "Though at present we are starting six evening courts that will function from 5 to 7 pm, the number will increase to 30. And apart from handling cases under Section 138, these courts will attend to traffic challans and other petty matters," said Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah. He said the Indian courts were not public-friendly without toilets or even proper sitting space for people.

Antulay has the last laugh

Buckling under consistent Opposition pressure, the government may force Minorities Affairs minister A R Antulay to apologise for his controversial statement on the circumstances leading to ATS chief Hemant Karkare's death."Antulay will have to apologise or be sent packing," a senior Congress leader said.However, Antulay remained unfazed and said there was "no difference" in his stand over the issue. "No decision has been taken on my resignation," Antulay said.The Opposition rocked the parliament on Monday, demanding immediate sacking of the minister. The government assured the vociferous opposition that it will make a statement on Tuesday. Nabbed terrorist Ajmal Amir Qasab had confessed that he and his companion killed Karkare and others outside Cama Hospital. On Monday, MEA joint secretary T C A Raghavan handed over a hand written letter to Afrasiab, Pakistan's Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi, in which Qasab sought legal assistance and a meeting with Pakistani officials. Meanwhile, the Home Ministry briefed US spies on the November 26, 2008 attack. Director of National Intelligence John Michel McConnell met Home Minister P Chidambaram, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, senior Intelligence Bureau officials and reviewed investigations into the terror attacks.