HC refuses to suspend life term granted to 3 convicts
The trio has been convicted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
CHANDIGARH : The Punjab and Haryana high court has refused to suspend life sentence to three persons from SBS Nagar district convicted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, for waging war against the state.
The high court bench of justice Jaswant Singh and justice
Sant Parkash, while dismissing their plea observed that it was not a fit case for extending the concession of suspension of the remaining sentence. “It has been established on record that incriminating material, propagating the cause of Khalistan, was recovered from the possession of the applicants,” the bench said.
The court was dealing with the plea of Arvinder Singh, Surjit Singh and Ranjit Singh booked on May 24, 2016 under the Arms Act and the on allegations of waging war against the state. They were convicted in January 2019.
Specifically, allegations against them are that they have been inciting people to resort to violence with the objective of waging war against the country, with a view to establish “Khalistan”.
As per prosecution, they were in touch through Facebook and WhatApp not only among themselves, but also with other suspects aboard. The material recovered was 97 books, 198 photographs and 13 photographs of Sikhs, who had died in the Saka of 1978 and 1,000 books in connection with biography of Sukhdev Singh Babbar.
In December 2020, they had approached the high court with a plea seeking suspension of the remaining sentence. “They stealthily declared war against India. They conspired to overawe the Government of India, thus, disturbing the normal tranquillity of a civilised society,
” the trial court had said in its judgment of conviction in 2019.
The high court while dealing with their plea for suspension of sentence further observed that a reasonable inference can be drawn that the primary object of keeping and distributing such material was the establishment of “Khalistan” on Baisakhi.
They kept the material with them with the intention of using it for propaganda and inciting the people to resort to violence to wage war against the country, the bench recorded adding that the offence, alleged to have been committed are “very serious” in nature. Hence, life sentence awarded can’t be suspended.
HC OBSERVES A REASONABLE INFERENCE CAN BE DRAWN THAT THE PRIMARY OBJECT OF KEEPING, DISTRIBUTING SUCH MATERIAL WAS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ‘KHALISTAN’ ON BAISAKHI
DEHRADUN: The rescue and search agencies involved in the Chamoli tragedy found no additional body on Saturday after which the toll till Saturday evening remained at 62 with 142 still missing.
Meanwhile, a team of ITBP personnel reached the glacial lake about 8 km above the disaster-hit Reni village in Rishi Ganga catchment area. The team after reaching there tried to make way for another 14 member team of scientists and rescue workers from SDRF and ITBP, by clearing some muck and debris near the lake.
The 14 member team which had left for the lake on Friday reached Aidar camp on Saturday about half kilometre below the lake. On Sunday it will trek to the lake for its analysis and find ways to drain it out to avert any other disaster.
Earlier on Friday, the rescue workers had recovered one body and a human body part.
Swati Bhadauria, district magistrate Chamoli said, “The rescue workers didn’t find any body till Saturday evening. The toll remains with 142 still missing.”
Bhadauria added, “Out of the total bodies recovered, 34 have been identified while 28 are yet to be identified. Thirteen of the total 62 bodies have been recovered from the 1.7 km long tunnel in the NTPC hydel power project in Tapovan which is in the focus of the rescue operation.”
She also informed, “The rescue workers have been able to clear muck up to a distance of about 162 metres in the Tapovan tunnel but are facing difficulty due to the continuous outflow of water from inside.”
Meanwhile, the rescue workers are also scanning the Alaknanda river downstream the disaster site to search for bodies.
“About 70 personnel in 12 teams of SDRF are searching bodies in the river from Reni village to Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal district alongside the river covering four districts of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal and Pauri Garhwal. After recovering the bodies, their DNA samples are being collected for DNA test with that of their family members to ascertain their identification,” said Praveen Alok, the SDRF spokesperson.
Of the total 204 missing initially in the disaster, 139 are from NTPC’s Tapovan power plant and 53 from the Rishi Ganga project that was also damaged in the disaster caused by a rockslide and the formation of a glacial lake in the mountainous terrain. About 12 villagers living in the vicinity are also missing.
The rescue workers didn’t find any body till Saturday evening. The toll remains 62 with 142 still missing. SWATI BHADAURIA, Chamoli deputy magistrate
ACROSS
1 Lowering of standard (5) 4 English satirical painter (7) 8 Possess (3)
9 Variety of grape (9) 10 Malicious rumour (7) 11 Capricious inclination (5) 13 Highly skilled (6) 15 Calm (6)
18 Printing machine (5) 19 Seek votes (7) 21 Chinese gooseberry (4,5) 23 Promissory note (3) 24 Determine (7) 25 Distinctive smell (5)
DOWN
1 Brief inspection (4-3) 2 A tropical fruit (9) 3 Relieved (5) 4 Frequent (6) 5 Profitable (7) 6 Unbroken succession (3) 7 Convenient for use (5) 12 Variety of peach (9) 14 Relaxing (7) 16 Throw into turmoil (7) 17 Impute guilt to (6) 18 A card game (5) 20 Paper money (5) 22 Used to be (3)