Govt. gathering legal opinions on convicts’ release

T. RAMAKRISHNAN

CHENNAI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2018 00:00 IST

Advocate General to give his view by Sunday

Even as the State Cabinet is set to meet here on Sunday afternoon, the government is in the process of gathering legal opinions from different sources on the issue of the premature release of seven convicts undergoing life imprisonment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

The scheduled meeting of the Cabinet has assumed importance against the backdrop of the Supreme Court, in the V. Sriharan @ Murugan & Others v/s Union of India case, stating that “the authority concerned [Governor of Tamil Nadu] will be at liberty to decide the said application [filed by A.G. Perarivalan @ Arivu before the Governor under Article 161] as deemed fit.” It disposed of the writ petition and all pending applications, which essentially pertained to the remission of the convicts.

In his response to the Supreme Court’s order, Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam reiterated that there was no change in the stand of the State government, which favoured the release of the convicts — a position taken in February 2014 and in March 2016, when former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was alive. However, he said the government had to study the order before taking any decision on the matter.

The Governor has “unfettered powers” under Article 161 to “grant pardon, reprieve, respite or remission of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extend(s).” Sources in the government say it is being argued by a section of experts that as the Governor is to be guided by the decision of the Cabinet on such a matter, there will be no legal impediments to the release of the convicts. The death sentence for Nalini, one of the convicts, was commuted to a life sentence in April 2000 only through this provision.

Another opinion that the government received was that the “concurrence” of the Central government was required in this matter, and the Governor cannot go merely by the advice of the State Cabinet. The Centre has taken the stand that the convicts cannot be released. A Presidential order issued through the Ministry of Home Affairs, dated April 18, 2018, is being cited in support of this viewpoint. In the order, the Centre did not concur with the proposal of the State government. Any move to release the convicts “will set a very dangerous precedent and lead to international ramifications by other such criminals in the future,” the order said.

It is learnt that the government has forwarded the case to the Advocate General, who is likely to provide his opinion by Sunday.

Rajinikanth starts shooting in Lucknow for Petta

Itishree.Misra@timesgroup.com 09.09.2018

Rajinikanth arrived in Lucknow on Friday morning to begin shooting for his film, Petta. The actor was surrounded by nearly 40 bouncers, who accompanied him on the flight from Chennai and will be with him throughout the film shoot. This is Rajini’s first film to be shot in Uttar Pradesh.

A huge crowd had gathered at the Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport in Lucknow to see the actor and screamed out his name as soon as they spotted him coming out of the arrival lounge.

Rajini will be shooting in the UP capital for more than a month and will then also shoot portions of the film in Varanasi and Sonbhadra. The film, directed by Karthik Subbaraj, also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a prominent role.

“The Lucknow police has deputed 25 constables along with a Circle Officer for Rajini sir’s security. He will also be provided with a police escort for the entire duration of his stay in the state capital,” informs Eiqbal Jaafri, the line producer of the film.

“There are more than 500 people involved in the shooting schedule and the film will be shot at Chowk, Malihabad, Sitapur and Barabanki, along with other locations in and around Lucknow,” adds Jaafri.

According to sources, the producers and Rajini are being very particular about the shoot pics not being leaked out and for that, the crew and supporting cast is being given the scenes on the day of the shoot itself and no mobile phones are being allowed on the set.



The first look of

Petta


Rajinikanth, on arrival at Lucknow airport on Friday morning

THE LUCKNOW POLICE HAS DEPUTED 25 CONSTABLES ALONG WITH A CIRCLE OFFICER FOR RAJINI’S SECURITY. HE WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED A POLICE ESCORT

–Eiqbal Jaafri, line producer

DELICATE OP

In a surgery of nerves, docs hold theirs and save life

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:09.09.2018

A quick fix measure adopted by doctors at AIIMS saved the life of a woman who suffered damage to a major blood vessel during spine surgery. As well as being recognized as a novel treatment by the British Medical Journal, the technique used could prove valuable in dealing with similar cases in the future.

The details of the medical thriller were published by the reputed journal in its latest issue. The case involved a 42-yearold woman who had a prolapsed disc in the lower spine due to which she could not sit or lie down comfortably. Her son, a doctor, decided get his mother operated on at AIIMS trauma centre.

The woman, whose identity has been withheld, was hypertensive, though her blood pressure was under control through medication. The procedure for relieving the pressure the prolapsed disc was placing on some nerves was progressing well when the patient suddenly exhibited very low blood pressure (60/40mm Hg).

Surgery was abandoned and medicines injected to stabilize her. The operating surgeons, however, struggled to discover the reason for the drop inblood pressure. The presence of blood showed up in a scan and the doctors realized that during the operations, the common iliac artery (CIA), a major blood vessel, had been punctured. Two veins bringing back blood to the pelvic region were also damaged.

Despite all measures to resuscitate the women, she kept sinking, and before the medical team could decide the next step, she suffered a cardiac arrest. The patient would have died in a few minutes were it not for the timely intervention of a surgeon on duty who decided give her open-heart massage by cutting open the chest cavity and manually pressing the heart instead of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, as usual. After 15 minutes of manual massage, the patient miraculously revived. Once her blood started circulating, the doctors identified the site of the blood leakage.

However, this was only a minor win in the gigantic crisis at hand. Injury and haemorrhaging require urgent recognition and appropriate surgical management.

So, in a quick-fix, now termed novel by the British Medical Journal, Mishra’s team repaired the CIA by transposing a segment of the internal iliac artery, which supplies blood to the pelvic regions and legs. “The technique is simple, reliable and fast and may prove valuable in dealing with such injuries,” the BMJ noted.

Government officer running illegal office busted, ₹3L seized

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Vellore:09.09.2018

A team of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption officials (DVAC) headed by DSP Saravana Kumar after receiving a tip raided the Directorate of Town and Country Planning office in Vellore on Friday night and seized ₹3.28 lakh in unaccounted money from the cabin of C Subramaniyam, deputy director of integrated Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts.

The sleuths picked up Subramaniyam from his office at Sathuvacheri and also raided a private building where he had hired more than 37 employees and resorted to illegal activities.

While inspecting the documents at his illegal office site, the sleuths found that Subramaniyam had been ‘running’ it for the past one year in the same Sathuvacheri area and was paying a monthly salary of ₹9,000 to each of his employees.

“Most of the workers at his private office were found to be civil engineers who had been engaged to do documentation work pertaining to files submitted by members of the public for approval of layouts and plots at a rented building a few hundred metres from the Town and Country Planning office.” said Vellore DVAC inspector Vijay.

Subramaniyam had forced and compelled several members of the public to pay bribe to issue approval orders, Vijay told TOI.

C Subramaniyam, deputy director of integrated Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts

HC pulls up UGC for failure to check deemed varsities

Seeks Action On Violation By Vinayaka Mission Univ

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:09.09.2018

Pulling up the University Grants Commission for failing to check irregularities committed by deemed universities, the Madras high court has directed the commission to take appropriate action against Vinayaka Mission University for making MPhil course available through distance education mode without necessary recognition.

Justice S M Subramaniam passed the order on a batch of pleas, including one moved by S Sivan — an MPhil holder from the university whose degree was declared invalid by the UGC. Sivan is a BT assistant employed by the state school education department. While on the job, in 2009, he completed his MPhil from Vinayaka Mission University and was receiving from the UGC incentive increment — granted to teachers for acquiring higher educational qualifications.

To his shock, on October 3, 2012, the school education department issued an order that incentive increments cannot be granted to holders of degrees that are not valid as per the University Grants Commission Act and its regulations.

Aggrieved, Sivan approached the court. The government submitted that the MPhil obtained by him is invalid and therefore, he is not entitled to any incentive increment. The UGC submitted that deemed universities declared under Section 3 of the UGC Act are not empowered to conduct distance education courses without the commission’s nod.

Recording the submissions, Justice Subramaniam said, “This court is of an opinion that incentive increment is a concession granted to teaching staff in school education department to encourage the morale of the teachers. Such being the special nature of concession, the same is to be regulated in accordance with the terms and conditions of the orders in force.”

It is up to the UGC to initiate appropriate action since students from poor economic backgrounds are exploited, the court said, adding in the event of serious irregularities, the UGC is competent to initiate action, even to cancel the status of the university.

Such actions, however, are rarely taken by the UGC for reasons not known to the court, the judge said. The university concerned must be held accountable by the UGC authorities, he added.

The UGC is competent to initiate action, even to cancel the status of the university. Such actions, however, are rarely taken by the UGC for reasons not known to the court, the judge said

Students involved in ragging may have guilt mark on certs
Edu Min & Secy Discuss Idea At Guv-Led Meet
Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai:09.09.2018

In what could be one of the strongest responses from the state to the menace, an anti-ragging committee meeting convened by governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday discussed the possibility of recording the involvement of students — in all proved cases — on their degree or transfer certificates.

A source, who attended the meeting at Raj Bhavan in which higher education minister K P Anbalagan was present, said the suggestion was part of the measures discussed to eliminate ragging from college campuses across the state.

While educational institutions found violating the antiragging guidelines may also be handed out severe punishments, the exact modalities of implementing the decision — which could act as a potential warning to all future employers about the students’ past — would be worked out in the near future.

A TOI report on August 23, which exposed an incident at the School of Excellence in Law at Taramani where two second-year students were alleged to have ragged a junior, triggered action. After an inquiry, a syndicate committee of the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University (TNDALU) last week recommended that the two ‘seniors’ found guilty of the offence be suspended for a year. Director of the school S Narayana Perumal also resigned from his position and a report on the issue was submitted to Purohit.

At Saturday’s meeting, where chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, director general of police T K Rajendran, home secretary Niranjan Mardi, higher education secretary Mangat Ram Sharma and governor’s secretary R Rajagopalan were also present, the panel reviewed the anti-ragging measures in place in the state.

RAGGING MENACE

‘Colleges must send compliance reports to monitoring cell’

The committee also resolved to issue an advisory to all district administrations to ensure that the antiragging mechanism becomes more proactive.

There would be zero tolerance for ragging in Tamil Nadu, Sharma told TOI after the meeting. “All colleges, universities including deemed universities, medical colleges and technical institutions should send compliance reports about the constitution of committees and anti-ragging squads to the state-level monitoring cell,” he said.

It was also decided to strengthen the district-level committees by including a regional joint director from the higher education department. Every district cell, headed by the collector and with the superintendent of police as a member, would be directed to hold review meetings just before the start of an academic session.

The committee found that not all educational institutions had sent a report regarding antiragging measures to the state level or district level committees. The monitoring cell has also proposed to include more stakeholders from civil society in the anti-ragging committee.

Aadhaar no longer must on mark sheets

Basant Kumar Mohanty Sep 07, 2018 00:00 IST

The UGC building in Delhi. Pitcure by Prem Singh

New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has rolled back its 2017 directive asking universities to print students' Aadhaar numbers on their mark sheets.

The higher education regulator said printing the unique identity number would amount to breaching the security and confidentiality of Aadhaar and violate the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.

However, some universities have already started implementing the order. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) asked research students last year to provide their Aadhaar number while submitting their thesis.

Geeta Kumari, the president of the JNU students' union, said the university was forcing students to part with their Aadhaar data.

"JNU forced students to submit Aadhaar data because of the UGC's directive. Now that the UGC has rolled back its own order, JNU must scrap its order also," Kumari said.

Delhi University executive council member Rajesh Jha demanded that varsities that have complied with the UGC's 2017 directive should now take back the mark sheets and reprint them without the Aadhaar numbers.

"It will be unfair if the mark sheets carry the Aadhaar numbers. Those institutions that have printed the numbers should take back the mark sheets and reprint them without the Aadhaar information," Jha said.

In a letter dated September 4 and issued by UGC secretary Rajnish Jain to all universities, it has been mentioned: "It is for your kind information that printing of Aadhaar number on degree/certificate of a resident would be accessible to multiple people, thereby breaching the security and confidentiality of the Aadhaar numbers would be in violation of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, and regulations framed thereunder."

The letter said the regulations prohibited Aadhaar data from being published, displayed or posted publicly and also provided for penalties for such offences.

"Therefore, you are requested not to publish or display the Aadhaar number of the students publicly," the letter added.

On July 29, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chief R.S. Sharma had posted his Aadhaar number on Twitter, challenging hackers to do any harm.

Hackers had immediately posted his personal details such as his mobile phone number, residential address and bank accounts.

UGC secretary Jain told The Telegraph that some of the universities had already printed Aadhaar details on mark sheets.

"We will discuss what can be done in case of the mark sheets that have already printed the Aadhaar numbers," he said.

On March 21, 2017, the UGC had issued a letter to all universities asking them to start printing Aadhaar numbers on mark sheets as a measure to check malpractice.

"I request you to introduce identification mechanisms like photograph and Unique lD/Aadhaar number in students' certificates. Such inscriptions, you'd agree, will go a long way in uniformly marking a student's personal identity and other associated details," said the letter issued by then UGC secretary J.S. Sandhu.