Vox Populi

*V K Kapur,Panchkula

Booth scam: No need for more inquiry

With scams being unearthed almost every day in the country,the “City Beautiful” Chandigarh is not lagging behind — a long list of scams has surfaced in the over the years. The latest in the list is the booth allotment scam,where several officials/officers,political figures have allegedly got 90 booths allotted to ineligible persons at Krishna Market in Sector 41. An enquiry in this regard was conducted by former additional deputy commissioner P S Shergil. In a section of the press,it has been reported that various outfits have asked for further by a central agency like the CBI. There is hardly any need of any further inquiry,when an official probe has been held and submitted to the concerned authorities. If another probe takes place,it will be a long process,amounting to shear wastage of time,money and energy. It may also bear no plausible result. For instance,the Bofors scam allegedly took place in the mid 1098s and in the Tis Hazari court in Delhi filed a case in this regard in 2011 — after a period of around three decades. To probe the Rs 64-crore scam,Rs 250 crore was spent by the authorities. In light of the inquiry conducted by an officer of a status,the concerned authorities should take action against the defaulters. Let the inducted persons defend themselves in the court of law.

*S K Khosla,Chandigarh

Overbridge of profit

An overbridge has reportedly been approved for construction in Sector 17. It is being said that the overbridge was visualised by Le Corbusier and will lessen traffic congestion in the area. What was visualised by Corbusier half-a-century ago appears to be impractical today. Undoubtedly,there is a strong need for construction of over/under bridges to decongest the city’s fast rising traffic. These are needed even more on the Madhya Marag and Dakshin Marag — the city’s most congested roads that connect to other states. The only beneficiary of the proposed overbridge will surely be private hoteliers.

*Balvinder,Chandigarh

Need to upgrade lower courts

The state-of-affairs in subordinate courts in Punjab and Haryana clearly depict an urgent need to upgrade infrastructure to make them equipped with tools for information and communication technology. Though computers have been installed — coupled with distribution of laptops — to judicial officers,but this has not made these “fully-computerised” courts. Thus,these courts lag behind when it comes to adopting the newly-evolved model of “e-court: like the one inaugurated in Delhi last year. Barring Chandigarh,no district court in both the states has got its own website,which helps litigants/advocates to get information of the cause list of to-be-listed cases as well as final orders/judgments. Though the website of Punjab and Haryana High Court provides such facility,but the daily/zimni orders passed are not uploaded,contrary to the practice in Supreme Court. This shortcoming can be resurrected and enforced even in lower courts,even if it entails amendment in rules and orders. Recently-elevated Chief Justice Ranjan Gagoi must ensure the framing of a time-bound roadmap to revamp the image of subordinate courts. As the Supreme Court,since July 2010,has initiated periodic monitoring of nationwide progress to provide adequate infrastructure in subordinate courts,it is high time for our high court to take suo motu cognizance to kick-start the long-pending rejuvenation of subordinate judiciary in the region.

*Hemant Kumar,Ambala City