Chandigarh, July 16
The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Anshu Shukla today convicted a woman in an acid attack case.

The court convicted Tinku, for throwing acid on a woman and her mother. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on July 21.

The case was registered in March, 2013, on the complaint of Sanjay.

He had complained to the police that his wife Usha and his mother Shanti were injured in the attack.

The accused, Tinku, was Usha’s sister-in-law and they had an old enmity. The accused as well as the victim were residents of Bhaskar Colony in Sector 25.

Tinku had poured acid on the two and Usha’s arm was burnt in the attack.

Chandigarh, July 16
ICICI Bank Limited has been directed to pay Rs 1,50,000 as compensation for misplacing the documents pertaining to the sale of a flat of one of its home loan customers.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the bank “to issue an appropriate certificate to the complainants stating that the various documents received by them in respect of the flat in question were lost by them. They shall also get advertisements published in two national daily newspapers about the loss of title documents of the property of the complainants at their own expenses. They shall write to the concerned departments about the loss of documents and reimburse the expenses incurred by the complainants on obtaining certified/duplicate copies of the documents.”

Varinder Kumar Sapra and his wife Geeta Sapra, the complainants, had stated that they had purchased a flat in Sector 14, Panchkula.

The complainants had availed of a home loan of Rs 5,00,000 from the ICICI Bank for a fixed period of 14 years at floating rate of interest. At the time of availing of the loan, the rate of interest was 8.5 per cent per annum.

It has been stated that at the time of availing of the loan, the complainants had handed over to the bank the original sale deed/title deeds and the allotment letter along with other original documents in respect of the flat issued by the authorities concerned.

“The opposite party were charging interest at the rate of 12.75 per cent per annum, which was much higher as compared to other banks and financial institutions. So we decided to switch to IDBI Home Finance Limited as the rate of interest offered by it was low as compared to our bank,” the complainant stated.

At the time of sanctioning of the loan from the IDBI Home Finance Ltd, the complainants had requested the ICICI Bank to hand over the original title deed and the allotment letter along with other original documents submitted to them but to no avail.

“The opposite party pleaded that for the purpose of the settlement, they were ready to get the loan re-transferred from the IDBI Home Finance Ltd. It has been further pleaded that after meeting the complainants, a fresh agreement was entered into between the parties on amicably agreeable terms and conditions,” stated the opposite party.

The forum observed: “We are of the view that the complainants have definitely suffered on account of negligence and deficiency in service on the part of the other party resulting in an incalculable loss to them in terms of their future dealings pertaining to the property. The trouble and efforts to get the documents reconstructed is immense and will have to be borne by the complainants apart from the mental stress, anxiety and agony, which they have already suffered.”

Chandigarh, July 16
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has penalised Canara Bank, Sector 44, for failing to show credit amount in the account bearer’s account that resulted in cancellation of an insurance policy availed by him.

The bank has been told to pay Rs 10,000 for the “wrongful dishonour of the cheque of the complainant and the resultant mental agony and harassment caused to him” and Rs 5,000 as litigation expenses.

Balwinder Singh Sian, a resident of Sector 41, said that in 2013, he took a health insurance policy and issued a cheque dated January 31, 2013, of Canara Bank amounting to Rs 4,656 towards the premium.

The insurance company issued him the policy which was valid from February 3, 2013, to February 2, 2014, for the total sum insured for Rs.1,30,000. Thereafter, the insurance company presented the cheque to its bank on February 9, 2013, but cancelled the policy.

When the complainant enquired from the insurance company, he was told that the policy was cancelled on account of insufficient funds in his account. According to the complainant as per the statement, issued by the bank, there was sufficient amount in his account, he alleged.

The complainant alleged that the act of the opposite party in not clearing his cheque amounted to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on its part.

In its written reply, the bank stated that due to mechanical error in the account holding system, the cheque of the complainant was presented in the wrong account.

“From the perusal of records, it is clear that the bank has tried to take shelter behind some mechanical error in the account holding system,” the forum ruled. 

Chandigarh, July 16
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice of motion to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), regarding four ambiguous questions in the biology section of the All-India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Test (AIPMT).

CBSE has been asked to file its reply till July 23.

The writ petition was filed by Sukhdeep Singh, a medical aspirant, whose state and all-India rank were affected as the CBSE failed to rectify the errors.

Earlier, the court had directed the CBSE to invite the objections. Following this, the board had invited objections for erroneous questions on May 17.

Several medical aspirants had filed objections to the board by submitting Rs 1,000 per question and demanded bonus marks. However, the board cancelled three questions — two from chemistry and one from biology section — and allotted 12 grace marks, while other six erroneous questions of biology were not corrected, which accounted for the highest marks in the examination.

Sukhdeep, who had deposited Rs 4,000 for the erroneous questions, said, “My future has been put at stake as the CBSE has failed to rectify the errors. My state rank is just on the border line. If the CBSE does not correct the errors and awards bonus marks, I won’t get a seat in the college I deserve.”

The court has directed the CBSE to file its reply before the next date of hearing, which is on July 23.

The issue was first raised by local academician Dr Arvind Goyal, who had presented a standard book reference in the court and demanded correction of six erroneous /ambiguous questions in the biology section of AIPMT and for the revised rank list.

Chandigarh, July 16
The Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has been penalised for failing to refund the transfer fee paid after cancellation of a scheme.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the CHB to refund Rs 47,881 along with interest and pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to the complainant, Reema Thakur.

According to the case details, the complainant was in possession of a dwelling unit in Sector 52, which was initially allotted to Aprajita Soodan. Aprajita Soodan executed a General Power of Attorney in respect of the said dwelling unit in the favour of Reema Thakur. Under a CHB scheme in 2011, the complainant deposited a sum of Rs 47,881 in 2011 to get the said dwelling unit transferred in her name.

Later, she was told that the scheme has been dropped and she could seek a refund of the transfer fee deposited by her.

The complainant applied for refund of the amount paid and the CHB sent a demand draft of Rs 47,881 to her through post. However, there was a spelling error in the demand draft. The complainant alleged that despite requests, the correction in the demand draft was not made. “The name of the beneficiary was mentioned as Reena Thakur instead of Reema Thakur,” she said.

“The complainant has proved her case by providing documentary evidence as well as by filing an affidavit in support of her assertions as made in the complaint,” the forum ruled. 

Chandigarh, July 16
The team of Panchkula District Cricket Association defeated Chandigarh Cricket Association (affiliated to Haryana Cricket Association) by 50 runs in the first match of Haryana Inter-District Cricket Championship for boys (U-16), being played at cricket grounds of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, here today.

In the opening match of the championship the Chandigarh team, after winning the toss, elected to bowl first. Withstanding his skipper’s decision, left arm spinner Utkarsh, bowled a tight spell to restrict the visitors at a minimal score of 149 runs in 40 overs for seven wickets. Utkarsh in his spell claimed five wickets for 42 runs and lead the wicket taking chart. His counterpart, Rahul also bowled tightly and claimed 1 for 6.

For batting side, opener Kshitij took the charge and slammed 38 runs off 49 balls. He was equally supported by Mandeep, who went on to score 32 off 43 balls. Aman Kumar for his 20 runs off 48 balls remained the other main scorer for the team.

Chasing the target the Chandigarh side bundled out on a mere total of 99 runs in 30.4 overs. Aayush Chamola (25 runs off 39 balls) and Nikhil (19 runs off 52 balls) were remained the only main scorer for the team. For bowling side, Shivam (2 for 19), Aman Kumar (2 for 21), Mandeep (2 for 8) claimed two wickets each

Mohali, July 16
Raja KS Sidhu, Joint Secretary, Indian Olympic Association, and Secretary General, Punjab Olympic Association, has been appointed as the Chef-de-Mission for the XXth Commonwealth Games, to be held in Scotland from July 23 to August 3. Sidhu, will lead the 403 members Indian contingent including players and coaching staff, in the commonwealth games. Raja KS Sidhu, a former international shooter, has also initiated 1st Indo-Pak Punjab Games held at Patiala in 2004. He had also represented India as an Indian Olympic official and other international events including Korea Asian Games, Observer in Melbourne Commonwealth Games, member of delegation team to bid for Commonwealth Games, chef-de-mission of Indian contingent in Asian Beach Games and as an official in 2008 and 2010 Commonwealth games.

“The contingent is looking good and we can expect good performance from shooting, wrestling and badminton. The hockey team may also make some difference and bring laurels to the nation. We are hoping for a good show ahead,” said Sidhu. — TNS