Give Flat or 1cr to Buyer, Consumer Forum to Bldr.

Rebecca Samervel TNN 

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a builder to hand over a 712 sq ft flat at Sion within four months or pay Rs 1.04 crore compensation to an ex-serviceman who had booked the flat in 2005, but has not got possession. 
    The commission observed, “Because of the delay in getting possession, complainant is deprived of his dream of having his own house… Rates of real estate have skyrocketed and increased geometrically, the opponents have utilized the hard-earned money of consideration paid by the complainant and one cannot say how long he will have to wait.” 

    Amarjeet Singh Baryam Singh filed the complaint in the commission on July 19, 2011, against M/s Lakadawala Developers Pvt Ltd and its directors, for deficiencyin service. 

    While the flat was booked in August 2005, the agreement was registered in March 2006. Singh paid the entire amount of Rs 24.65 lakh to the builder and construction was to be completed by the end of 2007. He contended that that he tried to contact the builder from time to time but never received possession. Singh alleged that due to this, he was financially overburdened and was undergoing tremendous mental agony. The builder submitted that the property was being developed under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme and had encountered some trouble. The builder alleged that the building was completed but had to be demolished due to some problems. The firm further contended that as per the agreement, the complainant is entitled to take possession of the flat on completion of the project and if it is delayed, the builder will not be liable. They said that they were willing to hand over possession after completion of the project or alternatively Singh could take a refund. The commission, however, said that the efforts made by the builder look half-hearted. “We are not convinced about the efforts taken by the opponents. Similarly, the complainant cannot wait indefinitely to have his own house,” the commission said. 

    Taking into account the market rate of the property, the commission held that the current value of the flat was Rs 99.27 lakh.

Source:::: The Times of India, 18-01-2013, p.02, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&AW=1358485709575

Now, Download Registered Papers of city Properties Transaction Histories Can Be Studied

Sandeep Ashar TNN 

    The process of buying and renting property in Mumbai has just got a lot simpler. As part of its e-governance initiative, the Maharashtra government on Thursday launched an internet facility that allows citizens to download registered property documents. 
    With the introduction of the service, citizens no longer have to depend on real estate agents or make multiple trips to registration offices to procure certified hard copies of property transactions. It also reduces possibilities of cheating by opening up the transaction history of a property. 
    The feature is available under the eSearch facility on the official website (igrmaharashtra.gov.in) of the inspector general of registration (IGR). 
     The inspector general, S Chockalingam, said the service has been initiated for documents registered in 14 of the 23 registration offices in Mumbai on a pilot basis, but will soon be extended for all centres across the state. It currently provides details of registered transactions of properties from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2011. But soon steps will be taken to make available documents registered before 2002 and in 2012. 
    Chockalingam noted that Maharashtra is the first state in the country to initiate such a facility. He explained that the time required to download a document from the website will be less than 30 minutes. This, however, is a bigimprovement on the current state of affairs, where procuring hard copies of a certified document can often take several days. 
    Equally importantly, the feature will facilitate the process of selecting real estate. If a citizen is interested in purchasing a property, say, in Bandra but would first like to conduct a thorough search of records, all he or she now needs to know is its city survey number (or the Milkat number or the plot number) and the concerned revenue village. Entering these details on the IGR website will throw up the property’s transaction history. 
    Chockalingam said documents can be downloaded for free from the site during its test run, which would last about a week. After that, a lump-sum fee will be charged. The facility will make the registration process more citizen-friendly, said Chockalingam, adding that it will “reduce footfall at registration offices and increase their work efficiency. Roughly 20% people visiting registration offices come for certified copies of registered documents.” 
    Vinod Sampat, president of Registration Fee and Stamp Duty Payers Association, welcomed the initiative, but cautioned that its effectiveness will be known after extended use. 
 
WEB OF SIMPLICITY EASIER NETTING  
Go to igrmaharashtra.gov.in. Click ‘eSearch’ under the ‘Online Facilities’ menu 
Enter in the available fields details of the district, the revenue village, the CTS No./Milkat No./Survey No./Plot No. and press submit. The site will provide a unique document ID. Go to Download Document and enter the ID. Click on the Download icon 
 

DOCU DRAMA The new internet facility has been initiated for 14 of the 23 registration offices in Mumbai. Their names appear on the website. At present, the site has documents registered between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2011. The service is free for now, but a fee will be charged in a week or so Currently, registration offices charge 5 (Xerox) and 20 (printout) per page for a copy of a certified document. In 2011-12, certified copies were sought of roughly 40% of the 2 lakh documents registered in Mumbai. In 2011-12, a total of 23.58 lakh documents were registered in Maharashtra.

Agents’ role shrinks as e-governance kicks in 
    Real estate agents, who currently play a key role in property transactions, are all set to lose their domination. The state government plans to introduce a slew of e-governance measures that will ensure that citizens have direct access to the process of stamp duty and registration. Over the next few months, it intends to roll out a facility for online registration first of rental documents and then of all property transactions. It also wants to introduce a system whereby registrations could be undertaken at home by calling authorised personnel. All these steps will be in addition to standardisation of templates for sale and rental deeds.


Source:::: The Times of India, 18-01-2013, p.02, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&AW=1358485709575

NOTICE for Books under BOOK BANK SCHEME

Date: 12-01-2013

The students of Semester II, IV  and VI belongs to SC/ST category are hereby informed to submit the application along with Caste Certificate for the Books under Book Bank Scheme on or before 24-01-2013.

The application forms are available in the Library between 9.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on all working days.

LIBRARIAN                                      PRINCIPAL

Fast-track court gives death for rape-murder in 10 days

Smriti Singh TNN 

New Delhi: Ten days after being set up to try cases of sexual offences against women, a fast-track court in Dwarka, west Delhi, on Tuesday gave the death sentence to a 56-year-old farmhouse guard for raping and killing a three -year-old girl in 2011.  This was the first sentence handed out by any of the fast-track courts set up in the capital after the gang-rape of Nirbhaya in December. 
    Terming the crime as “most diabolic and gruesome”, additional sessions judge Virender Bhat sent the accused, Bharat Singh, to the gallows, saying the case fell in the “rarest of rare” category.  The victim had died while she was being raped and her internal organs had come out, the court said. 
 
No trace of Pune kidnap and murder accused  
The name of a key accused in the 2007 kidnap and murder of a Pune techie, who had fled policy custody, has gone missing from the list of absconders too.

 ‘Rapist didn’t heed the cries of minor victim’ 
    There is a steep rise in crimes against women, particularly minor girls. Time has come when the courts have to take a stern view of such crimes and inflict harsher punishment possible upon the perpetrators… so that a stern message is sent to society,” the court said. 
    On April 10, 2011, the girl was returning to her house in Kapashera in southwest Delhi when she strayed towards the farmhouse. The girl was called inside by Singh, who was alone on duty, and was raped by him, the prosecution had said. 
    The court noted that the girl was subjected to his “lust” in such a “ghastly” manner that she died during the crime. The convict was so merciless that after the girl died he threw her body in some bushes inside the farmhouse. It was discovered a couple of days later after the place started stinking,” it said. 
    The court said the brutality of the crime was similar to that of Nirbhaya’s. “He did not heed the cries of the minor victim… It was a ghastly and heinous crime, and the convict opted to do it in such a brutal manner that her internal organs were pulled out,” it said. The convict was awarded capital punishment for murder under section 302 and life sentence for rape (section 376) besides a fine of Rs 1 lakh. 
    The defence’s argument that section 302 was not made out as Singh had no intention of killing the girl, did not impress the court. Holding Singh guilty of murder, the court noted that medical evidence clearly showed that the girl had died due to the commission of rape. 
    Demolishing the arguments of the defence, the court said the fact that he committed rape on a threeyear-old girl knowing that the child would not be able to stand the pain and trauma, a case of murder was made out.

Source:::: The Times of India, 16-01-2013, p.01, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

SOCIALLY RETROGRADE

‘Khap diktats on women illegal’ No Parallel Matrimony Court: SC.

Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN .

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it was an offence to order women not to use mobile phones or to dress in a particular manner and warned that no one can run a parallel matrimony court.
    “Imposing a dress code on women and asking them not to use mobile phones, are such orders not socially retrograde? These are also against the law. How can anyone ask women not to carry a mobile phone,” a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana P Desai asked while hearing a PIL that sought protection of young couples marrying inter-caste or within the same gotra from khaps. But the Sarv Khap Panchayat, a conglomerate of 67 khaps in Haryana’s Rohtak district, told the court that family members of girls and boys marrying outside their caste or within same gotra were behind the lynchings and regulating khaps would not reduce honour killings.
    “Such incidents happen only in the peace-loving and law-abiding people of the village, not in mischievous families,” the panchayat said.
    The bench questioned cops. The police said khaps sometimes adopt socially retrograde resolutions but there was no instance of khap members’ hand in honour killings. They, too, blamed families.
    The bench wondered why the UP and Haryana cops were “so anxious to give a good conduct certificate” to the khaps. The additional advocates general sought time to file a proper affidavit on behalf of police.
    When additional solicitor general Indira Jaising said “the Sarv Khap Panchayat of district Rohatak admitted it adjudicates all matters relating to marriage and family”, the bench said, “That means they are running parallel courts.” It asked the khaps to file their written submissions not exceeding 10 pages by February 18 and posted the matter for detailed hearing on March 5. 

 

 

Source:::: The Times of India, 15-01-2013, p.12, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&AW=1358247356515

Chief for women’s commission soon

Clara Lewis TNN 

Mumbai: A chairperson for the State Women’s Commission is to be appointed anytime soon. The chairperson is a political appointee and since the portfolio is part of the Congress bouquet, the race is between Susiben Shah and Janet D’Souza of the Congress. Shah contested the recent civic elections from Malabar Hill and lost while D’Souza had contested the MLA elections from Ghatkopar and had lost. 
    Shah is reportedly part of the Murli Deora camp and D’Souza is said to belong to the Gurudas Kamat camp. Shah, who runs the Priyadarshini fleet taxi service for women, is tipped to make it to the post which has the trappings of a cabinet post, said sources. 
    Officials from the women and child department said the names of six members of the panel have been finalized. 
    CM Prithviraj Chavan said he was aware that the post has been vacant for a long time. “We shall make the announcement soon,” he told TOI and added, “We are awaiting some recommendation letters.” 
    The post has been vacant since four years. In the wake of increased attacks on women, there has been an incessant demand to revive the commission. An autonomous body and an interface between the government and NGOs, it keeps the government informed on trends and helps formulate women-friendly policies. “In recent years, in the absence of a chairperson, the office has been reduced to conducting workshops and seminars,’’ said a source. 
    Sonia Gill, member of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, said the chairperson must have experience and standing.

Source::: The Times of India, 10-01-2013, p.4. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

Two IIT-B graduates are among CAT toppers

Hemali Chhapia & Yogita Rao | TNN 

Source::: The Times of India, 10-01-2013, p.3. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

    Engineers have yet again emerged as the champions of the anxiety-striking Common Admission Test (CAT) that opens doors to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Results declared on Wednesday reveal that of the 1.9 lakh candidates who wrote the examination last year, 10 achieved scores in the 100 percentile. Nine of these toppers were engineers and two are graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay. 
    The financial capital fared better than other major cities. Nearly 17,000 candidates from Mumbai took the test in 2012 as against 21,224 from New Delhi and 19,553 from Bangalore. But among those who achieved scores in the 99 percentile and above, Mumbai’s share was 180—ahead of Delhi’s 168 and Bangalore’s 157. 
    This time, about 19 candidates scored in the 99.99 percentile and also, impressively, 1,895 candidates scored in between 99 and 100 percentiles. On Wednesday, these aspirants celebrated their feat and began the wait for call letters from IIMs. 
    Engineers’ achievements in CAT-2012 were the starkest. Of the 10 candidates with scores in the perfect 100 percentile, eight hailed from IITs and five are in their final year of graduation. Moving down the charts, 79.36% of the 1,885 who secured places in the 99 and 99.99 percentiles are male engineers. 
    While the 2012 results evidenced the continuing domination of male engineers in the CAT, they also displayed that women non-engineers feature the least among the toppers. Merely four women engineers from Karnataka, Orissa, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh scored in the 99.99 percentile. In all, 255 girls and 1,640 boys scored in over 99 percentile. 
    Reflecting on the results, Prafulla Agnihotri, director of IIM-Tiruchirappalli, said, “There has been talk of relooking at CAT’s format. The deliberations are at a preliminary stage. We want to make CAT more inclusive, so that students from other streams are not at a competitive disadvantage.” The overhaul, he added, may take a year or more. 
    N Ravichandran, director IIM-Indore, said that although the CAT is a major input for admission, several other factors come into play before a student is taken into IIM. 
    Nevertheless, in the 2012 examination, engineers held sway, while candidates from most other disciplines had to remain happy with near-perfect scores. The highest score of a candidate from medicine background stood in the 99.97 percentile and that of an aspirant from economics stream was in the 99.94 percentile. 
    Out of the pool of architects who took the test, 11.8% were in the 95 percentile or above, while 6.8% of engineers fell in that range. This could be explained by the fact that far more engineers than architects try to crack the exam. 
    In all, 1.91 lakh candidates appeared in the 21-day-long testing window from October 11 to November 6, 2012, for admission to the 13 IIMs. The institutes have held back the result of a student for feigning to be two different people with a slight change in the name. 
    For students, the wait to access the result on Wednesday was prolonged as the rush slowed down the CAT website. Apart from the IIMs, the CAT scores are accepted by 158 Bschools, including all the management colleges attached to the Indian Institutes of Technology. The CAT scores are valid till December 2013, allowing international management schools to also accept students on the basis of their marks in the CAT.