GoI should decide urgently about grant of J&K’s statehood: Bhan

New Delhi, Jan 16: Speaking at a joint meeting of “Lawyers for Democracy & Asia Pacific Lawyers Association”, noted senior lawyer and a distinguished fellow of United Services Institute (USI) peace activist Ashok Bhan has said the idea of India and its core democracy has come to stay permanently in Jammu & Kashmir.
As a means for change, he said at the socio-political levels of the society has 2rejected Pakistan.
“The institution of Indian Supreme Court is hugely revered by the people for its commandment to the Union of India and Election Commission of India to hold assembly elections in September of 2024.The elections were held and the popular people’s government has been formed.”
Bhan said another major commitment made to the Supreme Court by Union of India is about restoration of the statehood for Jammu & Kashmir that has been bifurcated to two Union territories without following the due constitutional processes. “In order to avoid a finding about its legality or otherwise the Union of India through Solicitor General gave an assurance to the Supreme Court which is on record that the Statehood would be restored soon to Jammu & Kashmir.”
Bhan urged the union cabinet to consider the aspirations and respect the sensitivities of the people of Jammu & Kashmir and take a call to decide urgently about the grant of Statehood. The Union of India is requested to respect the opinion and the discreet commandment of the Supreme Court of India on this behalf.
He said the union government has failed in the last 10 years to plan a structured return and rehabilitation of the refugee population back home in Kashmir.
He said there is a national consensus and Kashmiri societal overwhelming support for their Gharwapsi but unfortunately the current government does not prioritise this festering issue.
CS advocates tough action against online scammers to safeguard public
Jammu, Jan 16: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today chaired the 35th Union Territory Level Coordination Committee (UTLCC) meeting convened by Reserve Bank of India, Jammu branch here.
The meeting was aimed to discuss issues related to unauthorised deposits, fraudulent activities of unregulated entities and sharing of market intelligence among the stakeholders.
Regional Director, RBI, Jammu, Principal Secretary, Home Department, Principal Secretary, Finance, ADGP(CID), Secretary, Revenue , Secretary, Law, Director Industrialise and Commence and Joint Director, Information, Jammu were present in the meeting. Besides, top officials of regulatory bodies in J&K including GM, RBI, Registrar Cooperatives, RoC, Market Intelligence Unit, RBI and representatives from SEBI and ICAI also attended the meeting.
The Chief Secretary took notice of the instances of defraud committed against the people of the UT. He stressed on taking strict action against these online scammers under the relevant provisions of BUDS Act.
Dulloo reiterated that commission of crime in itself is cognizable offence so the law enforcement agencies have primary responsibility to take impromptu action against such entities to safeguard people from falling prey to their traps. He enjoined upon the regulatory bodies to notify the rules so as to facilitate the law enforcement agencies in taking action. He also advised them including the RBI, SEBI and others to generate awareness among the people and circulate this knowledge through social media, WhatsApp and bulk messaging to people through banks operating in J&K.
The Chief Secretary enjoined upon the RBI authorities to empower the police officers in carrying out effective investigations in the cases of digital arrest or online scams. He asked them to train some master trainers who would go in districts to train about 5000 investigation officers in police department.
He maintained that this is the area of concern as the digital marketing and online transactions are becoming popular by each day making people vulnerable to defrauding on the hands of these criminals. He stressed on reaching out to students in colleges and villagers in blocks/panchayats for holding such outreach campaigns.
He also reviewed the progress achieved in disposal of pending fraud cases and called for concrete preventive action that would act as deterrent for others. He called upon the concerned to ensure effective implementation of BUDS Act and the relevant sections of newly adopted criminal laws to eradicate this menace from J&K.
Dulloo also underscored the need for taking strong action against fraudulent apps/websites, activities of Nidhi and other unregistered/unaddressed entities duping the people of J&K.