IOC chairman asked to file reply

chandigarh:the punjab and haryana high court, on tuesday, directed the chairman of indian oil corporation (ioc), the executive director of its refinery at panipat, as also the state of haryana, to file the reply within four weeks on the public interest litigation (pil) about provision of jobs etc. to villagers whose lands had been acquired for setting up the refinery.the division bench comprising justices g s singhvi and m m kumar ordered this on the writ petition filed by surender singh hooda, chief co-ordinator, berozgari hatao kashetra bachao samiti (regd), panipat, under article 226 and 227 of the constitution of india highlighting the sufferings of the villagers affected by the refinery project and the failure of the authorities to provide jobs to all those affected as a result thereof. the petitioner has sought directions to make jobs available to the members of the displaced families of baholi village, panipat district and also to provide civic amenities in the village named new baholi where the displaced persons have moved.the 2300-2400 acres land of baholi village and some adjoining villages had been acquired in 1983-84 for the refinery project. not all the 483 families, affected as a result of acquisition of baholi and other areas, had been provided for in terms of jobs etc. and when an agitation to secure the same was launched the petitioner was put behind bars.the bench has fixed november 20 for final arguments. charges of mala fide allegations of mala fide and malice against punjab public relations minister natha singh dalam, secretary information sarvesh kaushal and director information and publicity p s aujla have been levelled in a writ petition which came up for consideration before the punjab and haryana high court on tuesday. after hearing preliminary arguments, the division bench comprising justices amarbir singh gill and swatanter kumar issued notices to the state of punjab as also the persons mentioned in the writ petition as being inimical to the petitioner. the petition has been filed by jagdip singh chowhan whose services as joint director public relations had been terminated sometime back. a notice has also been issued to k c maini a retired ias officer who had conducted the inquiry against the petitioner. he has challenged his dismissal as also the ex-party inquiry, chargesheet and having been singled out from the middle of hierarchy. army nurses' uniform the punjab and haryana high court, on tuesday, admitted the writ petition filed by major jasbir kaur and 31 other officers of the army nursing service (ans) challenging the army authorities' decision to prescribe a new uniform. the division bench comprising justices v k bali and j s khehar admitted the petition after preliminary hearing, but did not fix any date for the hearing. the counsel for the army nursing service officers submitted that the newly prescribed uniform amounted to indignity as there was no shirt to be worn under the coat, only the inners. however, additional standing counsel for the union government, gurpreet singh, emphasised that the new white dress was decent enough and in line with image of the nursing services, whereas the olive green uniform prescribed so far reminded the patients of battle.