NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the introduction of a Bill, in the current session of Parliament, to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) for incorporating the recommendations of the Law Commission.

The amendments will cover the rights of arrested persons and include provisions such as making lawyers' presence mandatory during interrogation, and intimation to relatives or friends.

Briefing reporters, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the amendments would ensure speedy trial and prevent indiscriminate arrests so that there would be a more effective and more humane criminal justice system. He, however, declined to give details of the amendments on the ground that Parliament had the privilege to know them first. The Law and Home Ministries had finalised the amendments.

Sugarcane SMP up

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decided to hike the statutory minimum price (SMP) for sugarcane for the 2006-07 season by Re. 1 a quintal, with an increase of 0.5 per cent in the basic recovery rate also.

The SMP would be Rs. 80.25 a quintal for a basic recovery rate of nine per cent subject to a premium of 90 paise for every 0.1 percentage point increase in the recovery above that rate.

CEL restructuring

Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the CCEA also approved a proposal for capital restructuring of Central Electronics Limited, which includes a moratorium on repayment of the principal of Rs. 12.32 crore for 10 years and waiver of the interest and penal interest of Rs. 4.25 crore.

It cleared the transmission system project associated with the 1,300-MW Gandhar-II gas-based power project in the western region at an estimated cost of Rs. 34.52 crore.

The transmission line will be 425 km long and will serve the constituents of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

ONGC acquisition

The CCEA cleared a proposal for ONGC Videsh Limited to acquire shares in Ominex De Columbia of Columbia and for Softman Development Systems, Cayman Islands, and its subsidiary to acquire or subscribe to shares constituting 100 per cent of the share capital of Kappa Investment, a company in the process of incorporation, for a maximum of $515 million.

Mr. Chidambaram declined to give details of the number of shares ONGC Videsh Limited would acquire from the Columbian firm for, the matter involved commercial confidentiality.

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