The Chief Minister, Captain W.A. Sangma has said that he would act against the two PHE Ministers only if the Rynjah Committee report suggests their involvement in the multi-crore scandal.
He was winding up a marathon debate in the Assembly on June 21 on a private Member’s resolution on the issue.
The Chief Minister rejected the Opposition plea that the two Ministers should be sacked outright. Said he “I am not yet convinced (that they are involved just because some slips have been produced. Will it be good to take hasty action without going through proper investigation? I would like to give every accused person a chance to defend himself.
Captain Sangma made it amply clear that he would not succumb to any sorts of “political pressure”. As the leader of the House he would discharge his responsibilities in a “judicious manner”. He said in a forceful manner that no stone would be left unturned to find out the truth. “If I am satisfied that the Minister are responsible, I will not hesitate to take action against them. It is not a mere promise”. The motive of the Ministers in sending the chits would come to the fore only when investigations were completed. Pending that he would not consider any action against the Ministers.
Significantly Captain Sangma did not go out of his way to shield the two Ministers. Unlike other Ministers he did not try to justify their action in issuing chits.
Regarding the demand for handing over the case to the CBI, Capt. Sangma said that it did not warrant such a step at this stage. However, depending upon the Rynjah Committee report the Govt would not hesitate to take CBI assistance.
The Home Minister, Mr D.D. Lapang quoted from the CBI manual to state that the central agency could not be involved in such cases right away. He wondered whether the CBI was all that effective since it had failed to solve some of the murder cases entrusted to it earlier.
Regarding issue of chits by the Minister. Mr Lapang reminded the Opposition that when they were in power they too had issued slips in similar fashion. ” I do not accept the allegation that issuing of slips is wrong”, he said. He surmised that the whole thing was a case of human failure. “Complacency brought the Govt to such a crisis. We will not let down this House, we will not betray the people of Meghalaya. Allow us time to correct ourselves”, he added. The Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Grosswell Mylliemngap observed that there was nothing wrong in Ministers sending chits to the executives. The important thing of the matter was the motive behind it. They should not be blamed merely because of the chits. He refuted the allegation that the Govt was trying to influence the enquiry committee.