By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The State Government is likely to re-terminate Additional Advocate General SP Mahanta after reports that a fresh appeal has been filed against the judgment of the lower court which was in favour of Mahanta in relation to the alleged land grabbing case.
“I have asked my Department to find out if there is a fresh appeal on the judgement of the lower court which had acquitted Mahanta from the alleged land grabbing case. If there is a fresh petition on the judgement of the lower court, the Government can always re-terminate Mahanta from the office he is presently holding,” Deputy Chief Minister Bindo M Lanong said while speaking to The Shillong Times here on Friday.
When asked if there is pressure from the top to re-instate Mahanta, Lanong who is also in charge of the Law department, said that at the time when Government took the decision to reinstate Mahanta there was no official communiqué with the Law department about the fresh appeal.
Meanwhile, official sources revealed that there was undue pressure on the Law department from the top to re-instate Mahanta.
“The political top brass have been pressurizing for the reappointment of Mahanta,” official sources added.
The State Government had recently re-appointed Mahanta as the Additional Advocate General on grounds that there was no fresh appeal against the judgment of the lower court which went in favour of Mahanta.
In fact, the NRI from Sydney Australia Tushar Bhattacharjee had filed a fresh appeal before the court of Additional Deputy Commissioner (District Judge), Shillong within days of the lower court passing its order in Mahanta’s favour on February 10 2012.
The appeal is in the final stage of hearing and the date for the next hearing is fixed for Thursday, August 2.
It may be mentioned that Mahanta was accused of illegally occupying a plot measuring 14,285 square feet at Lachumiere area of the city belonging to Bhatacharjee who is settled in Sydney, Australia.