By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court on Monday granted the State Government time till February 8 to file objections on the petition to stay the demolition of Tara Ghar for construction of the new Assembly complex.
While hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Informed Conscious and Responsible Existence (ICARE), the Division Bench comprising Justice T Vaiphei and Justice (Mrs) Indira Shah allowed the stay order to continue till the next hearing on the case after Advocate General KS Kynjing and senior advocate ND Shullai, appearing on behalf of the Government, pleaded for a four-week extension to file the objection.
With none of the respondents from the Government filing their objections to the PIL, counsel for ICARE, Siddharth Dey and VGK Kynta appealed to the Court that the interim order restraining the Government from carrying out any demolition work on the Taraghar premises should also be extended. It may be mentioned that a PIL against construction of the State Assembly Building at Taraghar, a heritage site, was moved on October 29 last. The Court had passed an interim order restraining the Government from carrying out demolition work on Taraghar. Earlier a signature campaign where over 9000 people signed to protest against the Government move to construct the State Assembly building at Taraghar was sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India. It prompted the then Minister, MoEF, Jairam Ramesh to dash off a letter to the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr Mukul Sangma asking him to keep the project in abeyance and look for alternative space. Several NGOs have come together to support ICARE in the PIL. They include the Youth4Change, Meghalaya Women’s Alliance, Lympung Ki Seng Kynthei, Civil Society Women’s Organisation (Irene) and other concerned citizens. Meanwhile, sources have alleged that an amount of Rs 6 crore has been spent for site survey and design of the Taraghar premises which has been given to an outside firm.