By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Ignoring the demands of anti-graft bodies, the State Government on Tuesday decided to go ahead with an amendment of the existing Meghalaya Lokayukta Act, 2012.
Briefing the media after a Cabinet meeting here on Tuesday, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said, “The Cabinet has considered the proposed amendments of this Bill which will be tabled in the House during the current session for its consideration.”
Dr Sangma asserted that this issue has been discussed and further debated in the current session and the Government has maintained that necessary steps will be taken to further amend the Meghalaya Lokayukta Bill, 2012, to ensure that the objective of making the Bill more effective and comprehensive would be structured.
On the claims of activists under the banner of Campaign for Independent Lokayukta in Meghalaya (CILM) that the Lokayukta Act passed last year has lapsed, the Chief Minister said that legally, this Bill will still be considered as an Act of 2012 since the Supreme Court had given a ruling that once a Bill which has been passed by the Assembly is sent to the governor for his assent, the Bill will not lapse even if the term of the House has expired.
“The Bill can be re-introduced in the House for any proposed amendment provided that the amendment is considered within a period of two years,” Dr Sangma said, adding that the provision is being adopted as per the ruling of the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Government has also decided to table certain amendments to the Meghalaya Police Act, 2010, for the consideration of the House during the current session.
“This Act has already been operationalized, but there are certain amendments which the government proposes to table before the House,” Dr Sangma said, while adding that details of the same will be known once it is tabled in the House.
The Chief Minister also informed that a proposal has been received from the Planning department about the proposed annual plan outlay, which pertains to discussions with the Planning Commission for final approval.
“We are prevailing upon the Planning Commission to consider certain additional support as far as the plan size is concerned because we have some basic requirements and needs in the context of various developmental programmes,” Dr Sangma said, adding that the government will engage with the Commission, the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister in this connection.
The Cabinet on Tuesday deliberated on as many as 10 items, but a number of them were sent back to the respective departments for re-examination based on the observation made by the Cabinet, while a few others were kept in abeyance in view of the fact that they had to be introduced in the Assembly for the consideration of the House.