By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The delay on the part of the State Government to make public the May 31 Shillong jailbreak probe report by tabling it in the Assembly during the current session has irked Steering Committee Against Murder of Democracy (SCAMoD), an umbrella body of several NGOs, which has been pursuing the matter.
The inquiry had cost the State exchequer dearly as more than Rs 1 crore was spent for the Judicial Inquiry Commission to complete the probe.
Three months after the submission of the report, the Government is reluctant to make it public which contradicts the claim of the Government that it was committed to maintain transparency and accountability, said a member of SCAMoD on Wednesday.
It was on January 11 that Justice (retd) SP Rajkhowa had submitted the jail break probe report to Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma. After four days, Rajkhowa expired in Guwahati after suffering from cardiac arrest.
The State Political Affairs Department initially claimed that since the election model code of conduct had come into force in February, the Government could not make the report public.
Later, an official with the department said that due to the election process, the report received in a sealed cover could not be opened, while adding that the Government may table the report in the Assembly.
“The report has been kept under safe and confidential custody and the same will need to be laid before the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly in accordance with Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952,” the official had said.
Like the jail break report, another judicial inquiry report on the anomalies in the functioning of the GHADC, completed and submitted to the Government by Justice (retd) PG Agarwal in December last year, is also gathering dust.