SHILLONG: As per the petition filed before the Special Court, the State Government has proposed imposition of fine of over Rs 31 crore on the NGOs sponsoring agitations over the issue of implementation of ILP in the State.
An official source said the proposed amount of money will be realized from the NGOs for causing damage to property and injury to persons once the case is in progress.
According to the petition filed before the Special Court, which has been constituted to try arson and other cases against the NGOs, over Rs 31 crore has been projected to be imposed on the sponsors of agitations.
The loss of over Rs 31 crore does not include the damage to BSNL stockyard at Mawiong as its assessment is yet to be made.
The Special Court headed by First Class Judicial Magistrate R Rymbai was set up by the Government to try the cases involving the agitating NGOs.
The Court will soon issue notices to the concerned parties to respond to the petition of the Government.
Police have arrested more than 50 persons including members of NGOs for various crimes committed during the agitations.
It was on October 15 that the Government filed the petition against all the 10 NGOs for frequently calling bandhs and other forms of agitations demanding implementation of ILP.
The Government based the petition on the ruling of the Supreme Court and the Gauhati High Court which had banned bandhs and other forms of agitations.
The orders also have the provisions to realize the losses incurred during the agitations from the sponsoring bodies.
The Government also invoked the provisions of the Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order Act to strengthen the case.
The Congress-led Government recently brought two amendments to the MMPO Act which empowered the deputy commissioners to act as the Assessment Authority to assess the destruction and loss of public property and also designated a Judicial Officer to try the cases under the Act.
As per the MMPO Act, the arrested persons can be awarded imprisonment for three to seven years and they will also be liable to compensate the Government, public and private citizens for the damages incurred during the agitations.