Hearing on
December 3
SHILLONG: The Special Court headed by first class judicial magistrate R. Rymbai dealing with the ILP-related cases, has issued notices to all the agitating pressure groups demanding implementation of ILP to appear on December 3.
An official source said that while the pro-ILP groups in Khasi Hills region will receive the notices shortly in their respective addresses, the notices addressed to the groups operating in Garo Hills were sent by post.
“The leaders of all the pressure groups have to appear before the Special Court on December 3”, the official added.
There are at least 14 organisations demanding implementation of ILP in the State.
It was on October 15 that the political affairs department filed a petition before the Special Court set up by the State Government to try the cases of arson and destruction of both public and private property during the agitations based on the assessment reports of the respective deputy commissioners. Though the petition initially projected a loss of over Rs 31 crore during the agitation, with the latest assessment of the loss due to the destruction of BSNL warehouse which is over Rs 21 crore, the pro-ILP groups have to compensate over Rs 50 crore as per the Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order Act (MMPO).
The Government has amended the MMPO Act to make the provision of appointing a first class judicial magistrate as the head of the Special Court. Another amendment was to entrust the task of assessing the damages during agitations to the DCs. As per the MMPO Act, agitators are liable compensate the Government, public and private citizens for damages incurred, and moreover arrested persons will be imprisoned for three to seven years under the Act.