SHILLONG: The High Court of Meghalaya has issued showcause notices to a former deputy commissioner of Ri Bhoi and a former joint secretary of the revenue and disaster management over the issues related to paying land compensation for the Umroi airport expansion.
The notice was issued based on the report of Noor A Khan, district and sessions judge in Ri Bhoi who was nominated following a Supreme Court order on August 2 which had said that issue is whether the public money has been squandered by offering high rate of compensation which is against the rate offered by the owners.
The Apex Court restricted the land owner Patricia Nongsiej from parting with the money available with her and similarly directed that money available with another landowner Stied Dkhar should be kept intact with the deputy commissioner.
The probe of the sessions judge found various irregularities and it was submitted on November 22 in a sealed cover and related documents in a sealed box.
The report indicated questionable dealings on the part of the officers in assessing the quantum of amount, particularly then Deputy Commissioner, Ri-Bhoi District, and then Joint Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management.
The report had also pointed out a strange state of affairs where the persons concerned were allowed to deal with the properties in a questionable manner and raised doubts over the registration of the documents.
The court also pulled up the deputy commissioner for proceeding with the order of single bench of the High Court on May 4 instead of examining the order of the Supreme Court on August 2.
“We found such an approach on the part of the deputy commissioner seriously questionable because prima facie, the order passed by a Single Judge of this Court on 04.05.2017 stood overridden by the order dated 02.08.2017 as passed by the Supreme Court,” the court said.
The order added that the deputy commissioner had pointed out that several transactions of withdrawal had taken place in the accounts of land owners Nongsiej and Dkhar after the Supreme Court passed the order.
The DC had also indicated that Nongsiej and Dkhar failed to deposit the fund in the account as was required by the order of the Court.
