SHILLONG: There seems to be some procedural delay over booking the entire 41-member marriage team for violating the law. While 35 attendees were mentioned by name in an official FIR, the cases against the remaining six have been hanging fire because the Health officials were yet complete all paper works.
East Khasi Hills DC, Matsiewdor War confirmed on Thursday that she was waiting for the report from the inquiry officer on the remaining six people who attended the wedding ceremony at Greenwood Resort, Khanapara.
“I was expecting the report today. Maybe by tomorrow I will file an additional FIR against these six people,” War informed.
However, there seems to be minor discrepancy over the exact number of persons that attended the marriage. According to Health Minister, Alexander Laloo Hek, a total of 43 people attended the wedding ceremony. He told reporters that while 41 people from Shillong attended, the remaining two were from Ri Bhoi district. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had stated that the FIR against the six was not filed earlier due to the delayed report from the Health department personnel as they are involved in the contact tracing and not the deputy commissioner.
It may be mentioned that the 35 people have been booked under various sections include Section 188, Section 34 of the IPC, Epidemic Diseases Act and Meghalaya Epidemic Diseases COVID-19 Regulations 2020 and Disaster Management Act 2005 for violating health protocols and order of the DC.
