SHILLONG, Nov 3: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) witnessed a heated debate after Congress MDC from Mylliem Ronnie V Lyngdoh asked the Executive Committee if the council is demanding Rs 1 crore from a road contractor to issue a trading licence.
The contractor is implementing a four-lane road project from Umshyrpi to Baniun.
Moving a motion on the issue during the one-day winter session on Thursday, Lyngdoh said there are rumours that the Trade Department has sought this amount from the contractor.
“There cannot be smoke without fire,” he said.
Insisting that he did not want to blame anyone, the Mylliem MDC said trading licence should not be granted if local people take up the job.
Rangkynsai Kharbuki, the executive member in charge of Trade, responded angrily. Banging the table, he asked Lyngdoh to provide proof that his department had demanded the amount from the contractor.
He also said Lyngdoh should withdraw his statement. Both the Mylliem MDC and leader of the opposition PN Syiem objected, leading to an uproar.
KHADC Chief Executive Member Titosstarwell Chyne backed Kharbuki and said it is unacceptable to make allegations without any proof.
Lyngdoh reacted by saying it is the duty of the Trade Department to find out the truth.
“I have not made any allegation. I have merely said what I have heard from the people. The EM Trade has taken it personally,” he said.
The KHADC, however, said there is no delay on the part of the council in issuing the trading licence to the contractor.
Lyngdoh also referred to the submission by the Airports Authority of India to the High Court of Meghalaya against arbitrary license fees imposed by the council and “extortionist demands” from certain officials. The Umroi airport is within the KHADC’s jurisdiction.
Chyne pointed out that this matter is sub-judice.
Notification on CrPC, CPC
Chyne also said that the Executive Committee will write to the District Council Affairs (DCA) Department to come up with a notification to avoid any kind of confusion on the imposition of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973 and the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) of 1908.
Replying to a motion moved by the leader of the Opposition and Congress MDC, Pynshngainlang N Syiem during the one-day winter session on Thursday, Chyne said the state government needs to come clear on the trial of cases between tribal people.
“It is important to have clarity on this matter to avoid any confusion when cases are tried,” Chyne said after Syiem pointed out that the government has not been able to remove the confusion over the imposition of the CrPC and CPC.
Earlier, the KHADC and several traditional heads had adopted a resolution to urge the state government to exempt the scheduled areas from the purview of CPC and CrPC by modifying its earlier notification.
Chyne had earlier said the council would first ask the state government to modify the notification to exempt the district council court, additional subordinate courts and village courts from the purview of the two legislations.
“We shall also suggest issuing a separate notification to exempt the district courts and other traditional courts if it cannot modify the notification,” Chyne had said.
