SHILLONG: The absence of a commissioner of inquiry (a senior level government official) poses hurdles in the early delivery of justice to the affected in the context of many incidents of police action in the state.
After any police action, the state government normally institutes a magisterial probe into the incident, but the probe reports were very often found to be lacking proper standard.
A case in point is the probe report of the Mookhep firing incident which the government said had posed more questions than answers.
Moreover, the magistrate did not follow the terms of reference while carrying out the inquiry into the Mookhep firing .
In the past, the National Human Rights Commission had pointed out several lacunae in some magisterial inquiry reports submitted by the state government.
A senior government official said that NHRC had assured the state government to send some model inquiry reports, but the state government is yet to receive the same.
There are suggestions from several quarters to have a proper inquiry wing when the Directorate of Prosecution comes up in the state.
West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Pravin Bakshi, who had ordered several magisterial inquiries in the district, said that it would be ideal to have a separate wing for inquires to be headed by a senior government official supported by other staff.
