CM’s ST status
SHILLONG: Tennydard Marak, who filed a case against Chief Minister Mukul Sangma regarding his ST status issue, said on Wednesday that there has been a conscious attempt on the part of the authorities concerned to scuttle any fair probe into the matter.
In a statement issued to the media, Marak said that he never said that it was the Chief Minister who had instituted the High Level Scrutiny Committee to probe the ST status issue.
In reaction to the statement of the Social Welfare Department in this regard, Marak said that the inquiry pending before the Committee is without any authority of law.
“The person against whom the inquiry is carried out is the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, who is the executive head of the State, and the Scrutiny Committee comprises officers belonging to state executive upon whom the Chief Minister exercises total control,” Marak said, adding that under such circumstances, it is impossible to have a fair and impartial inquiry.
He also said that in this context, the Chief Minister should step down to pave way for a fair probe.
Marak also reminded that he had already filed a petition in the Supreme Court on April 12 questioning the legality and jurisdiction of the hearing by the State Level Scrutiny Committee and wanted the hearing to be kept in abeyance pending the final decision of the apex court.
