The Meghalayan Age Limited (MAL), a company under the Meghalaya government today filed a criminal defamation suit against TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale after he alleged large scale financial irregularities of Rs 632 crore in the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project.
The Planning Department in a statement said that Gokhale made “false and defamatory statements” in the media with claims that a state-owned tourism firm misappropriated funds.
“The Meghalayan Age Limited has filed the complaint and sought remedies in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, East Khasi Hills district under Section 200 read with Section 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, seeking prosecution of the accused Saket Gokhale for the offence of criminal defamation under section 499, punishable under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, for making false and defamatory statements in the print/electronic media. Further, as per the petition, the statements made by the accused also constitute an offence under Section 505 of the IPC which deals with the offence of public mischief,” said a statement issued by Commissioner and Secretary of the Planning department.
The statement said MAL, a state government-owned firm constituted under the Planning Department, has been incorporated under relevant laws with its mandate to implement externally-aided projects, promote tourism and preserve the heritage of Meghalaya.
Terming Gokhale a “habitual offender, the statement said the person has “little regard” for the process of law and has a “history of making false and baseless allegations” against public personalities and government officials.
“The false and defamatory allegations against the Meghalayan Age Limited can adversely affect the future prospects of mobilizing projects and externally-aided projects from bilateral and multilateral organizations. This would seriously affect the developmental strategy of the state which is to raise additional investments through externally aided projects for creation of jobs and promotion of economic opportunities in the state,” said the government statement.
Furthermore, the statement said that the state government is also considering filing a civil defamation suit against the individual concerned and other entities for making “completely false, frivolous, unjustifiable and scandalous allegations”.
Gokhale had issued a press statement on December 4 alleging irregularities under the company which is spearheaded by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s top aide D Vijay Kumar. He said the state government is implementing the project with a loan from the New Development Bank and alleged that tenders for the project were floated secretly.
The planning department had reject the allegations and termed them as false and fabricated. It said the tenders were floated online and all information was available in the website of the Meghalayan Age Limited.
