Shillong, Oct 29: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has accused the state government of intimidation after an FIR was filed against a council official following a move to seal the Shillong Peak Ropeway project site.
It was on Tuesday that the KHADC moved against the ropeway on the basis that the contractor had not secured a trading licence to operate within the jurisdiction of the council. However, the following day the FIR was filed against the inspector of the KHADC Trade Department’s enforcement wing for unlawful entry onto government property. The government’s position was that the land in question belongs to the government and that activities at the site were limited to preparatory work.
Today, KHADC Chief Executive Member Winston Tony Lyngdoh and Executive Member in charge of Land, Powell Sohklet, described the FIR as an attempt to intimidate the council.
The CEM said the KHADC had acted in accordance with the Trading by Non-Tribals Regulation 1954. He added the council has not yet received a copy of the FIR.
The company submitted an application for a trading licence in May but the required documents were incomplete, Lyngdoh informed. As the company failed to submit all necessary documents, the council issued show-cause notices. The company had obtained only a no-objection certificate from the Riat Laban Dorbar Pyllun. After receiving a complaint, the Council proceeded to the site as per applicable provisions, he said, clarifying that the council had not gone there to carry out an attack as alleged by the Commissioner and Secretary of the Tourism Department.
Sohklet said it was surprising that the government filed an FIR against the council which functions under the Constitution through the Sixth Schedule. He described the allegation of unlawful entry as inappropriate and recalled that the government had established land banks under which land was intended to belong exclusively to the government for development activities.
