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Over Rs 20 lakh spent on Vaiphei judicial panel on Cherishstarfield

Original report not placed in Assembly, admits govt

Shillong,Feb 23: The government admitted that it did not place in the Assembly the original probe report into the killing of former HNLC leader Cherishstarfield Thangkhiew.

The cost of the inquiry headed by Justice retd) T  Vaiphei was Rs 20,28,358

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The reply to the RTI queries by Meghalaya Monitor revealed that the original report without deletion of names of the accused was not placed in the Assembly.

To a query as to who took the decision not to place the original report in Assembly, the reply was the state government took the decision.

While Vaiphei was paid  Rs 17, 95,258, the bill of legal assistance was Rs 2,23,100.

The reason cited by the government for not providing the original report was that the information is exempted from disclosure under RTI Act 20O5 as it involves information on security of the state and is not liable to be disclosed under section 8(1) (a).

The public information officer said the information is also exempted from disclosure under section 8 (1) (g), the disclosure which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes.

“It is also to state that if the depositions made by witnesses upon which the report is framed are disclosed to the public at large, then the same would lead to deleterious consequences to the witnesses and also to the persons involved in investigation of the matter Further, the disclosure will lead to putting the life and liberty of witnesses and their families at risk for the depositions made by them before the commission of inquiry”.

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