Shillong,March 12: The state will not move any petition before the High Court of Meghalaya seeking termination of service of Justice (Retd) BP Katakey.
An official dealing with legal issues said on Wednesday that the one-man committee appointed by the High Court of Meghalaya to deal with coal issues will have its own task to complete though it is not a permanent committee and the government is following up the guidelines issued by him.
The pending PIL on the matter will be taken up by the court on Thursday.
“The matter is coming up tomorrow , but we have not filed any appeal against Katakey committee”, the source added.
Earlier in the day, VPP member Ardent Basaiawmoit raised the move of the state government to terminate the service of Katakey, in Assembly by way of a cut motion.
In reply, Law Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said, “The Justice heading the committee has been appointed by the Meghalaya High Court and it is not within my mandate nor the mandate of the state government to discuss this matter as it is subjudice”.
Referring to media reports, Basaiawmoit said the state government deliberated on the idea of terminating the services of Justice BP Katakey.
“As per reports, the government is now seeking legal opinion before filing a petition in the high court seeking termination of his services.It seems that the unwavering determination of the judge to expose unauthorized coal mining was the main cause that the people in power and the coal mafia in the state are too uncomfortable,” he added.
It was also reported that ever since he was appointed in April 2022, Justice Katakey has submitted over two dozen interim reports which confirmed that illegal coal mining and transportation has been going on in various parts of the state.
Basaiawmoit pointed out that this was not the first time that this kind of interference was reported in Meghalaya and it had happened before as Lokayukta officers were dismissed on flimsy grounds for performing their duties.
“We are made to believe that the findings of Justice Katakey may expose the entire connivance between the government in power and the coal mafia in the state. So the best thing is to remove Justice Katakey,” he said.
“So we would like to express in this august house that as a party we will oppose this move and intention of the government and we would strongly urge the government to not interfere with his performance and perhaps allow him to carry out his duties and responsibilities mandated to him according to the committee appointed by the high court,” the MLA added.
