M’laya govt spends over Rs 22 lakh on unutilized court building: RTI reveals

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 2, 2019

SHILLONG: The state government has spent over Rs 22 lakh for renting a building without utilizing the same which was meant for used as the Court of the District & Session Judge, Khliehriat in East Jaintia Hills District.

This alleged wastage of public money was revealed as per information provided under Right to Information (RTI) Act given by the office of the deputy commissioner of East Jaintia Hills to Kynjaimon Amse, a youth from Umkiang village.

Amse, who is a lawyer by profession, said that the Secretary of the state’s law department has executed a rent agreement with one building owner for utilization of the building for the purpose of the office of the District & Session Judge, Khliehriat.

As per the rent agreement, the monthly rent is Rs 80, 000 and electricity bill is to be paid separately by the government. The rent agreement came into effect from the May 1, 2017 and the rent payable is also from May 1, 2017 onwards.

“To ascertain the money spent for the purpose, I filed an RTI application with the DC, EJH and it is shocking to see that the rent amount payable to the building owner till date has reached Rs 21, 60, 000. Out of the total payable amount Rs 10, 40,000 have already been made by the government to the building owner. Apart from the above, the electricity bill payable till date to MeECL stands at Rs 62, 610. The total expenses for the building stand at Rs 22, 22, 610,” Amse said in a statement issued here on Friday.

“The purpose of the rented building was to be used for the Court of the District & Session Judge, Khliehriat. However, till date the building was never used for any purpose by the Government nor do we have any District & Session Judge in Khliehriat,” he alleged.

Amse further stated that the judiciary is yet to be separated in East Jaintia Hills District but an amount of Rs 22, 22, 610 is spent in the name of District & Session Judge, Khliehriat.

“While lawyers are suffering in East Jaintia Hills District because of non-separation of judiciary in the district but on the other hand huge amount of public money is wasted in the name of judiciary but for zero productivity,” he said adding “With that amount of money many poor families would have been fed for years. While the government has no money to pay the salaries of our teachers but here they are spending tens of lacs without any use and without any productivity. Such a waste of public money.”

Amse said that it is the duty of the government to ensure that no public money is wasted without any utility while calling upon the government to look into this matter and take immediate steps to separate judiciary from the executive.