Meghalaya Govt gets HC notice on firing

The Gauhati High Court has issued a notice to the Meghalaya Government asking what action has been taken against security personnel...

The Gauhati High Court has issued a notice to the Meghalaya Government asking what action has been taken against security personnel involved in twin firing incidents at Tura and Williamnagar in Garo hills in which nine people were killed in September 2005.

A special Bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Jasti Chelameswar and Justice B P Kakoty issued the notice on Wednesday following a PIL by one M M Sangma and family members of the victims.

The petitioners’ lawyer Amit Tiwari on Thursday said the court had sought details of the action taken against the erring security personnel from the state Government, after which it would decide on recommending a CBI inquiry .

The petitioners have sought a CBI probe saying that a high-level probe would “give justice to the victims and bring the culprits to book”.

Earlier, the state Government had instituted two separate probes, headed by Justice D N Chowdhury and Justice (retd) D N Barua, to inquire into the two incidents simultaneously which were tabled in the Assembly by Chief Minister D D Lapang after nearly two years.

Though one of the reports indicted some Government officials for the Tura incident, it has been alleged that no action has been taken against those indicted in the probe. Moreover, the Williamnagar inquiry was rejected by NGOs, who demanded a fresh inquiry into the matter.

Nine persons had died and several injured in the twin police firings when people had gathered at Tura and Williamnagar to protest the Government’s move to revamp the Meghalaya Board of Secondary Education.