Govt to drop cases against ngos leaders’

SHILLONG, MAY 13: Caving under the pressure of the pro-ILP ngos, the state government on Wednesday night  agreed to drop all criminal cases filed the leaders of the pressure groups. A official communication issued by the political department informing about the significant government decision were sent to the leaders of the 13 pro-ILP groups.

“The government has agreed to withdraw all criminal cases which are petty in nature, filed against the leaders of the various groups,” sources informed.

However, the source from the department said, “But regarding the cases which are identified as heinous crime it will be left to the decision of the Special Court.”

According to the source, there are around 92 cases registered against the leaders of 13 NGOs during the four-month long ILP agitations in 2013.

On contacting, KSU general secretary Auguster Jyrwa confirmed receiving the official communication from the state government. He said, “The government in the letter has agreed to drop all cases filed against ngos during the ILP agitation except for those it referred to as heinous in nature.”

The sources also divulged that the cases will be dropped once the Special Court is reconstituted in the wake of the transfer order on judges by the Meghalaya High Court recently. They said, in the meantime the state law department has also written to the court requesting it to appoint a judge for the Special Court.- By Our Reporter