Harijan Panchayat Committee serves legal notice to Shillong Municipal Board

HARIJAN COLONY

Panchyat panel demands withdrawal of notices served to residents

A REPORTER

SHILLONG: The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) has served a legal notice to the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) demanding the withdrawal of the notices issued to the Harijan residents within seven days, failing which a contempt case will be filed before the Court.

This came a day after the Board had issued notices to 300 households in the Sweepers’ Colony directing them to furnish documents within a month’s time. The notice also stated that the objective of collecting information as to the number of persons and also their duration of occupation and of stay in the locality is to prepare both long-term and short-term policies for resolving the long-pending issue pertaining to the Sweepers’ Colony.

Terming the action of the Board as ‘illegal’, HPC secretary Gurjit Singh in a statement issued here said, “The Meghalaya High Court in its judgment and order passed on February 15 this year, had directed ‘not to disturb the members and residents of the Harijan Colony in any manner’.”

“Nonetheless, the stand of SMB sending notices to the residents in the name of inventory verification and documents collection is illegal and unlawful. This action of SMB issuing the notices was taken on the same day the matter pertaining to the issue was listed before the Meghalaya High Court on May 31, which shows the deliberate attempt,” he said.

The secretary added that the judgment and order passed by the High Court was not challenged in appeal, whereas the Meghalaya government had chosen to file a review petition, in which the High Court on May 31 asked the Advocate General of the State as to why the appeal was not filed, and on the other hand issued notices to the residents of the Harijan Committee.

He said the State government is hell bent to dislocate the residents who claim to have been residing at the present location for more than 150 years as per the declaration issued by the Syiem of Hima Mylliem.

According to him, the residents of Harijan Colony feel that since the SMB is not having any documentary proof to evict them from the premises, they have now issued the so-called inventory notice to collect the documents and take action.

Also read: Meghalaya news