Meghalaya Assembly adopts privilege motion

The Meghalaya Assembly today adopted a report of the Privilege Committee seeking to summon and reprimand the Chief Executive Officer of a municipal board
to tender apology in the House after he was found guilty of breaching the privilege of an assembly member.
The Privilege Committee, in its report tabled on March 16 last, had recommended "summoning and reprimanding" the Tura Municipal Board CEO to tender his apology in the House after he was found guilty of breaching the privilege of South Tura Member of Legislative Assembly John Leslee K Sangma.
"A warrant will be issued by a concerned department to Zenithsky J Sangma, chief executive officer of the Tura Municipal Board, to ensure his presence in the House on March 23," Speaker Abu Taher Mondal said after the House unanimously adopted the report of the Privilege Committee.

"He shall be reprimanded at the bar of the House on March 23," the Speaker said.
The Privilege Committee report also stated that the punishment which is an apology in the House meted out to the officer should also serve as a "deterrent to other erring officials while discharging their duties."

After nine sittings, the Committee chairman Saleng A Sangma in his report found that the officer had filed "concocted" FIRs against the legislator and summoned him to the police station besides issuing statement to the local media.
"Summoning a member to the police station without proper justification is a breach of privilege... His issuing statements to the local media was also found to have cross all limits of decency", the report stated.

"By doing so without the knowledge and approval of the higher authorities in the department, he has also shown contempt for his superiors and for the established rules and procedures which is highly unbecoming of an officer," it stated.
Zenithsky had in February 2015 filed FIRs accusing the legislator of interfering in the matters of the Tura Municipal Board besides, disrupting an officer from conducting his official duties at Tura in West Garo Hills district.