Meghalaya government files criminal defamation case against TMC's Saket Gokhale

The Meghalaya government has filed a criminal defamation suit against TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale for making deliberate derogatory and malicious claims that a stateowned tourism firm misappropriated over Rs 630 crore fundsIt also called Gokhale a habitual offender with a history of making false allegations against public personalities and government officialsThe Planning Department in a statement said the Meghalayan Age Limited MAL has filed a criminal defamation suit against GokhaleThe Meghalayan Age Limited has filed the complaint and sought remedies in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate East Khasi Hills District Meghalayaseeking prosecution of the accused Saket Gokhale for the offence of criminal defamationfor making false and defamatory statements in the printelectronic mediaFurther as per the petition the statements made by the accused also constitute an offence of public mischief it saidThe statement said MAL a state governmentowned firm constituted under the Planning Department has been incorporated under relevant laws with its mandate to implement externallyaided projects promote tourism and preserve the heritage of MeghalayaTerming Gokhale a habitual offender the statement said the person has little regard for the process of law and has a history of making false and baseless allegations against public personalities and government officialsNoting that the Delhi High Court had in 2021 made strong observations against him for making similar defamatory allegations against civil servants the statement said Gokhale should have carried out preliminary due diligence and sought clarifications from the person against whom the allegations were madeA basic attempt to seek clarification from the Meghalayan Age Limited would have shown that the allegations are baseless without any merit the statement readThe Planning Department said false and defamatory allegations against the Meghalayan Age Limited can adversely affect the future prospects of mobilising projects from bilateral and multilateral organisationsAlso Read Democracy in shambles TMC on Saket Gokhales arrest after bail in GujaratThis would seriously affect the developmental strategy of the state which is to raise additional investments through externally aided projects for the creation of jobs and the promotion of economic opportunities in the state he saidThe statement said that the state government is also considering filing a civil defamation suit against the individual concerned and other entities for making completely false frivolous unjustifiable and scandalous allegationsGokhale had issued a press statement on December 4 alleging that MAL had misappropriated over Rs 630 crore in the stateReacting to the suit Leader of Opposition and TMC leader Mukul Sangma said that the state government should come clean on the allegation and not hide behind legal interventionWhat is the intention of the state government to hide behind legal intervention or come clean on the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project If there are allegations should the government hide behind legal intervention he saidNoting that truth shall prevail he asserted that corrupt practices of the current dispensation will be further exposedThere is nothing new in the response of the government as it has always been in the denial mode whenever it comes to any instance of alleged irregularities he addedThe Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project is an Rs 824crore initiative implemented by MAL to develop ecotourism hubs construct and upgrade roads ropeways and bridges and create basic tourist accommodationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever