Delhi rule poser under RTI

- NGO asks Mooshahary to explain his recommendation

R.S. Mooshahary Shillong, April 29 : Meghalaya Governor R.S. Mooshahary, who was once the chief information commissioner of Assam, has come under the scrutiny of Right to Information Act for his recommendation to impose President’s rule in the state. An NGO, the Hynniewtrep National Youth Front, has sought information from the governor under the RTI Act on what ground he recommended President’s rule in the state. The NGO said the purpose was to know whether the governor had misused his power to favour anyone. The Youth Front’s president, G.H. Kharshanlor, told reporters this evening that they had submitted an application under the RTI Act 2005 at the governor’s secretariat today, seeking detailed information on the proclamation of President’s rule in the state. “The people of the state should know the facts behind the imposition of President’s rule,” Kharshanlor said, adding that it was for the sake of transparency that they had filed the application. The NGO wants copies of the governor’s correspondence to the Centre recommending imposition of President’s rule in the state and the documents sent by the Centre to Mooshahary in this regard. After the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government won the trust vote on March 17 with the deciding vote of the Speaker, the Congress-led Opposition, Meghalaya United Alliance, met the governor and claimed that it was illegal. Soon after, the governor recommended the imposition of President’s rule in the state, saying there was a constitutional crisis. The Union cabinet approved President’s rule in the state on March 18 and it came into effect the next day with the President’s assent. In its application, the NGO has also sought copies of the correspondence made by the MPA and the MUA to the office of the governor and vice versa. “To our knowledge, after a Supreme Court ruling on March 11, 1994, regarding the dissolution of the Assembly, before the proclamation of President’s rule, this has to be substantiated and backed by necessary documents or material considerations and the recommendation should not be on subjective consideration,” the RTI application said. The Youth Front’s political secretary, S.K. Blah, said after the trust vote on March 17, the state was “experiencing a political crisis and not a constitutional crisis” as cited by the governor. “What we understand is that it is a crisis of numbers,” he added. The NGO, a non-partisan group, wants to know why the people of the state were deprived of a popular government and what was the logic behind the imposition of President’s rule. “We are living in a democracy and the imposition of President’s rule has come as a surprise to the people of the state. Many of us are in the dark on how and why it was imposed,” Blah said.