GUWAHATI: The Gauhati high court on Wednesday ordered the
Central Bureau of Investigation (
CBI) to conduct a preliminary inquiry into allegations of misappropriation of public money and the slow pace of construction work on the new high court complex at
Kohima in Nagaland. The court took suo motu PIL on the building not being completed despite the foundation stone being laid at Mariema in Kohima in 2007. It was alleged that despite the
Nagaland high court's construction being planned simultaneously with Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura, other states have made their respective HCs functional 2013 onwards.
Earlier, an RTI reply said though Rs 43 crore was estimated for the Nagaland HC, the total fund withdrawn for the project was estimated at around Rs 52 crore. On the other hand, only 35% work was shown to be completed. "On perusal of records, the court has found that there is a prima facie case of misappropriation of huge public money and siphoning off the same in a systematic manner to the gross prejudice to the public exchequer," said the court order.
The CBI was asked to submit a report within three months before the court. "The CBI is directed to depute an officer to immediately collect all the relevant records from the government of Nagaland pertaining to the PIL," the court ordered.
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