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Dimapur, Oct. 15 (EMN): The department of Law and Justice, Government of Nagaland, has termed a news report by The New Indian Express in connection with the Nagaland High Court building as “totally unfounded and wrong”.
Responding to a news report by one Amit Mukherjee that was published in the national daily on October 13, the department on Saturday clarified that ‘the state government has so far released INR 69.71 crore for comprehensive development of the new High Court complex including High Court building, six judges’ bungalow and ancillary works’.
The department also rubbished the claim that it had withdrawn “INR 44.24 crore against electrification and water supply for the project site, besides another INR 22.42 crore for the construction of bungalows for the judges” between March 2009 and March 2017 even as “the basic structure of the site is barely in place”.
“The High Court Complex is fully funded by the State Government and construction of the complex is progressing well. Physical progress of High Court building as on 30th September 2022 was 88% and six judges bungalow was 48%,” it said.
“INR 44.24 crore has not been withdrawn against electrification and water supply for the project site as reported. The total expenditure on electrification (transformer sub-station) was INR 48.62 lakh and total expenditure on water supply (water tank and reservoir) was INR 35.34 lakh.
“Funds have been released for the project in totality inclusive of judges bungalow. No fund of INR 22.42 crore was released exclusively for the construction of judges bungalow as reported. Consultancy fee of 5% is inbuilt in the DPR (detailed project report) and accordingly payments have been made on account of consultancy fee,” it added.
The Justice and Law department’s clarification came just a day after the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Nagaland, termed the report “fake news item” and that leveling “such false and baseless allegations” without verification was to tarnish the reputation of the chief minister.
The CMO stated that Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio was never questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the High Court, as reported. It added that “action, in accordance with the law, is being initiated against those concerned and those who are responsible for this reckless dissemination of this fake news”.
The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) had also condemned the news report and demanded the state government to book the “culprits”.