SHILLONG:
National Spokesperson of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Saket Gokhale, on December 20, wrote to the Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills district, requesting the office to furnish the investigation report into allegations against Minister Dasakhiatbha Lamare allegedly distributing cash to the people in Nongkrem.
As of October 2022, Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong, had said that the final enquiry report was awaited from the East Khasi Hills District Administration. However, till date, the final enquiry report has not been made public.
The AITC spokesperson said that while Tynsong claimed that distribution of cash before the Model Code of Conduct is not illegal, it may be noted here that distributing cash without any receipt amounts to serious violations of several laws including the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
“It is the responsibility of the district administration and the police to ensure that black/unaccounted cash is not being laundered and distributed to people. Moreover, when a cabinet minister allegedly distributes cash to people, there are serious questions over the source of the money and the legitimacy of the cash. Keeping a check on black money and its alleged laundering through distribution of cash amongst people is the responsibility of the district administration to probe and report to the Enforcement Directorate under the PMLA, 2022,” Gokhale said.
Gokhale demanded that the DC’s office a certified copy of the enquiry report submitted to the Govt of Meghalaya and Chief Electoral Officer, Meghalaya, and also state whether the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was informed about the allegations of cash distribution and whether a copy of the final enquiry report was submitted to the ED.