The term "sexual assault" under POCSO Act cannot be attributed to an act where there is mutual love and affection between young boyfriend and girlfriend, says Meghalaya HC.

Shillong Apr 19 PTI The Meghalaya High Court on Tuesday appointed retired Judge B P Katakey to head a committee for recommending measures to be taken by the state in compliance with directions issued by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal over coal-related issuesHearing a PIL on the matter the full bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee said Justice Katakey is appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the extent to which the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the NGT have been complied with Justice Katakey will also recommend the measures to be immediately taken to comply with the outstanding directions including the sale of coal now available under the aegis of Coal India Limited it saidEarlier Justice Katakey a former judge of the Gauhati High Court had headed an NGT-constituted committee to look into the coal-related issues in Meghalaya but he had resigned as chairman of the panel after allegedly failing to get cooperation from the state governmentThe high court has also asked Katakey to file a preliminary report within four weeksHe will also look into the measures adopted by the state to ensure that there is no unregulated or illegal coal-mining or any instance of rat-hole mining anywhere it saidThe matter will be taken up for hearing again on May 24 PTI CORR RBT RBT

Shillong Mar 31 PTI The Meghalaya High Court has ordered surprise checks on Army vehicles in the wake of allegations that drugs are sometimes transported in military trucks which are generally immune from such inspectionsThe order was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh while hearing a PIL filed by former chairperson of the Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights MSCPCR M KharkongorThe high court also lauded the amicus curiae for meticulous work involving visiting correctional homes opioid substitution therapy OST centres and discovering from some inmates that for the safe passage of the drugs high-ranking defence personnel may have been roped in Unbelievable though such allegation is it has to be noticed nonetheless that according to the relevant inmate drugs are sometimes transported in Army trucks which are generally immune from checking it saidIf what is reported is true there must also be intelligence reports received by the state in such regard and the Chief Secretary should coordinate with inter alia the Army and Assam Rifles both to make the highest officials aware of the problem and for immediate action being taken the bench saidDuring the hearing the amicus curiae forwarded details of certain places where the drug menace is prevalent including several localities in Shillong and its neighbourhoodIt may also do well for teams of flying Army checkers to be deployed along the route to make surprise checks on Army vehicles which are otherwise not subjected to checks by civilian personnel the court saidThe bench also observed that the other area which needs to be looked into is for therapy centres to be set up within the state as many affected families have to look beyond Meghalaya in the absence of adequate facilitiesThere may also be a need for de-addiction centres particularly to house young female offenders it saidThe court fixed the next date of hearing on April 28 PTI JOP RBT RBT

Shillong Nov 24 PTI Justice Sanjib Banerjee was on Wednesday sworn in as chief justice of Meghalaya High Court here Governor Satya Pal Malik administered the oath of office to the newly appointed chief justice at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of Meghalaya Law Minister James K Sangma Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma and senior officials they said Banerjee succeeded Justice Ranjit Vasantrao More who superannuated on November 3 A former sports journalist Banerjee enrolled as an advocate in 1990 before being elevated as a judge of the Calcutta High Court in 2006 A graduate of St Pauls School in Darjeeling Banerjee graduated with economics in 1983 and completed BA LLB in 1986-87 from the University of Calcutta He was transferred as the new chief justice of Meghalaya High Court on November 15 2021 PTI JOP KK KK KK