Shillong, Aug 14: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council has decided to appeal against a Single Bench order that directed the reinstatement of Paiem Ainam Manik Syiem, with the Council planning to file a plea in the High Court on Friday.
EM-in-Charge of Elaka Denzil Raynard Chen said the Council leadership is first consulting with the CEM before taking further steps.
“The Court has given its ruling, and we are waiting to meet the CEM to discuss what we need to do. The Court has declared that the Council must reinstate him, and we will discuss that with the CEM and the minutes we issued that we will file an appeal in Court. We will file an appeal tomorrow in the High Court,” he said.
According to Chen, the appeal will focus on multiple grounds raised in the judgment, including the Council’s interpretation of the 2007 Act.
“We will appeal against the ruling given in favor of Paiem Ainam Manik Syiem because the decision is from a Single Bench. In the judgment there are many things we will have to appeal against. The main point from that judgment is the 2007 Act, which says we did not follow it properly, so we will have to look into that carefully,” he said.
The EM-in-Charge also responded to the Syiem’s recent remarks that he is ready to cooperate with the KHADC.
Chen maintained that several opportunities were already given in the past but were not followed through.
“From that time itself we had issued many notifications to him. We called him for hearings on many regulations that he violated, on the 1/8 share. Even at that time he did not object. He came and participated in the hearing and said he would pay in March, and he even wrote that in one Show Cause Notice. So to say he wants to cooperate now — from that time we gave him chances. We sent many demand notices for him to come and cooperate, and now he says he wants to cooperate. I have no comment on that,” Chen stated.
He said the suspension was effected after the Syiem failed to pay dues due in March, despite repeated notices and reminders.
“As for the assurance he is giving now, it does not match what he said earlier. Earlier we told him many times. We issued Notices, Reminders, but it was not like that before. He did not pay what he was supposed to pay in the month of March. Because of that, as the Authority, we took action. We suspended him. We are conducting an inquiry,” he said.
Chen rejected the Syiem’s public claim that the 1/8 share obligation is only a Resolution, arguing that it forms part of the Sanad signed by the Syiemship.
“In the media, Ainam says the 1/8 share is only a Resolution. But the 1/8 is incorporated and it is in the Sanad. You sign the Sanad, you accept the Sanad and you did not challenge it. So how can you now say you did not breach it? You even made part payment. You gave a token for the 1/8 share, 10% you said you would pay and you asked for exemption. That cannot be done,” he said.
The EM-in-Charge further referred to a 2025-2026 inquiry report into the Hima’s finances, which he said revealed significant gaps between actual receipts and ledger entries, as well as expenditures made without supporting records.
“When we conducted the inquiry into financial irregularities in the Hima and the District Council, the report we received showed that a lot of money was not accounted for. In the Ledger it was different. We received one report yesterday for 2025-2026,” Chen said.
Citing the findings, he noted that Market Toll collections were recorded at Rs 97,42,560 in the ledger against receipts of Rs. 1,13,08,520, while Land Revenue was shown as Rs 26,09,923 against receipts of Rs 52,19,800. Expenditures of Rs 34,65,037 under Development and Rs 79,39,300 for market cleaning were claimed without invoices or receipt books.
The report also pointed to a lease discrepancy, with the market given to Myntris for Rs. 1,25,00,000 in 2025-26 compared to a tender value of Rs. 2,73,00,000 for 2026-27, and to unverified spending of Rs. 3,03,80,220.
