Meghalaya HC directs CAG to ensure cess collected illegally is invested for cancer treatment

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 21, 2022

The Meghalaya High Court on Monday directed the Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG) to monitor that 30 percent of cess collected illegally by the state government is invested for purchasing specialized equipment for cancer treatment at the Shillong civil hospital.

“Indeed, the CAG has been required to monitor that the appropriate amount is infused by the state for obtaining advanced machinery for cancer treatment,” said the division bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee in its judgment which disposed of a PIL filed by Lurshaphrang Shongwan.

The court however said the disposal of this petition will not stand in the way of the petitioner or anyone else applying afresh after the expiry of a year to allow the government to put in place the measures that have been indicated in the affidavit filed by the Secretary in-charge Health & Family Welfare department.

“If the facilities available by June 2023 are not adequate to deal with the cancer patients in the State, the petitioner will have liberty to apply afresh in Court,” it added.

On February 9, the Meghalaya High Court had declared the Meghalaya Cement Cess Act, 2010 as ultra vires and directed the state government to refund 20 percent of cess collected from two companies and to invest 30 percent of the total cess for the cancer wing of the Shillong civil hospital.

The court said that it required 30 per cent of the funds collected illegally by the State to be invested in purchasing specialised equipment for the newly refurbished oncology unit at the Government Hospital in Shillong.

The affidavit filed by the Secretary in-charge Health and Family Welfare had indicated the facilities available for cancer patients in the State and the State government’s efforts to improve the number of beds and augment the measures of treatment imparted to cancer patients at the Shillong government hospital and the like.

The court however said that a lot more needs to be done and many more beds ought to be added considering the number of cancer patients in the state..

On the several suggestions made in the petition, it said that most of the suggestions, if they were implemented, would entail huge expenditure and the court is not in a position to assess the finances available to the state government nor will the court issue a mandamus in such regard adding that suffice it to say that the facilities for cancer patients are inadequate and serious and large-scale augmentation is necessary, in addition to what has been done or it is proposed to be done.

According to the petitioner, the suggestions that have been made in the writ petition ought to be accepted.

“Since every measure that the state government is required to take involves expenses and depends on the available funds and resources obtained from the Centre, all that the Court can do in such a situation is to act as a catalyst to ensure that proper measures are taken as expeditiously as possible so that a system is put in place which is able to deal with the needs of the people in the State suffering from cancer,” the court said.

Disposing of the PIL, the court has asked the state government to implement the plans indicated in the affidavit filed by the Secretary of Health and Family Welfare and also take into account the suggestions put forth by the petitioner in the petition, subject to cost constraints.