A local court on Monday bailed out former Congress legislator Stanlywiss Rymbai in a case of land acquisition for afforestation.
Rymbai, who was arrested by Crime Investigation Department on January 25, was accused of receiving Rs 8 crore from the government for a land measuring 1.78 square km at Mawpalai village in the Ri-Bhoi district.
The land was owned by the government and was vested in the Soil and Water Conservation Department.
"The District and Sessions Judge has granted bail to Rymbai," his counsel V.G.K. Kynta told journalists.
Soon after his release on bail, Rymbai was shifted from the jail cell of the Shillong Civil Hospital.
Terming the arrest "illegal", Kynta said the police did not inform the him or his family about his arrest.
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"He was interrogated despite being in judicial custody," he added.
In a 2015 report, the Comptroller and Auditor General said that the Forest and Environment Department paid Rs 8 crore to Rymbai, who claimed to be the self-styled rightful representative of the Mawpalai Village Dorbar and acted as landowner without any valid and legal authorisation by the village council to the effect.
The state government filed a case in November 2012 in connection with the fraudulent payment.
The Meghalaya High Court, which disposed of a writ petition in February 2014, directed the government to file a recovery suit before an appropriate court. Accordingly, a suit for recovery of Rs 8 crore was filed in June 2014 in the court of Assistant District and Sessions Judge at Nongpoh.
--IANS
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