From what has been stated by the chief minister’s office (CMO) in a rejoinder to the statement made by leader of the opposition T.R. Zeliang, the state government has filed a counter-affidavit on July 16, 2018 to the suit filed by Civil Engineers Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. (CEEPL) on February 14, 2018 against the decision of the government of Nagaland to enhance the monthly rent of the Nagaland House Commercial Complex from a miserable pittance of Rs.5 lakh per month to Rs.2.2 crore per month. The state government, after a long sojourn of 36 years, like Rip Van Winkle, seems to have finally woken up and regained its sense to decide to fight and reclaim the rights and ownership to the Nagaland House Commercial Complex at Kolkata. The entire sordid saga of one of the biggest ever sell-out of property of the prime plot at Shakespeare Sarani (earlier Theatre Road) Kolkata was crafted sometime towards the end of 70s. Those at the helm of power then, were lured by the shrewd mandarins of manipulations, with the grandiose idea of an ambitious state guest house-cum-commercial complex, over a plot that used to house the winter refuge of a royal family. Having given their nod, the sequence of events reveal a sinister plot to wilfully defraud the government through a hopelessly one-sided agreement. First, the grandiose plan to approve the mega construction was given the immediate nod by those at the helm of power even though the government had no source of funds nor had arranged loans as it should have. The palatial house that existed on the plot had valuable antiques and all these were taken away by the firm given the work for demolition. The question that remains unanswered is why did the government go ahead with the plan and issued work order to M/s Engineers Enterprises if the state had no funds? This issue also was raised on the floor of the house during 1982 assembly session. Next, after the work started, the government then readily agreed to the proposal from the contracting firm to take loan on behalf of the state government from State Bank of India. Since the state government is the owner of the plot, by any stretch of imagination, it should have been the borrower. Thus, was signed the infamous deed in 1982 where the rights of the state were transferred to the firm for the purpose of procuring the loan. The ridiculous amount as rent was also subjected to several cuts including maintenance for next twenty (20) years. During the currency even the generator set up inside the guest house side was taken to the commercial complex, a questionable decision taken by the Development Authority of Nagaland. It was therefore, surprising that the state government in 1997 again entered into a fresh agreement with the firm now named as Civil Engineers Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. (CEEPL) despite this newspaper having exposed the fraud committed on the state in a series of reports during 1991-92. Such agreements have to be drafted by the state advocate general and therefore, the sell-out lease agreements cannot be cases of oversight. The PDA government has vowed to reclaim the rights over the plot but it will be a long haul to overhaul the wilful conduct of selling out a prime property today worth over Rs.100 crore for a few silver coins.