Apex Court judgment is the last straw

Assam-Nagaland border issue Age-old border imbroglio of Assam and Nagaland has more adverse affects on the latter state than the former. Given this situation Nagaland should take more pro-active role towards resolving the issue. Not a single year has passed without lives being claimed due to the dispute. Meetings after meetings have been held between civil society organizations in this regard but to no avail. Meetings between the chief ministerial level have also been convened. In spite of these measures the border quagmire persists. It looks there is a bankrupt of ideas to deduce a good mechanism in addressing the issue.Now, the view of the Supreme Court appears to be the last straw in resolving the dispute since no governments both at the Centre and in the two states have the political will to settle the issue. Any Central government will act in favour of the state where they can have better political harvest. So, to expect justice from the Centre in a situation like this may not be a wise move. Meanwhile, to recall what the Supreme Court has said, “The half century old border dispute between Assam and Nagaland could be resolved either by deciding the 1988 law suit filed by Assam or by referring the matter for arbitration.” “There are only two legal ways of dealing it. One is that we should decide the suit or the other is that it be referred for arbitration,” a three-judge bench of the Apex court headed by Justice TS Thakur said. Later, the court asked the counsel for Assam, which had filed the suit in 1988 seeking reliefs including demarcation of its over 500 kms long border with Nagaland, to file the list of its witnesses along with their testimonies in the form of affidavits with the apex court registrar within three months. “We make it clear that no further time will be granted,” the bench, also comprising justices RK Agrawal and Adarsh Kumar Goel, said. It also directed the Registrar General of Supreme Court to conduct the trial in the lawsuit on “day-to-day” basis from April 20 and said the witnesses, whose affidavits will be filed by Assam, will have to appear for the cross-examination.