EMN
DIMAPUR, AUGUST 14
RAJYA Sabha MP from Nagaland Khekiho Zhimomi today tabled the “Application of Article 371 A in context of Nagaland and its constitutional validity” during the Special Mention Motion on the floor of the house in Rajya Sabha.In his address, the MP referred to the letter of the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas dated 13th June 2013 addressed to the Chief Minister of Nagaland. The Petroleum minister requested the Chief Minister to withdraw the Notification issued by the Government of Nagaland in December 2012 inviting expression of interest for the Oil and Natural Gas exploration production etc in the state. The MP also requested the Minister to alter the Nagaland Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulations 2012 as well as related resolutions which have “created panic” in the minds of the Nagas.
In his address he stated that the regulations and earlier notifications infringe upon the Constitutional validity of Provision of Article 371 A, which safeguards the Naga Right of Ownership of Land and its Resources undermining the supremacy of the Parliament and only an act of Parliament could alone remove Article 371 A.
MP Khekiho in his speech drew the attention of the Petroleum Minister to a resolution passed by the Nagaland Assembly on 26th July 2010 in respect of ‘Ownership and transfer of Land and its Resources including Mineral, Oil, no act of Parliament shall apply to the state of Nagaland which was upheld in 2011 by the Ministry of Law and Justice in reply to a question by Dr. Mahesh Joshi on the extraction of Petroleum and Natural Gas in Nagaland. The Law Minstry had then upheld the resolution passed by the Nagaland Assembly as constitutionally correct and its validity was therefore unquestionable.
The MP has requested the Centre to respect and honor the Constitutional provisions of Article 371 A, in letter and spirit.
