Kohima, Jan.29: Chief Minister TR Zeliang today reiterated that the state government will go ahead with the elections to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and appealed to all sections of the people not to take law into their own hands, and to allow people to exercise their democratic right as provided by the law of the land.
“The state government, without taking a confronting attitude with any one, will carry out its constitutional obligations, and ensure that free and fair polls are conducted,” he said while addressing a press conference this afternoon at the State Banquet Hall.
The chief minister firmly stated that if anyone is aggrieved by any Act of the government, he/she can approach the court of law to redress the grievances, but not through violent attitude or actions.
On the matter where some candidates are forfeiting/withdrawing their candidature even after the withdrawal period is over, Zeliang said these announcements are invalid. He maintained that no political party can force a candidate to obtain their party ticket to contest in any election. He pointed out that it is the decision of the candidate to apply for tickets, and accordingly, respective parties issue the tickets.“Civil organisations obtaining withdrawal letter or retirement letter from contesting candidates under threat, intimidation and vandalism are not acceptable in any democratic society,” Zeliang said. He stated that no organisation or individual should take undue advantage of the government’s non-confrontational policy, but if anyone tries to take undue advantage, the government will be left with no option but to protect the citizens who want to exercise his/her franchise, he added.
Narrating the events that led to the present situation where the state government and various tribal bodies continue to be locked in an impasse over the conduct of civic polls with 33% women reservation, Zeliang said there are many organisations taking different stands on the issue and confusing the people. Defending the position of the state government, he said when the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Bill 1992 (Panchayati Raj) and the Constitution (74th Amendment) Bill 1992, passed by the Parliament in 1992 and came into effect from April and June 1993 respectively, the then MPs from Nagaland- Khyomo Lotha (Rajya Sabha, 1992), late Vizol (Rajya Sabha, 1993) and Imchalemba in the Lok Sabha had not taken any objection to the insertion of Part IXA in the Constitution that extended to Nagaland as well. In Part IXA, he said, Article 243T was inserted to provide for 33% women reservation in the ULBs, and the state government also did not register any protest on the alleged ground that Part IXA coming into conflict with Article 371A, which grants special provisions to the state of Nagaland.
He stated that the Municipal Act 2001 did not contain Article 243T but that did not mean that the said Article became inoperative in respect of Nagaland, however, he said, Article 243T despite the requirement under the Constitution was not given effect in the elections held in 2004. Consequently, aggrieved by non-implementation of Article 23T, one woman approached the Gauhati High Court and during the process, the then Advocate General had assured the court that he would ensure that the state government expressly incorporated Article 243T in the state Act, he stated.
Since the elections to the municipal and town councils were not conducted after the end of the tenure the matter went back to the courts and it reached the Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court which later delivered judgement on July 31, 2012 with a direction to the state to complete within 6 weeks all exercises of examination of the entire matter qua Naga customs, traditions etc. This, he said, resulted in the NMA approaching the Supreme Court with a SLP in 2012, which was granted leave on April 5, 2016 with a direction for stay of the order of the Division Bench.
Going back to the direction of the 2012 order of the Division Bench, Zeliang said the NLA had passed a resolution under Article 71A on September 22, 2012 exempting Nagaland from the application of Article 243T. The NMA challenged this resolution before the Supreme Court in writ petition in 2014 which was also tagged along with the earlier SLP, and both are now pending for regular hearing.
Following the apex court’s granting leave to the NMA SLP and writ petition, he said “the Cabinet seriously applied its mind” to the matter and with a view to avoid “embarrassment at the hands of the Supreme Court of India”, it decided to comply with the Constitution and conduct the ULB polls with women reservation at the cabinet meeting held on October 3, 2016.
Pursuant to this, the government moved the NLA on November 24, 2016 with a resolution for revocation of the September 2012 resolution that stalled the application of Article 243T to Nagaland.
“Protagonists of Article 371A must recognize that Article 371A vests the sole power to determine questions whether an Act of Parliament affects customary law or not, with the NLA and its decision is unquestionable and final,” Zeliang asserted.
He maintained that the NLA’s revocation resolution finally answered the question whether Article 243T affected customary law or not, in the negative, thus Article 243T became operative in respect of Nagaland and in terms of section 23A of the Municipal Act 2001 (as amended by First Amendment Act 2006), women reservation in municipal and town councils did not affect the customary laws of Nagaland.
He reiterated that in order to dispel misapprehensions, a consultative meeting with the Naga Hoho, ENPO and other tribal bodies was held on November 16, 2016 and their views, particularly that voiced by the Ao Senden and the Angami Public Organisation were taken into account and honoured. Yet the misgivings on the issue have persisted and some organisations have issued threats for bandhs and even organised them, he lamented.
Zeliang asserted that in view of the above, the government is on the right side of law and Constitution, and the tribal organizations “may have a rethink on their aggressive path” so that the rule of law and the Constitution prevail in the state.
He said the Naga Hoho and the ENPO have initially taken up the issue by issuing a joint ultimatum to the government in December 2016 but they have now left the matter to the hands of the tribal bodies.
He lamented that when people were ready to file nominations in every township, they were restrained and not allowed to file by some organizations. “We cannot say that is the voice of the people. The government failed to protect the intending candidates because it did not want confrontations. People by and large, accepted this Act and were prepared to go for elections and they want to go ahead with development,” he said. Some organisations are even going to the extent of taking customary law in their own hands and alos remarked that 30 years excommunication is quite unusual.
On the law and order situation in the wake of the election process, the chief minister said imposing 144 CrPC is misunderstood. The magistrate, deputy commissioner, commissioner of police etc have the authority to impose curfew depending on the requirement local situation, and they do not require the approval of the state government.
When asked why the people do not appear to be convinced with the state government’s stand and if there is any other motive behind the people’s opinion, Zeliang said the people should understand the role of the state government and the election commission, the latter being an autonomous body, the people have to follow its code of conduct.
On the Nagaland Bar Association’s recent view that was published in some sections of the local dailies, the chief minister admitted that he was not aware of the content of their statement and that he does not know on what ground or authority the association is interpreting the law. He maintained that the Advocate General, being the legal representative of the state, is the right person who can tender legal opinion on the particular controversies.
“No one can interpret the law except the court,” he opined.
The chief minister said when he met the 10-member JCC team on January 25 last, the JCC convener had admitted that though being a lawyer himself by profession, he came to learn many things from the meeting.
He said the team had assured that they would try to convince the people not to agitate the current polls if the government could defer the polling date. He claimed to have written to the State Election
Commission if there was a way to defer the election as desired by the JCC but the commission had replied that when the election process has been set on motion no deferment is possible.
“We thought they understood the situation and we had high hopes that the JCC leaders would go back and try to convince the people but contrary to that, they have decided to go ahead with their bandh call, which is very unfortunate,” he said.
