Dimapur, Jan. 25: The state government has dismissed the Nagaland Bar Association’s interpretation of the Municipal Act as “misleading” and lacking in support of Constitutional provisions.
On Tuesday last, NBA members led by its president Tali Ao – during an interaction with members of some of the local newspapers – had said that the Nagaland Municipal Act was “null and void” since it was founded on an erroneous interpretation of the Part XI (A) of the Indian Constitution.
The principal secretary of Municipal Affairs, Menukhol John on Wednesday issued a rejoinder stating that the NBA president’s view “appear to be based upon his own delineation of meaning to the terms ‘scheduled areas’ and ‘tribal areas’ appearing in Article 243ZC(1).”
According to him, it is the Constituent Assembly or the Parliament which defines ‘scheduled areas’ and ‘tribal areas’. “Nagaland has never been a ‘Scheduled Area’ under the Presidential Notification under article 244 (1) read with Paragraph 6 (1) of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of India,” he stated.He also contended that Article 243ZC does not exempt Nagaland from the application of Part IXA (Municipalities) along with 243T that compels women reservation in municipalities, while Article 243M dealing with Panchayats does.
On the NBA president’s reference to reservation of seats for STs in the Legislative Assembly under Article 332 of the Constitution of India, John stated that Nagaland was not mentioned in Schedules 5 and 6 of the Constitution and as such Article 332 is not applicable.
“The public are therefore advised to read this clarification and also study various provisions of the Constitution of India and the State Municipal Act before misconstruing the said Act,” he stated.
