No move to infringe into ADCs judicial powers: Meghalaya CM

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 30, 2022

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said there is no question of diluting or infringing upon the judicial powers of the three autonomous district councils (ADCs) in the state.

Sangma had convened a meeting with the Chief Executive Members (CEMs) of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) and Deputy Chief Executive Member (Dy.CEM) of Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) to discuss on a recent notification issued by the government for extending the CrPC and CPC to the whole state of Meghalaya.

Sangma said, “The ADCs and their legal teams have asked for 24-48 hours to go through the entire points which were mentioned and discussed and they will get back to us. We are hopeful that we will be able to take it to its logical conclusion.”

He informed that during the meeting, clarifications were given to the ADCs that there is no question of diluting or infringing into the judicial powers of the district councils.

“The provisions and the powers of the district councils are clearly mentioned in the Constitution and the Sixth Schedule so there is no question of in any way diluting those powers,” he said.

He said whatever steps are being taken right now and are being suggested by the government is only to regularize the overall functioning of the judiciary where the separation of the executive from the judiciary had taken place.

“The executive earlier used to take up cases and those powers were conferred or used to draw by them from the 1937 act and once the judiciary and the executive were separated, the ADC judicial did not have the powers to continue and hence the judicial magistrate came into be. And the fact that the judicial magistrates today are taking up cases, they have to be conferred powers under some provisions. 1937 provisions were specific to the deputy commissioners (DCs) because that time in 1937 there were only DCs,” he said.

“So the powers were conferred to the administrative to the executive side and there was no judiciary at that point in time so hence the judicial magistrates will also have to draw powers from certain provisions in the constitution and hence it was suggested that it should be drawn from para 5. But while we say that it is simply to ensure that the continuity of the judiciary in terms of now from the ADC judiciary to the judicial magistrates can happen in a smooth manner – that is the main purpose,” he said.

Meanwhile, the KHADC chief Titosstarwell Chyne that the CM has assured the delegation of the three ADCs that the district council courts will not be affected whether it is village courts or additional subordinate courts.

“Since notification from the government is very sensitive, we decided not to agree immediately but have sought time for discussion before taking a final call on the matter,” he said.

Chyne informed that he will call a meeting of all the MDCs along with legal experts before submitting the council’s proposal to the government on this regard.