High Court and VAB

The Meghalaya High Court has rightly passed the onus for coming up with a uniform regulation for the Dorbar Shnong to the State Government. The Village Administration Bill (VAB) even at a very preliminary reading smacks of exclusionary trends and caters only to the tribal population of the state. Yet governance is a universal need which all Indians residing anywhere in the country are entitled to. It would also be proper to mention that the non-tribal population which the VAB neatly leaves out of its purview are the ones who pay the taxes on which this country is run. It is therefore highly prejudicial for a constituency that actually sustains governance efforts to be left out of the consultation process in the grassroots governance system. It was obvious that the High Court would not sustain such a preposterous arrangement that violates the fundamental right of citizens to claim an effective governance system where it matters most – at the level of the localities, which is where the writ of the Dorbar Shnong runs. Further, it would have been discomfiting for the High Court to reverse the order of one of its judges on the mode of functioning of the Dorbar Shnong. The single bench Court had struck down the arbitrary powers exercised by the Rangbah Shnong following which the Khasi Hills District Council had come up with the VAB. However, it is not as if the VAB was a response to the High Court ruling. It was crafted much before with the intention of seeking direct funding from the Central Government. If the KHADC had some sense it would have seen that the High Court ruling of December last year was meant to bring in a universal, democratic framework of governance at the grass-roots. The Court was troubled by the arbitrary powers exercised by the Rangbah Shnong on the plea that they are the custodians of tradition. This is the sore point. How can tradition override the tenets of democracy? The KHADC should have seen the non-maintainability of the VAB in a court of law. Now the KHADC threatens to knock the doors of the Supreme Court but it is doubtful if such an undemocratic piece of legislation will stand judicial scrutiny! The State Government should now work on a uniform Grass-roots Administration Bill.