ADCs have say in headmen’s affairs, State govt admits in affidavit to SC

SHILLONG: The role of district councils to deal with matters related to headmen was highlighted in the affidavit filed by the State government before the Supreme Court.
The case came up for hearing on May 9 in the Apex Court and the Counsel for the State government in the Supreme Court, Ranjan Mukherjee, made a submission that under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, only the district councils have the power to deal with matters related to headmen and not the State government.
Mukherjee said over phone from Delhi on Sunday that the Supreme Court referred to the Special Leave Petition (SLP) earlier filed by the KHADC and wanted the petition filed by the State government to be tagged together even as the Court issued notices to the concerned parties.
According to Mukherjee, the earlier order of the Supreme Court after hearing the SLP was that the district councils will have the power to make rules for headmen which means that para 21 of the order of Division Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya has no relevance.
Mukherjee also made a submission before the Supreme Court that headmen cannot be termed as public servants as it is beyond the Constitutional provisions.
The High Court of Meghalaya wanted the headmen to be equated with public servants and hence ordered the State government to frame rules for them.
Earlier on January 13 this year, the Division Bench of the High Court had ruled that until a suitable legislation or an Ordinance during the pendency of the Bill, is brought by the State government, the directions passed by the single Bench headed by Justice S.R. Sen on December 10, 2014, derecognizing the powers of headmen will remain in force.
Later, the KHADC challenged the verdict of the High Court in Supreme Court by filing the SLP.
In its order on February 12, the Supreme Court had held that the persons occupying the posts of headmen may continue to function subject to various instructions framed by the District Council as per the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.