‘We called meet as per Constitutional mandate’

SHILLONG: Taking serious note of the criticism leveled against the Committee on Sub-ordinate Legislation (CSL), NCP legislator and Chairman of the Committee, Sanbor Shullai, on Thursday justified the meeting of the committee to address the issues concerning people as per law.
Earlier, quoting a former Assembly committee member, the media had reported that the committee went beyond its mandate.
The committee had summoned officials of many departments with an aim to ease various problems of the people.
Shullai, who called a press conference on Thursday, criticized the media for       wrongly    interpreting the powers of the committee and gave two days’ deadline to apologize.
“We work as per the guidelines conferred upon us by the Constitution of India. We know and follow the rules and it is not good to presume on the basis of some people’s comments who do not know the rules,” a visibly angry Shullai said.
Independent legislator Saleng Sangma, member of the Committee, said, “On what ground did we overstep? Where did we go overboard? We have not misused the powers and we can summon any officer. This presumption has downgraded our status.”
Sangma said, “This demeans the Committee. As MLAs we can summon officials as power has been conferred on us.”
Referring to the person who criticized the workings of the Committee, Shullai questioned whether the said person has gone through the rules and stated that whatever has been published is wrong and highly illegal statement.
The irked legislators demanded from the media persons present to reveal the name of the former member of the committee. Shullai said, “Maybe the ex-Chairman is jealous and hence gave the wrong information.”
Asserting that such a statement published in the papers tantamount to challenging/degrading the Constitution, he said, “The press has insulted the Constitution which is the first of its kind in India, as the press has insulted the various committees of the Vidhan Sabha.”