TURA: The Law Department has redirected the Garo Customary Law Codification Bill to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) for re-examination four months after it was passed and forwarded to the governor for his assent.
When contacted by The Shillong Times, Deputy Chairman of the GHADC Metrinson G Momin said, “The Law Department had, last week, returned the Bill to us for re-examination.”
The bill, which was introduced and passed by a majority vote in the March session of the GHADC by then chief executive member Denang T Sangma, was mired in controversy over certain clauses, one of which was definition of a Garo tribal.
The bill states that one can be recognised as a tribal only if both parents are from the Garo tribe and the child takes the mother’s surname.
The bill, after its vote in the GHADC, was forwarded by the previous NPP-led EC to the governor for his consent.
Accordingly, Governor Banwarilal Purohit had sent the Codification Bill to the state law department for its views but the latter decided to return the same to the council for a review of its contents by the council members.
With the bill back in the GHADC, members will now get an opportunity to discuss and debate each of the laws prepared in the Customary Bill and decide on the next steps.
Budget session amid stir
The three-day budget session began on Monday but all departments in the GHADC were empty as hundreds of employees of the council are on a two-day strike in demand for salaries, which have not been paid for almost 12 months.
CEM Boston Marak had issued an order on Friday asking them to desist from going on a strike and directing the employees to attend office on Monday. However, it failed to evoke a response.
