SHILLONG, Dec 3: A day after suffering a setback with the High Court of Meghalaya ruling that regulating the entry of Indian citizens through the implementation of Meghalaya Residents’ Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), 2016 may not be exercised, the state government has decided to come up with necessary orders in this regard on Monday.
Chief Secretary RV Suchiang called a meeting on Friday to discuss the High Court’s order and also to take stock of the measures which the government would have to take in this regard.
A source from the Law Department told The Shillong Times that the government will have to abide by the order and the facilitation centre at Umling cannot work as an entry-exit regulation point. However, it can still function as a COVID checkpoint for individuals trying to enter the state as per the directive of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The source revealed that during the meeting on Friday, the government sought to opinion of the Law Department with regards to the High Court’s order.
Hearing a PIL on Thursday, the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh observed that although the state has referred to Article 19(5) of the Constitution, the grounds on which entry to or movement within the state may be regulated have not been spelt out in the impugned statute or in any rules framed thereunder.
Earlier, the PIL was filed challenging the constitutional validity of entry-exit gates in the state.
The petitioners submitted that gates were set up at several points for checks to be conducted on persons seeking to enter the state. They further submitted that without any objective parameters being set down for denying entry or regulating the movement of any citizen of the country in the state, such check posts may be impermissible and the exercise of authority thereat may be wholly arbitrary.