SHILLONG, Sep 8: The state cabinet’s decision to clear the notification on the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 and the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908, making them applicable in the state’s tribal areas, has met with opposition.
Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council Chief Executive Member Titosstarwell Chyne said the council has decided to oppose the decision to extend the application of CPC and CRPC to all courts in the state.
“We would like to urge the state government to put on hold the notification as the matter requires detailed deliberations. The powers of the district council courts and the traditional village courts will be diluted if this notification is implemented,” Chyne said.
He said the government should come with a fresh notification to exclude the courts. He insisted the two legislations are not applied to the Sixth Schedule areas.
Chyne said he will convene a meeting of all MDCs on September 12 to discuss the matter.
“At this meeting, we will decide on our future course of action. We will meet the Chief Minister again if it is necessary,” he said.
Echoing similar views, the council’s Leader of Opposition PN Syiem said the Congress MDCs have decided to oppose the cabinet’s decision on extending the implementation of CrPC and CPC to the Sixth Schedule areas falling under the council.
According to Syiem, the various Khasi Himas got their judicial system from the British time.
He also said that the Khasi Himas, who had signed the Instrument of Accession and Annexed Agreement, also mentioned that the judiciary or courts shall fall under the Himas.
Syiem said paragraphs IV and V of the Sixth Schedule clearly specified that any cases within the jurisdiction of the council should be handled by the district council courts. “But there is an attempt to do away with the protection and special status of the Khasi indigenous population,” he alleged.
He asked the government to re-examine the notification since it will dilute the powers and functions of the district council courts.
“The district council courts will no longer be relevant if CrPC and CPC are implemented in the Sixth Schedule areas. Therefore, we urge the government to exclude the tribals from the purview of these two legislations,” Syiem said.
He felt this will hurt the sentiments of the tribals and hinder their safeguards given by the Constitution of India.
Congress MDC RV Lyngdoh said the district council courts and other village courts will lose their importance if the notification applies to the Sixth Schedule areas.
“This is an attempt to dilute the ADCs which derive their powers from the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,” he said.
Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) general secretary Roy Kupar Synrem said CPC and CrPC’s implementation in the Sixth Schedule areas would mean the district council courts and the traditional courts in the Hima, Raid and village/locality will have to be closed down since they do not have the funds to hire lawyers.
He asked what will happen to the district council courts which deal with cases between tribals falling under the Sixth Schedule areas.
He said the implementation of CPC and CrPC in all courts would mean any criminal cases registered by the police would directly be referred to the district and sessions courts, and not the district council courts.
“It would mean the district council court will no longer have to deal with criminal cases,” the HYC general secretary said.
If the government wants to empower the district and sessions courts, then it should come up with legislation like the Meghalaya Criminal Procedure Code or the Meghalaya Civil Procedure Code, he said.
Meanwhile, the Association for Democracy and Empowerment (ADE) said it is appalled by the government’s decision on enforcing CrPC and CPC in tribal areas.
“We could not fathom why a legislature chosen by us, the tribal people, can think of diminishing the powers of our own customary institutions like district council courts, village courts, Laskars, Nokmas, Sardars, Doloi, Traditional Heads of Meghalaya etc,” ADE president Dalseng Bira Ch. Momin said in a statement.
He said it is a consistent phenomenon that this government takes decisions unilaterally without consultations or discussions with the parties concerned.
He said they will not endure this kind of “one-sided despotism” and if needed, will initiate a statewide movement.
“From the days of the British rule, British people very well understood the importance of safeguarding the rights of ethnic minorities and categorically enforced several provisions for the tribal people living in those areas,” the ADE president said.
He continued: “This decision will deteriorate our age-old judiciary systems and curtail our privileges as a tribal living in a Sixth Schedule state. We Garos, Khasis, Jaintias along with other tribal people living in Meghalaya want to live with our dignity intact while maintaining our true ethnic beliefs, rituals, moral codes, our customs, our values of life and our ethnic culture.”
He appealed to all MLAs and MDCs of the three ADCs to reconsider the matter carefully before reaching to any conclusion that may have an adverse impact on the tribals.
The government notification reads: “In pursuant of full separation of judiciary from the executive and in exercise of the powers conferred in proviso to sub section 2 of section 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 Act II of 1974, the Governor of Meghalaya is pleased to apply the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to the courts in the state of Meghalaya.
“The District Council Courts shall continue to derive powers under para 4 and 5 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The Governor of Meghalaya further direct that notwithstanding such applications, all actions taken by the district courts throughout Meghalaya under the rules for administration of justice and police in the Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills, 1937 and the rules for administration of justice and police in Garo Hills, 1937 shall deem to have been taken under the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.”
