NEW DELHI, Jan 6: Issues concerning the alteration of boundaries or exchange of areas between two states are a purely political question within the “sole domain” of the Executive, the Meghalaya government submitted in the Supreme Court.
In its plea before the top court on Friday, the Meghalaya government said the High Court failed to appreciate that an interim order cannot be passed on mere asking of the petitioner when the matter pertains to exercise of sovereign functions like demarcation of boundary between the states.
“It is submitted that any issues concerning the alteration of boundaries between two states or issues concerning exchange of areas between two states is a purely political question relating to the political administration of the country and its federal constituent units.
“It is submitted that the said exercise has no shade of judicial adjudication, and falls squarely within the sole domain of the Executive. It is submitted that any interference or staying of such MoU amounts to a complete breach of the separation of powers enshrined under the Constitution of India,” the plea said.
The petition stated that the MoU signed by the two states is a sovereign act between the states to demarcate the boundaries in a fair and transparent manner which cannot be interfered with by way of a writ petition and much less by passing an interim order.
Moreover, the scope of judicial review in respect of such matters is extremely narrow, it said.
“It is respectfully submitted that in passing the impugned judgment, the HC bench failed to appreciate the MoU dated March 29, 2022, signed between Assam and Meghalaya in the presence of Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah to settle the boundary disputes in respect of six areas.
“Clause 19 of MoU required the Survey of India to demarcate the boundary of the State of Assam and the State of Meghalaya in respect of six areas in presence of representatives of both the states. The interim order passed by the Single Judge has in effect resulted in stalling the said process of demarcation of boundary between the two states and derailing the resolution of a long pending boundary dispute between the two states,” the plea said.
The state government said the High Court ought to have interfered with the interim order passed by the single judge as the same was passed in a mechanical manner without adherence to the judicially determined principles for grant of interim relief.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma had signed the MoU for demarcating the border in at least six of the 12 contested locations that often raised tensions between the two states.
The agreement was signed in New Delhi on March 29 last year the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah by the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya.
The pact sought to resolve the dispute in six of the 12 places along the 884.9-km interstate border. (PTI)
