By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 4: The High Court of Meghalaya on Thursday disposed of a writ petition which had questioned the “illegal action” of the KHADC in constituting the Delimitation Committee to redraw the boundaries of the 29 constituencies under its jurisdiction.
Justice HS Thangkhiew in his order said that the writ petition stands disposed after senior counsel, K Paul representing the petitioner (Dominic Warjri) submitted before the court that the petitioner did not wish to pursue the matter any longer.
When contacted, Warjri, who is a lawyer himself, said there is no specific reason for withdrawing his petition and it was a personal decision.
Meanwhile, KHADC counsel VGK Kynta said that a challenge to the maintainability of the writ petition was filed by the KHADC EC as to the locus standi of the petitioner to challenge the delimitation exercise by the said committee which is akin to the delimitation exercise in respect of parliamentary or assembly constituencies.
“I admit the challenge by the EC against the maintainability of the writ petition could not see the light of day since there was no formal hearing on the ground that the petitioner chose to withdraw the writ petition. At the end of the day, the petition filed by the EC is fructified,” Kynta said.
It may be recalled that Warjri, in his petition filed before the high court in December last year, had stated that the delimitation exercise is being carried out by the KHADC EC without following the mandatory procedures as postulated in the Constitution of India and the instructions given by the Department of District Council Affairs through a letter issued on October 28, 2023.
The KHADC’s Deputy Chief Executive Member, PN Syiem had said that the committee was established after the council received more than 15 petitions from villages asking it to move their villages to other constituencies.
The delimitation committee is likely to submit its final report by the end of this month.