SHILLONG: Tennydard Marak, who is pursuing the ST status case of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has alleged that the Chief Minister tried to mislead the Supreme Court by depending on the yet to be passed Garo Hills Autonomous District (Codification of Garo Customary Laws) Bill to substantiate the claim of his ST status.
In a letter addressed to the President of India, Tennydard Marak said that surprisingly enough, Sangma in his reply filed in the Supreme Court of India in para 17 tried to mislead the Court claiming that in terms of Section 32 (iv) of draft of Garo Hills Autonomous District (Codification of Garo Customary Laws) Bill parents could adopt either a boy or a girl not necessarily for inheriting property and a male or female of an unknown parentage could be adopted.
“Therefore, the reliance placed by Mukul M. Sangma is misplaced and untenable in as much that the Customary Bill is not yet a law within the meaning of Article 13 of the Constitution of India,” Marak said.
Marak said that though the Bill was drafted in 2009, the Meghalaya Government being aware of the ground realities as also the serious opposition from the Garo society with respect to the provisions of the Draft Bill which seeks to dilute their customary law, never seriously pursued it until the Supreme Court issued notice in relation to the writ petition.
Marak further urged the President of India to impose President’s Rule in Meghalaya pending a fair judgment related to the ST status of the Chief Minister.
