The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) is the party that is spearheading the case against the border deal struck between the Meghalaya and Assam governments.
Nominated MDC Bindo Lanong of the United Democratic Party told Highland Post today that the council is taking up the matter in court on behalf of the affected Himas.
“Officially it is the district council that is taking up with the Himas affected directly by the deal signed by the government of Meghalaya and Assam on the six areas of difference,” he said.
He added that he has nothing to say on the newly-constituted joint action committee on the border of Meghalaya (JACBOM), led by Congress politician and advocate Erwin K Sutnga, however Lanong did say, “We are the official body that is together with the Himas that has decided to approach the High Court and we have nothing to say against JACBOM.”
“We have sat with the traditional heads and they are with us, the district council, and we are moving ahead to the High Court,” he said, adding that the process has already begun.
When asked about Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s statement that the deal cannot be re-visited now that it is signed and that regional parties like the UDP were part of the agreement-reaching process, Lanong said that that may be the CM’s view but the court can decide on it.
Recently, JACBOM decided to support the landowners and the Himas to file a case in the Supreme Court against the deal signed between Meghalaya and Assam.
Sutnga said that the agreement signed by the two chief ministers has no legal status and was in violation of several parameters, such as ethnicity of the population, administrative convenience, historical perspective, etc.
