Shillong, Oct 30: The Jaintia Joint Alliance (JJA) has urged the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) to move the Supreme Court against what it called “unconstitutional transfer” of Block I and Block II by the then Governor of Assam through notifications of 1951 and 1955.
The JJA, a joint committee of the Jaintia Youth Federation and War Jaintia Students’ Union, contended that both the disputed areas belonged to the erstwhile United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District and impressed upon the JHADC that it should intervene and use the constitution for restoring justice and territorial integrity, which was denied to the people.
“In 1951, the then governor of Assam, acting under the transitional provisions of the Sixth Schedule, issued a notification transferring Block I and Block II of the erstwhile United Khasi-Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council to the administrative control of Newly Mikir Hills (Now Karbi Anglong), in 1955 another notification reaffirmed this administrative arrangement,” the JJA said.
The alliance argued that these transfers were made without any recommendations from Autonomous District Council, as envisaged under paragraphs 14 and 18 of the Sixth Schedule to the Indian constitution and without any commission constituted to determine or recommend the alteration of district boundaries.
“Therefore, the 1951 and 1955 notifications were administrative in nature and ultra vires,” it added.
According to the JJA, the notifications lack constitutional sanctions and were never rectified by the District Council or any Parliamentary or Presidential Order. “The people of the Jaintia Hills have suffered 70 years of deprivation, losing access to their ancestral lands and traditional governance rights,” it said.
The alliance urged the JHADC to pass an official resolution in its next session declaring the notifications unconstitutional and to demand re-transfer of Block I and Block II.
“The JHADC may authorise its legal department to file a petition before the Supreme Court of India under Article 32 or Article 131 of the Constitution, seeking judicial review and restoration of the said territories and to seek support from the State government,” the JJA said in a letter to the district council recently.
