Shillong, Oct 14: The ‘Before Hour’ discussion on the return of the Land Amendment Bill by the Meghalaya Governor was disallowed by the Chairman of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), Strong Pillar Kharjana, leading to a heated exchange in the house today.
Immediately after Question Hour, Mairang-Nongkhlaw MDC Equator Nongrang moved a Before Hour notice under Rule 60C seeking a discussion on the issue. Nongrang said he had seen newspaper reports quoting District Council Affairs Minister Prestone Tynsong stating that the Land Amendment Bill had been returned by Governor CH Vijayashankar with observations and wanted to initiate a discussion in the house.
Kharjana disallowed it, however, as the council had not received any official intimation from the DCA Department or the Governor’s office on the matter. “Whatever comes out in the news cannot be treated as truth, it has to be proven that it is fact,” Kharjana maintained.
This led to a heated exchange of words between Laban-Mawprem MDC Ricky Shullai and the Chairman.
Shullai argued that members have the privilege to bring a Before Hour notice as per the special Rule 60C and that the news item was based on a statement made by the DCA Minister Prestone Tynsong and cannot be declined.
However, Kharjana maintained that since there is no official intimation, the power lies with the Chairman to allow or disallow such discussion and he cannot entertain matters that are unofficial or non-factual.
Shullai replied that it was acceptable if the Chairman declined as per the rules, but he would consider it as a deprivation of members’ rights.
Supporting the Chair, Chief Executive Member Winston Tony Lyngdoh raised a point of order under Rule 53, stating that since the Before Hour notice was based only on a newspaper report and the Council had not received anything officially, it was right for the Chairman to treat it as irrelevant.
The Leader of the Opposition, Titosstarwell Chyne, who was also disallowed from taking part in the Before Hour, later told reporters that Rule 60C allows members to raise issues of public importance.
He said the mover had newspaper clippings that the Governor had returned the Land Bill with observations and they wanted to know what those observations were – whether they were the same as the ones raised and opposed by members in the last session and vehemently opposed by traditional heads who had also met the Governor.
“The Before Hour is a normal practice in the House to get clarification and the House is the right place to seek clarification and it’s sad that it turned out this way,” he said.
He added that the legislative wing and the Executive Committee should know about this because correspondence comes to the Secretary and the Chairman. “If they are saying there is no intimation, then the newspaper report and the statement made on the return of the bill is misleading.”
“We had opposed the Land Amendment Bill when they passed it in the House but they didn’t listen and now the Governor has returned the bill. When the EC passes a bill it shows it wants to implement the Act but when there is delay it shows it is crippled and when it’s crippling it is a loss for the public,” he added.
