Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 5
President of Nagaland Bar Association (NBA), A Zhimom,i while commenting on the decision made by the State Government to repeal the contentious Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 on March 28, noted that the exercise of holding elections for the municipalities was a legal obligation which needed to be fulfilled as it is a chapter in the constitution of India.
This was in reference to the 74th Amendment Act, 1992 of the Indian Constitution. “So that chapter is still alive, and which the State has no authority to erase,” he said.
“The state of Nagaland, amending or repealing the act does not take away that chapter,” he added. Moreover as the SC has already directed the state to hold the municipal elections with reservations for women as provided by the constitution so that order still stands, he viewed.
This was stated during the platinum jubilee celebration of the Guwahati High Court at the District Court Complex, Dimapur on April 5.
With regard to the 33% reservation for women, he mentioned that it was a constitutional guarantee which needed to be fulfilled and cannot be erased. “The problem in the state is that the bar is never consulted; the politicians think that the judiciary is best left alone,” he observed.
On the issue of whether the act infringes upon Article 371 (A) particularly with customs and traditions, the NBA President emphasized that modern institutions created by law have no relation with Naga traditional norms.
“Most of the institutions we have in Nagaland today are institutions which were created by law so what relations do they have with customs and traditions,” he remarked.
