Morung Express News
Kohima | September 1
The Nagaland Legislative Assembly has laid down a working framework for its committee tasked with examining whether Parliamentary laws affect matters protected under Article 371-A, formalising the procedures through which the panel will scrutinise such legislation.
The Internal Working Rules of the Committee to Examine the Applicability of Laws Passed by Parliament were presented to the House by KG Kenye Minister for Power & Parliamentary Affairs and Chairperson of the ‘Committee to Examine the Applicability of Laws Passed by Parliament’ on September 1.
The rules were adopted by the committee at its meeting on May 18, 2026.
The committee is mandated to examine every Act of Parliament, including Constitutional Amendment Acts, to determine whether any provision affects matters enumerated under Article 371-A(1)(a) of the Constitution. Where an Act is found to affect such protected matters, the committee is to recommend whether it should be made applicable to Nagaland through the special constitutional procedure provided under Article 371-A.
The rules also provide a defined composition for the committee.
The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs will serve as Chairperson, while the Minister for Law & Justice, or another member delegated by the Speaker, will be Co-Chairperson. The Leader of Opposition, six Assembly members, the Advocate-General and the Secretary of the Department of Law & Justice will also be members. The Speaker may nominate additional members, but the committee cannot exceed 11 members.
The framework gives the committee a formal process for taking up legislation.
Once the Assembly Secretariat receives an issue for examination, it will apprise the Chairperson, who will fix the date and time of the meeting. Members are to receive the relevant documents in advance for study, with papers circulated to the committee treated as confidential. A quorum of four members is required.
The rules further provide for verbatim records of committee proceedings, preparation and approval of minutes, and drafting of committee reports containing its recommendations. Once a report is presented to the House, copies are to be circulated to Assembly members and the concerned government departments. The Chairperson may also constitute a sub-committee on any matter requiring detailed examination.
The framework, however, does not mark the creation of the committee.
The committee was originally constituted during the Twelfth Session of the Tenth Nagaland Legislative Assembly on August 22, 2006, under the name Committee to Scrutinise Parliamentary Laws for Application to Nagaland. It was incorporated into the Assembly's Rules of Procedure under Rule 221-A.
Its present name was recommended by the Rules Committee in its Fifth Report, which was laid before the House on September 11, 2023.
The Rules Committee also recommended reconstituting the committee's composition, provisions that have now been incorporated into the Internal Working Rules.
The committee's tenure is co-terminous with that of the State Legislative Assembly.
