Pass executive order: HYC, headmen

SHILLONG, JAN 24: Even as the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) and the Rangbah Shnong decided to put pressure on the Khasi and Jaintia hills autonomous district council to appeal against the high court order barring the headmen to issue No Objection Certificate (NOC), both have also demanded that the district councils pass an executive order empowering headmen to issues NOC in case the appeal for a stay to high court order is not entertained by division bench.

The HYC and the traditional heads held a meeting on Saturday at the Khasi National Dorbar hall to discuss the fallout of the order issued by the single bench of the Meghalaya high court justice SR Sen barring headmen to issue NOC and questioning from where they are deriving their powers.

The Rangbah Shnong came from different corners of the district to attended the meeting with the HYC.

After the meeting, HYC general secretary Robertjune Kharjahrin said, “We have unanimously decided to demand the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) to immediately file an appeal before the division bench for a stay to the order passed by the single bench,”

Kharjarin said the meeting decided to urge all the traditional heads in the Khasi-Jaintia region to convene a meeting of their respective Dorbar Himas and Elakas to put pressure on the two ADCs to take up the matter at the earliest.

Kharjarin said if the ADCs delays in filing an appeal, the traditional institutions will go ahead and appeal before the division bench to ensure that ruling is kept in abeyance till such time the district councils comes up with appropriate laws, which will clearly define the powers and functions of the traditional heads as per custom and usages.

During the meeting, majority of the headmen expressed grave concern over the ruling passed by the single bench. Stating the ruling is unacceptable, they said, “Just because of a mistake committed by one or two headmen, it is totally unreasonable to club all the headmen under the same ruling.”

The meeting also decided to suggest to the two district councils to pass an “executive order” to empower the headmen in case the appeal for a stay is not granted by the division bench.

“The district councils can pass executive orders to empower the headmen with the power to issue certificates in matters relating to no objection certificate (NOCs), residential, banks, land and others,” Kharjarin said.

According to Kharjarin, the executive order passed by the district council can act as a law till the time the state government approves the bill that will permanently empower the headmen.

The single bench of Meghalaya high court had directed the state government not to indulge or ask people to obtain NOC from headmen but they should function independently as per rules and laws.- By Our Reporter