Day: November 14, 2012

The post Justice delayed appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

Six months have gone by since the parliament passed the bill for establishment of a separate High Court of Manipur, besides the states of Tripura and Meghalaya. Yet, the matters of High Court continue to operate from the principal seat of Gauhati and we are yet to have a separate High Court till date. The related bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on May 11 this year and subsequently in the Rajya Sabha. And the President Pratibha Patil had signed the North Eastern Areas (Reorganization) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) bill on June 7. Still, the Indian government is not yet decided on the strength of the state High Court. The local High Court Bar Association has been putting up a demand for a seven member High Court with judges drawn from the state bar and bench. On the other hand, the central government wants a four member court that too with judges from outside the state. In protest, the state lawyers had gone on cease work strike and the functioning of the Imphal bench of the Gauhati High Court is now paralysed. The institution of a separate high court for Manipur had been a long-standing demand of the state legal fraternity. And it was justified considering all the practical problems faced by litigants and in the interests of timely justice delivery. The state of Manipur could have had a separate High court when it attained statehood in 1972 as per the Constitution. It did not materialize then and it remained content with a bench of the Gauhati High Court. In the present case of Manipur, the physical infrastructure has come into place with the inauguration of functioning of the Imphal bench of the Gauhati High Court in the spacious new complex with seven courtrooms at Chingmeirong on April 7 this year. The problem of inadequate courtrooms and of space constraints has been solved. On the other hand, there is no dearth of good lawyers and other legal professionals in the state. And there are enough deserving candidates for judgeship in the state legal fraternity. The state has two judges in the Gauhati High Court in Justice T Nandakumar and Justice N Koteshore. While the state Bar association is demanding a separate High Court consisting of seven judges the centre seems to be opting for four members which is nothing but lip service. While the state Bar seeks the elevation or appointment of deserving advocates and judicial officers as judges to the separate High Court, the Indian Government is looking for candidates of non-state origin from the Gauhati High Court. The demand of the state Bar is not without merit considering the overflowing talent in the state Bar and Bench and the years of lost opportunities. Besides, the registry at Imphal Bench has a high pendency rate. Although the number of pending cases in Imphal had come sown in the recent times following the Uma Devi vs Karnataka case, 6000 pending cases is still huge for the bench. Even with the introduction of IT connectivity, there are still many practical problems in the administrative set-up. With the passage of time, the backlog of cases which need immediate hearing and disposal, is multiplying. So, there is an urgent need for resolving the issue at hand. Any delay in establishing the separate High court will certainly lead to multiplicity of problems. So, the central government needs to pull up its socks and take a decision in this regard so as ensure timely delivery of justice and judicial reforms in the state.

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The post The reluctant CM appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

Why is Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh not in station? What is he trying to avoid here in Imphal? And what is so important about the Australia trip? These questions had been on the lips of everyone here in Imphal. IFP had raised three possible reasons in our earlier editorial. One of the reasons leaked in certain circles and the media is that the Chief Minister Ibobi Singh is under tremendous pressure from the central leadership to accept the proposal of Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde with regard to the ‘solution’ of the vexed Naga problem and that he might ultimately be coerced to accept it. Some had even drawn a parallel to the situation Maharaj Bodhachandra was once caught in 1949 when he was forced to sign the merger agreement. They say, his position as the Chief Minister is at stake, if he does not agree to the proposal of the centre. Some others say, his health condition is deteriorating and the tremendous pressure that he is facing these days is already taking a toll on him. What do these snippets of information provoked in us or among the general public? Anger and sympathy. Anger towards those giving ‘undue’ pressure to Okram Ibobi Singh and sympathy for him and his condition. Yet, a question or a doubt lingers in our mind. Who benefits from such emotions of anger and sympathy? Were the bits of information leaked so as to generate such feelings of emotion among the general public? Some of us were indeed blinded by these emotions and we are not raising questions which should be raised. Firstly, the issue of how a responsible leader should act in times of crisis. After being summoned by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde twice in New Delhi, Chief Minister Ibobi Singh had been mumbling about the lack of proposals in written. On the other hand he refuses to spell out what were the proposals raised by Shinde and what was his response. There are enough media reports to suggest the possible outcomes of the peace talks between NSCN-IM and the government of India. Shinde must have at least conveyed some concrete proposals to him verbally. Why is Okram Ibobi reluctant to inform the Manipur public? What is he trying to hide? It is so unusual of a person who had chosen to lift AFSPA from Imphal Municipal Area and stop NSCN-IM supremo Thuingaleng Muivah in his tracks despite pressure otherwise from the central leadership. Somehow the firm conviction and resolution in defence of the territorial integrity of the state seems to have gone from his utterances and action. Has he lost his moral standing to be able to resist pressures of the party high command in the interests of the state? Is it because of the Rs 224 crore Loktak Lake scam which had surfaced in recent times? Okram Ibobi Singh, who is also the Chairman of the Loktak Development Authority had chosen to remain silent on the Loktak expose, on which serious questions had been raised of his involvement. Instead, he chose to undertake a pleasure trip to Australia, in the guise of some conference which are dime a dozen for a Chief Minister. He could have cancelled that trip. He did not. This is not expected from a Chief Minister who said recently that he is even prepared to law down his life in the interests of Manipur.

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