Leader of Opposition in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma launched a sharp attack on the Conrad K. Sangma-led MDA government, asserting that Inner Line Permit is not a state subject and accusing the state government of overstepping its legislative jurisdiction through the MRSSA Amendment 2020, thereby violating the mandate of the Constitution of India. Speaking to media persons in Shillong, Sangma framed the issue squarely within constitutional limits, federal structure and legislative competence, stating that political promises and laws must operate strictly within the boundaries laid down by the Constitution.
Dr Sangma said, “Inner Line Permit is not a state subject, so I couldn’t have promised to implement ILP, unlike the present chief minister, unlike the incumbent Chief Minister because I know I cannot promise on behalf of government of India and I cannot take the Union Government for granted.” He underlined that ILP falls under the Union List and any claim otherwise amounts to misleading the people, stressing that responsible governance requires understanding constitutional limitations before making commitments.
Taking aim at the MRSSA Amendment 2020, the former Chief Minister said, “the proposed ammendment (MRSSA 2020), the state Government went beyond the Legislative jurisdiction of the state, that’s why the Ministry of Home Affairs has returned, that means you go beyond your job, beyond mandate of the Constitution. Don’t, you know that when you go beyond the mandate of the Constitution, your action will become constitutional infructuous.” He maintained that the principal Meghalaya Residence Safety and Security Act, 2016 has withstood judicial scrutiny, while the amendment failed precisely because it crossed constitutional limits.
Explaining the intent behind MRSSA, Sangma said that even countries with stringent immigration laws face challenges of illegal immigration. “In spite of stringent law of regulating the entry and exit meaning any citizen entering with a Visa, countries like USA, UK and infact all the European countries are facing the problem of illegal immigrants,” he said, adding, “Many of them have entered legally, but overstayed and have become illegal immigrans. That’s how the law operates.” He stressed that the real issue is regulating stay after entry, which MRSSA was designed to address within the state’s legislative space.
Sangma said MRSSA was carefully crafted to protect the demography of indigenous tribes. “MRSSA is designed in such a way that inspite of having such a long porus International border with Bangladesh and in spite of having such a long border with our neighbouring state Assam, which can be the sources of entry of illegal immigrants… can be taken care of in a manner which fulfills our intent of protecting our people in terms of maintaining the demography of our tribes our Khasi, Garo and Jaintia tribes and to ensure that demographically we are not outnumbered.” He reiterated that the amendment failed, not the Act, alleging malafide intention on the part of the present government.
Accusing the government of deliberately making MRSSA unimplementable, Sangma said, “the governor cannot give his ascent that means indirectly the government had a malafide intention to make this MRSSA ineffective or wanted to put in a cold storage by default.” He added, “So, by default the MRSSA Meghalaya Residence Safety and Security Act became unimplentable with that proposed ammendment.” He questioned why rules and guidelines, which are essential for implementation, were never framed. “Whose job is to give the guidelines? Whose job was to prepare the guidelines?” he asked, alleging that the government “cheated the people.”
Referring to the co-authorship of the Act, Sangma said, “We have co-authored this act, it is not that Dr Mukul alone has authored this (MRSSA).” He criticised senior leaders in the present government, stating, “He (Prestone Tynsong) was also co-author,” and accused him of misleading the people, saying, “I pity him but at the same time I am angry also because he is lying to the people.”
Linking MRSSA to law and order, Sangma said safety and security are state subjects and the Act provided tools like facilitation centres and CCTV coverage. He alleged that non-implementation benefits illegal activities, saying illegal coal mining and transportation could have been checked if the Act was implemented in letter and spirit. He accused the government of keeping “their eyes closed” despite knowing illegalities were taking place.
Concluding, Sangma said lawmakers must understand their role and limits. “We are lawmakers, we are not lawyers, we are the authors of laws which we enact and pass in the Assembly,” he said, adding that forgetting this responsibility leads to unconstitutional laws and failed governance.
ILP Not a State Subject, MRSSA Amendment 2020 Went Beyond Constitutional Mandate: Mukul Sangma
