Zeneisüle Ate Loucü
Nagaland Cabinet’s journey of nullification of the Article 371 (A) began with formulation of Cabinet Committee on Oil and Natural Gas in 2009 which gave contract amounting to Rs 64 lakh to a Consultant called Thorntorn, who knew little or nothing about Naga Customs or System of ownership of land and resources to come out with a modality on petroleum and Natural Gas. The Government, in 2010, then basing on this faulty modality adopts a resolution under the shadow of Article 371(A) merely to give a legitimate face but the contents were far from the rights enjoyed by the people.
Regulation called Nagaland Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules & Regulation (P&NG Rules & Regulation) 2012.
The P&NG Rule which talks about ‘Revenue Sharing’ instead of ‘Royalty’ disgracefully scrapes and nullifies the customary right to ownership of land and resources of the people. Through a devious act of swapping the word ‘royalty’ with ‘revenue’ in the P&NG Rule, Nagaland Government has divested the people of their ownership of land and resources but alas except a few none seem to have understood the unforgivable blunder. ‘Revenue’, as is known, is government’s money/wealth while ‘Royalty’ is an acknowledgment of ownership of land, resources etc. No royalty, clearly means, no ownership. Royalty is the only guarantee to ownership. Revenue is purely Government’s income for further development of public welfare and hence sharing it with private or individual will amount to glaring violation of Government’s Financial Rule. No sensible Cabinet/Government will make a rule which violates another of its own rule.
A resolution dated 26th July 2010 was passed by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly with regard to ownership and transfer of land and its resources but against this, the Ministry of Home Affairs Govt. of India has issued an Office Memorandum dated New Delhi 23rd May 2013 wherein it was stated that, “to quote, “Article 371A(a) does not confer legislative power to the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland on regulation and development of mineral oil. The power to make law in respect of subject covered under List-1 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, including entry 53 of List-1 rests with the parliament. Therefore, the resolution passed by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly in July 2016 is unconstitutional and invalid “unquote.” This OM was not challenged by the Government of Nagaland.
The current PIL filed by the Lotha Hoho is also one such instance where the Naga society is debating about Article 371A. This present case relates to the ownership of the land and its resources and specifically the issue at present is with the State government striking a deal with MOGPL for oil exploration in the Tsorri-Changpang oil fields. Another issue will be to decide who has the actual ownership to the land and its resources, the village or the tribal council. This is another aspect that will have to be interpreted.
Earlier in 2019, Senior Advocate appointed by Guwahati High Court to ‘help and assist’ in the hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) noted that the matter is sub-judice and also emphasized people to understand the implications of law and especially why the project could not commence.
Also, Assam and Nagaland ready to settle state border dispute out of court. The CRPF have been stationed along the contentious area on the Assam- Nagaland border since 1971. The centre set up the KVK Sundaram Commission to settle the border dispute. The Sundaram Commission prepared a report but Nagaland did not accept the recommendations. The Assam government had filed a case in the Supreme Court in 1988.
Resolution for Naga political issue remains Government’s top agenda. They should desist from meddling with other affairs. The new law will have a detrimental effect on our future generations.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/assam-nagaland-ready-to-settle-state-border-dispute-out-of-co
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https://www.morungexpress.com/can-oil-and-natural-gas-combat-nagalands-economic-challenges
https://easternmirrornagaland.com/lets-truly-interpret-article-371a/
