Shillong, March 6 : The Meghalaya government is contemplating to move the Supreme Court to solve the border problem with Assam particularly with reference to Langpih in West Khasi Hills district as the dispute has been pending for long.
The cabinet which met today decided to constitute a legal committee headed by advocate general G.S. Massar and other officials from the law and the political departments to build up a case to be taken up at the apex court.
After the meeting, the spokesman for the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) government and cabinet minister Conrad Sangma told journalists that in view of the seriousness of the matter, the cabinet had favoured constituting a committee comprising legal experts to build up a case that could be presented before the apex court.
The committee, formed today, had been given 90 days’ time to complete its report after which the cabinet will examine whether the apex court could be moved on the basis of the report, Sangma said.
He said the cabinet felt that as the neighbouring states like Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland were seeking legal redress to solve border disputes with Assam, the Meghalaya government too should follow suit. Sangma said there are reports of frequent harassment of Langpih residents which, according to the state government, should be addressed in right earnest.
Sangma said following recent reports of harassment by Assam police in Langpih, Meghalaya chief minister Donkupar Roy after a meeting with chief secretary Ranjan Chatterjee had written a protest letter to the Assam government.
The deputy chief minister in-charge of home, H.S. Lyngdoh, informed the cabinet meeting that Assam police had disrupted a legal awareness campaign organised by the State Law Commission at Langpih in his presence on February 27.
Though the government of Assam and Meghalaya agreed to maintain status quo at the disputed area, the harassment by Assam police has annoyed Lyngdoh.
The situation worsened after two Khasi men, who arrived at Langpih to take part in a legal awareness campaign, were arrested by Assam police on February 27. They were released after Lyngdoh’s intervention.
While Assam police has set up an outpost inside Langpih, Meghalaya has only a temporary outpost at Lejadubi, 1km from Langpih.
According to Sangma, though there is a chief secretary-level committee already constituted by the state government, the newly formed legal committee will find an early solution to the border dispute.