GUWAHATI: The Congress in Manipur on Tuesday petitioned Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, urging him to clarify the status of the 12th state Assembly since the imposition of President’s rule on February 13.
The ethnic violence-hit state was placed under President’s rule days after the Chief Minister N Biren Singh had stepped down.
In a memorandum submitted to the governor, the Congress asked if the Assembly is alive, dead or “constitutionally deemed to be dissolved” from the midnight of February 11.
“…the Hon’ble Governor fixed the date of the 7th Assembly session for 10.02.2025 in order to comply with the 6-month timeline prescribed under Article 174 (1) of the Constitution of India between two sittings of the House,” the Congress said in the memorandum.
“Since the last sitting of the House was held on 12.08.2024, therefore, as per Article 174 (1) of the Constitution, the next sitting ought to have been mandatorily held on or before 11.02.2025,” the party further stated.
However, the Congress added, there were two events on February 9 – Singh resigned as the chief minister and the governor declared his January 24, 2025 order summoning a sitting of the Assembly on February 11 as ‘null and void.’
Advocate and Congress spokesperson Ningombam Bupenda Meitei, who was part of the four-member delegation from Congress’ legal cell that submitted the memorandum at the Raj Bhavan, argued that when Singh quit as the chief minister, the Assembly was not in “suspension,” and therefore, the mandatory rigours of Article 174 of the Constitution of India would squarely apply in Manipur.
The Congress alleged that the governor’s February 9 order “attempted” to circumvent” the rigours of Article 174 (1), further delaying the sitting of the House beyond the constitutionally permitted mandate.
The party maintained that the Assembly ought to have conducted a sitting on or before February 11. Even a day beyond the constitutionally permissible limit would amount to a direct violation of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, the Congress said.
“Is it to be concluded that any actions or orders of the Hon’ble Governor of Manipur, in future, to summon the next Assembly sitting…would tantamount to a violation of the Article 174(1), and, hence, the Hon’ble Governor would be constitutionally barred from summoning a sitting of the remaining term of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly?” the Congress asked.