New Delhi: Staring at a constitutional crisis, the Manipur government has sent a fresh recommendation to Governor Anusuiya Uikey to convene the next session of the state assembly from 29 August, the chief minister’s office (CMO) announced Tuesday.
The new session will now be notified under an emergency rule of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Manipur assembly, a secretariat official told ThePrint. The CMO tweeted Tuesday that the cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, decided Monday to convene the next session from 29 August.
The State Cabinet chaired by Hon’ble CM N Biren Singh on Monday 21/08/2023 took a decision to convene the 4the Session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly (Monsoon Session) on August 29, 2023.
— CMO Manipur (@manipur_cmo) August 22, 2023
With the cabinet’s previous recommendation to hold the assembly session from 21 August — sent to the governor on 4 August — not getting Uikey’s nod, the Biren Singh government strayed into uncertain territory as the next session of the House cannot begin later than 2 September.
The delay in convening the next session drew the ire of the Opposition Congress Monday, with the party’s Manipur unit calling it a “constitutional crisis” in the strife-torn state. This comes at a time when Manipur is in the grip of unprecedented ethnic violence, which has claimed over 150 lives and displaced over 50,000 people.
Hon’ble President Keisham Meghachandra briefing media on Constitutional Crisis in Manipur by BJP’s Double Engine Government.@kharge @RahulGandhi @meghachandra_k @Jairam_Ramesh @BHAKTACHARANDAS @Gaikhangam2 @INCIndia pic.twitter.com/dlaYEKnQho
— INC Manipur (@INCManipur) August 21, 2023
The Biren Singh government is in a tricky position because Article 174 of the Constitution states that the “House or Houses of the Legislature of the State shall be summoned to meet twice at least in every year, and six months shall not intervene between their last sitting in one session and the date appointed for their first sitting in the next session”.
The last session of the Manipur assembly was held from 21 February to 3 March. Accordingly, its next session must commence on or before 2 September, for which the assembly secretary needs to notify the MLAs at least 15 days prior to the first day.
According to Section 4 of the Manipur Assembly Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, “The Secretary shall issue summons to each member specifying the date and place for a session of the House at least 1 [15 clear days] before the date so appointed.”
However, with the 15-day window no longer available, the government is making use of an emergency provision in the assembly rules, which waives the requirement to issue a prior notice to each member, the secretariat official, mentioned earlier, said.
“Provided that when a session is called at short notice or emergently, summons may not be issued to each member separately but an announcement of the date and place of the session shall be published in the Gazette and made in the press, and members may be informed by telegram,” the rule, which is also a part of Section 2, states.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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