Shillong Jan 23: Leader of Opposition Dr Mukul Sangma has written letters to Governor and Assembly Speaker regarding the violation of Article 176 (1) of the Constitution when the special session of the Assembly was held on January 20 as the Governor’s Address was not part of the proceedings.
In a letter to the Governor, R N Ravi, Dr Mukul recalled his submission regarding the one day special session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly held on January 20 and the serious lapse thereof to fulfill the requirement of the provision of the Article 176 (1) of the Constitution of India.

In his letter to the Speaker, the Leader of Opposition said that the the constitutional provision regarding special address by the Governor as required under Article 176 (1) should have been part of the proceedings during the special session on January 20, and the government represented by the minister in-charge parliamentary affairs and the Assembly secretariat could not have overlooked such important constitutional requirement.

“This constitutional requirement could not have eluded the attention of the state government because in the event of the commencement of the first session of each year, the Governor has to address and the Governor’s Address has to be prepared and approved by the state cabinet before sending to the Governor and subsequent printing,” Dr Mukul said.

Dr Mukul expressed his regret over his inability to attend the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) for the special session on January 14, due to unavoidable circumstances.

” I was taken by surprise only after reaching the House and seeing the calendar for the session and the list of business for the day. Raising the matter in the House on that day would have been a serious embarrassment for the august House and the state as a whole as this serious constitutional lapse or in other words – a serious violation of the constitutional provisio would have come to a scanner before the whole world,” Dr Mukul said while stating that he was bringing the above fact before the Speaker for further necessary action.

The special session of the Meghalaya Assembly was held on January 20 to pass the resolution to ratify the Constitution (126th) Amendment Bill, 2019, relating to extension of quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies.