NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday lifted the Meghalaya High Court's stay on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya in connection with demarcation of physical land boundaries between the two States.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala issued notice on an appeal filed by Meghalaya and fixed the matter for hearing after two weeks.
The court sought a response from original petitioners who had approached the high court challenging the execution of the MoU and contended that settlement breached Article 3 of the Constitution, which empowered Parliament to make a law related to the formation of new states and alteration of the boundaries of existing states.
After hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and counsel for Assam and Meghalaya governments, the bench suspended the operation of the Meghalaya High Court's order.
The bench said the single judge of the high court has prima facie not furnished any reason for the interim order. It also said that whether the MoUs will require parliamentary approval is a distinct issue.
"The interim order staying the MoU was not warranted. Thus, the interim order of the single judge is hereby stayed, the bench said.
The court was told some areas, which fall under the MoU, are not receiving developmental benefits due to the old border disputes. Further, the boundary between the two States has not been altered due to the agreement as it is just demarcation of boundaries.
In December, 2022, the high court ordered an interim stay on physical demarcation on the ground following the inter-state border pact. Subsequently, a division bench of the high court refused to interfere with the order of the single judge bench.
In March, 2022, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma signed an MoU for demarcating the border in at least six of the 12 contested locations, which caused tensions between the two States.
On Friday morning, Mehta made the mentioning of the matter, promoting the court to take it up on urgent basis.
