Supreme Court: Ban on MoU to resolve Assam-Meghalaya border dispute lifted, NTPC chief also relieved from Supreme Court

The Meghalaya High Court today lifted the stay on the MoU signed between Assam and Meghalaya to resolve the border dispute. The Supreme Court issued a stay order on the order of the High Court.

Assam and Meghalaya have reached the Supreme Court against the order of the High Court. On Friday, the Supreme Court heard the petition of Assam and Meghalaya. After this, the Supreme Court issued a stay against the order of the Meghalaya High Court. Along with this, the apex court issued a notice to all the concerned parties. Assam and Meghalaya want to resolve the border dispute as per the MoU signed between them.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Konrad K. Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sharma signed an MoU on March 29, 2022, to demarcate at least six of the 12 disputed areas that often generate tension between the two states.

The agreement was done in the presence of the Home Minister

The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. After this, the matter reached the High Court. A single bench of the Meghalaya High Court had on December 9 last year put an interim stay on the physical demarcation or construction of border posts on the land under the agreement.

CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice P.S. Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala's bench took note of the representation filed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. It said the matter required an urgent hearing as the Single and Division Bench of the High Court had stayed the implementation of the Inter-State Boundary Agreement, which was signed last year. On this, the Chief Justice said that we will hear it. Please hand over three copies of the petition.

The border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya is 50 years old. However, efforts to solve it have been accelerated in recent times. The border between the two states is about 884.9 km long. Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972, but the new state challenged the Assam Reorganization Act of 1971, leading to a dispute over 12 border locations.

NTPC chief challenges Telangana High Court's decision

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday accepted the petition of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) chief Gurdeep Singh for a hearing. The Telangana High Court has sentenced him to two months in jail in a contempt case. After the hearing, the Supreme Court stayed the decision of the Telangana High Court.

Earlier, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha Rao, and Justice JB Pardiwala agreed to the hearing after hearing the arguments of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of Singh. In this case, the NTPC chairman has been sentenced to two months in jail in a contempt case related to the appointments of some non-executive employees.

Let us tell you, on December 31, the Telangana High Court convicted and punished NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh. Along with this, the High Court had given six weeks to appeal against the order in the Supreme Court while keeping this sentence suspended.

The Center assured the pending recommendations of the collegium

The Supreme Court has decided to hear on February 3 the matter related to the recommendations of the collegium pending with the Center for the appointment of judges. The Center on Friday assured the apex court that it would adhere to the time limit set for recommending the appointment of 44 judges to the High Courts. A decision will be taken on the recommendations by Saturday.

'No Jet, no Etihad', Subramanian Swamy withdraws plea

Meanwhile, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today withdrew from the Supreme Court the petition filed in 2013 regarding the Jet Etihad Airways deal. Swamy had sought scrapping of the commercial agreement between Jet Airways and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways. "I want to withdraw it because now there is no Jet and there is no Etihad," Swamy told a bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar today. The bench then remarked in a lighter vein, "We don't know who is responsible for this." Accepting Swamy's request, the apex court allowed the withdrawal of the petition.

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