SC to hear in July plea of Meghalaya against HC order on settling of its border dispute with Assam

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear in July a plea of the Meghalaya government challenging the high court’s decision staying the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya for settling their festering boundary dispute.

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear in July a plea of the Meghalaya government challenging the high court’s decision staying the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya for settling their festering boundary dispute.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and justices P.S. Narasiha and J.B. Pardiwala said the plea, which should have been listed on a non-miscellaneous day, has wrongly been listed on Monday by the apex court registry.

“We will keep this in July,” the bench said.

Also read: Disquiet in the Northeast: On Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute 

The state government has challenged the December 8, 2022 order of the Meghalaya High Court staying the MoU signed by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya for settling the boundary dispute.

Earlier, the state government, while assailing the high court’s order, had said the issues concerning the alteration of boundaries or exchange of areas between two states are a purely political question within the "sole domain" of the Executive.

In its plea before the top court, the Meghalaya government said the high court failed to appreciate that an interim order cannot be passed on mere asking of the petitioner when the matter pertains to exercise of sovereign functions like demarcation of boundary between the states.