SC dismisses petition on Meghalaya-Assam boundary dispute

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NEW DELHI | April 22, 2019:

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a writ petition filed by social activist, THS Bonney which seeks direction to the Centre for constituting a time-bound commission to permanently resolve the boundary dispute between Meghalaya and Assam.

The Apex Court instead asked Bonney to send his representation to the Centre in connection with his plea.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, granted him the liberty to approach the court if he was not satisfied with the Centre's order.

"The Centre and state governments have to take serious action for permanent demarcation of the boundary of two states i.e. Meghalaya and Assam so that people residing in the border area will not face hardships and atrocities just because of the border problem," Bonney said in his plea.

"In spite of repetitive political efforts in the previous years and numerous interstate dialogues between both the States of Meghalaya and Assam, no fruitful result could be achieved and as a result the people and local residents of both the States are facing hardships and differences resulting to communal clashes and insecurities…," the plea further stated.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Bonney said that he is yet to receive a certified copy order of the Supreme Court. "As per the information which I received, the Court had dismissed the petition on the ground that there is no boundary dispute between Meghalaya and Assam," Bonney said.

It may be mentioned that the Supreme Court in its order had stated: "having heard learned counsel for the petitioner and upon perusing the relevant material, we are not inclined to entertain the present petition. The writ petition is accordingly dismissed. Pending interlocutory applications, if any, shall stand disposed of."

With inputs from Agencies