Alleging that the state government has “decimated the lawful authority” of the State Vigilance Commission (SVC) by its recent resolution dated June 8, 2016, the Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has urged the government of Nagaland “to restore the legal powers to the State Vigilance Commission” by revoking the erroneous resolution without delay.
In a representation addressed to the chief secretary, the NTC president Lendinoktang Ao and committee on state vigilance commission, NTC convenor Theja Therieh objected to the concluding sentence of the resolution, which read “This Resolution modifies to the above extent all previous Resolution and Notifications concerning the State Vigilance Commission”.
Stating that the last sentence was “a complete contradiction to the opening sentence”, the NTC said over and above, all the previous resolutions and notifications concerning the SVC stood modified.
It pointed out that the clause 1 of the June 8, 2016 resolution confined the jurisdiction of the SVC to just the employees of state government and also the employees of the public corporations, statutory bodies and undertakings of the state.
Whereas, NTC said not only government employees but any private individual or group of private individuals could cause offence against the interest of the state.
However, it stated that the amended provision kept the private individual or private firm immune from the purview of SVC. “This amendment is a defeat of the purpose for which the Nagaland State Vigilance Commission is step up,” said NTC, adding that clause 2 of June 8, 2016 resolution modified the power of inquiry of SVC to the extent of removing the power of suo-moto.
Further, NTC claimed that June 8, 2016 resolution “though not specifically referred to” has indeed emasculated the clauses 2 and 5 of the first Resolutions of April 9, 1976, which provides that the SVC “will not be subordinate to any Deptt. and will have the same measure of independence and autonomy as the State Public Service Commission”.
Asserting that clause 3 of June 8, 2016 resolutions has made the chief secretary to have the “overriding authority” over the Commission arbitrarily, NTC said such dilution of the powers of SVC would “definitely hamper the efficiency of the investigative authority.”
NTC observed that June 8, 2016 resolution has subjectively divested the legal powers of the only investigative establishment (SVC), adding that “by this resolution, the Commission has now become a mere showpiece.”
The council maintained that if SVC was “to be reduced to a paper tiger as this”, it was as good as winding up the commission “because there is no necessity to have such Commission without legal investigative powers.”
Urging the state government to restore the legal powers to the SVC by revoking the erroneous resolution without delay, the NTC said it expected the government to “rectify the anomalies committed in the resolution in question within two weeks time.”
NTC cautioned that in the event of the government remaining insensitive to its demand, the council would be compelled to take the issue to the next level.
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