Shillong, Feb 17: Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma on Tuesday refused to allow a discussion in the House on the illegal coal mine blast that claimed 33 lives earlier this month, citing sub judice provisions under assembly rules.
The decision triggered sharp objections from opposition legislators, who accused the executive of using legal technicalities to avoid scrutiny over illegal mining.
“I have received that this matter is sub judice and is pending in the court of law, and accordingly, I have taken this decision based on Rule 57, sub-clause 6. I stand by my decision, and the Speaker’s decision is final,” Sangma said in the House.
He added that Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had already made a suo motu statement on the incident on Monday.
The ruling came following a demand from Voice of the People Party (VPP) legislator Ardent Basaiawmoit, who argued that the repeated invocation of the sub judice rule by the executive was undermining the legislature’s freedom to deliberate on matters of public concern.
“As a legislature, we have the freedom of speech to discuss issues affecting the people. Even courts themselves have held that legislative discussion is not barred merely because a matter is pending before them,” Basaiawmoit said.
He clarified that members were not seeking to debate questions of guilt or innocence or to interfere with judicial findings, but wanted to examine administrative lapses and policy failures surrounding illegal coal mining.
“We know we cannot discuss judicial conclusions, but we can certainly deliberate on administrative failure so that such incidents are prevented in the future. The executive should not hide behind this sub judice provision,” he added, urging the Speaker to allow a structured discussion.
Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Mukul Sangma, backed the demand, calling Basaiawmoit’s submission “very relevant”, and stressed that legislative oversight was necessary in cases involving public safety and governance.
He said the government should consider approaching the court to have the specific incident treated separately instead of being clubbed with a broader public interest litigation.
Despite the opposition’s appeal, the Speaker declined to reopen the matter for discussion.
“We will not discuss this further, as I have made my decision,” he said.
The blast in the illegal coal mine in Thangsku area in East Jaintia Hills district on February 5 sparked intense political debate in the state, with opposition parties repeatedly demanding greater accountability and a broader discussion on the persistence of illegal rat-hole mining despite regulatory restrictions. (PTI)
