STATE OF NAGALAND AND ORS Vs. HUSKA SUMI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All the eight appeals were heard together since common question of facts and law were involved. The constitutional role of judicial review is the nub of the matter.

(2.) The bare bones are outlined below. All the Respondents in this appeal are elected member of the legislative Assembly of Nagaland and moved this High Court mounting its challenge on the respective minutes of the District Planning and Development Boards proceedings. According to the Petitioners (Respondents herein) an economic policy was introduced by the State Government of Nagaland in the year 1992 by way of District Planning Fund Development Scheme. As per the scheme, it was stated inter-alia that an amount of Rs. 50 lakhs were allocated to each constituency in the State of Nagaland for development in the Constituency. The Petitioners in the writ petitions represented some of those constituencies. Pursuance to the aforesaid policy the State Government formulated a guideline for equitable distribution of development funds in the State with sixty Assembly Constituencies as the base units. Decentralised planning, selection and execution of schemes, mass participation of the people in the Development work, decentralised devolution of funds and need based development at quick pace without involving middlemen are the objectives of the scheme. As per the scheme the District/Sub-Divisional Planning Board was to be re-constituted in each district consisting of M.L.As. Advisers, Nominated members, Heads of Departments with Deputy Commissioner as the Chairman in the District and Additional Deputy Commissioner in the Sub-Divisions; and the District Planning Board was to act as the Nodal Agency to supervise and co-ordinate the district plans. The plans, those prepared at the District Planning Board were to be submitted to the State Planning Board for clearance keeping in mind the need to dovetail the working schemes with the State level plans. The various schemes prepared and approved by the District Planning Board/Sub-Divisional Level Planning Board were to be submitted to the Government at specified time for approval of the State Planning Board and finance concurrence.

(3.) Mr. A.R. Borthakur, learned Advocate General of the State of Nagaland, assisted by Sri P. Borthakur, Sri P. Khatoniar, Sri C.I. Jamir and Miss T. Khro, impugned the decision of the learned Single Judge mainly on the grounds set out below: