ILP extension order by President under Clause 2 of the article 372; How valid is it?
- Imphal Times Editorial :: December 22 2019 -

Imphal Times is perhaps the first newspaper in the state of Manipur to appreciate the extension of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873 to the state of Manipur as there is a clause in the amended Citizenship Act, which states that States in North East India where the ILP is enforced will be exempted from CAA.

The Chief Minister and those in the government celebrated the day when the extraordinary gazette of India was officially released by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs as The Adaptation of Laws (Amendment) order, 2019 in the name of the President of India.

Many sections of the people expressed gratitude to the Union government particularly the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Even those undergoing prolong protest for implementation of ILP in the state even expressed happiness to the extension of the ILP, even though there are some exceptions.

But the question is – Is the extraordinary gazette of India published in the name of the president of India by the MHA constitutionally a valid one?

What if any persons with the help of the judiciary challenges and said that the order is null and void?

We the people of Manipur even though know that ILP under BEFR 1873 is not the perfect tool to safeguard the indigenous people of the state appreciate the move of the MHA as the amended Citizenship Act is exempted from the states where ILP is enforced.

Now in the gazette notification dated December 11, 2019 which was released by the MHA in the name of the President of India for extension of ILP in Manipur along with some adaptations it is stated that “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause 2 of the article 372 of the constitution of India and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, the President is pleased to make the following orders.

This order is passed by the president of India under clause 2 of the article 372 of the Indian constitution. And no other clause or sub clause of the article 372 has been incorporated in that order.

Clause 2 of the article 372 of the Indian constitution says that – “For the purpose of bringing the provisions of any law in force in the territory of India into accord with the provisions of this Constitution, the President may by order make such adaptations and modifications of such law, whether by way of repeal or amendment, as may be necessary or expedient, and provide that the law shall, as from such date as may be specified in the order, have effect subject to the adaptations and modifications so made, and any such adaptation or modification shall not be questioned in any court of law”.

But then the clause 3 sub sub-clause ‘a’ says, “to empower the President to make any adaptation or modification of any law after the expiration of three years from the commencement of this Constitution”.

This shows that the order of the president under the Clause 2 of the article 372 of the Indian constitution naturally is null and void.

It will be no different from the kind of permit issued to Union Minister Ram Madhav, when the state government is still yet to publish its own official Gazette.

The intention seems to be more like to treat not only the people as a fool but all those in the government in order to control peoples’ uprising against the passing of the Bill.

It is time that both the government and the people rethink about this, or else our future generation may call this generation as ‘idiot’.