It was during the drafting of the Constitution of India that the Assam leader Gopinath Bordoloi made it permissible for the tribe people to have their customary laws to settle disputes among them
Sushanta Roy
As reported earlier regarding Customary Village Court; Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council has decided to set up 3,695 Customary Village Courts in Karbi villages across Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong in a phased manner.
The final discussion was taken after holding discussions with Karbi traditional chiefs (Lindokpos), subordinates (Habes), traditional village heads, Karbi customary law experts, law practitioners, intellectuals, and members of Karbi Rong Asar Amei recently.
In this issue Chief Executive Member of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, Tuliram Ronghang made it clear that under subparagraph of paragraph 4 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India and subject to the approval of the Governor of Assam, the erstwhile Mikir Hills District Council now Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council has the power to constitute Karbi Customary Village Courts to settle petty cases. But this has not been done so far.
Former executive member of the council Elwin Teron opined that, as customary courts have not been set up and all cases, be it criminal or civil, are tried at judicial court.
It was during the drafting of the Constitution of India that the Assam leader Gopinath Bordoloi made it permissible for the tribe people to have their customary laws to settle disputes among them.
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It may be mentioned here that under the Assam Autonomous District Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1957, police cannot interfere in cases related to customary laws.
This act has given complete power to the traditional village heads in the exercise of customary laws in village courts. The village head is the chairman of the village court.
The council will set up 3,695 numbers Customary Village Courts in Karbi villages and appointment letters to the chairman and members of 2,093 village courts will soon be issued. Another 1,602 village courts will be set up for the Tiwa, Naga Rengmas, Khasi, Kuki, and Dimasa communities in the next phase.
A committee headed by Dr. Dhoromsing Teron and Elwin Teron is working on the finalization of Karbi Jurisprudence to compile Karbi customary law books.
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