THE CONSTITUTION (THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT) ACT, 1962
Statement of Objects and Reasons
appended to the Constitution
(Thirteenth Amendment) Bill, 1962 which was enacted as
the Constitution (Thirteenth
Amendment) Act, 1962
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
In July, 1960, an agreement was reached
by the Government of India
with the leaders of the Naga Peoples Convention under which it was
decided that Naga Hills-Tuensang Area (Nagaland), which is at present
a Part 'B' tribal area within the State of Assam, will be formed into
a separate State in the Union of India.
2. The Agreement inter alia
provides that-
(a) the Governor of the
State of Nagaland shall have special
responsibility for law and order for so long as the law and
order
situation continues to remain disturbed on
account of hostile
activities;
(b) the Governor shall have general
responsibility with regard to the
funds made available to the new State by the Government of India;
(c) the administration of the Tuensang District
of Nagaland shall be
carried on by the Governor for a period of ten years during which it
is expected that the people of that area would be in a position to
shoulder fuller responsibilities of administration.
A Regional
Council is to be formed for the said Tuensang District
comprising
elected representative from the tribes therein. This Regional Council
will supervise and guide the working of the Village, Range and Area
Councils in that district and further no law passed by the Nagaland
legislature will extend to that district unless so recommended by the
Regional Council;
(d) Acts of Parliament shall not apply to
Nagaland unless so decided
by the Nagaland Legislature with regard to:-
(i) religious or social practices of the
Nagas;
(ii) Naga Customary Law and procedure;
(iii) administration of civil and criminal justice
involving decisions
according to Naga Customary Law;
(iv) ownership and transfer of land and its
resources.
3. As these matters are
peculiar to the proposed new State of
Nagaland, provision with respect thereto has to be
made in the
Constitution itself. This Bill accordingly seeks
to amend the
Constitution to provide for the aforesaid
matters and matters
ancillary thereto. A separate Bill for the formation of the new State
relatable to article 3 is also being introduced.
NEW DELHI;
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU.
THE CONSTITUTION (THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT) ACT, 1962
[28th December, 1962.]
An Act further to amend the Constitution of India.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Thirteenth
Year of the Republic of
India as follows:--
1. Short title and
commencement.-(1) This Act may be called
the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962.
(2) It shall come into
force on such date_662 as the Central
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Amendment of Part XXI.-In PART XXI of the
Constitution,-
(a) for the heading, the following
beading shall be substituted,
namely:-
"TEMPORARY, TRANSITIONAL AND SPECIAL
PROVISIONS";
(b) after article 371, the following article shall be
inserted,
namely:-
Special provision with respect to the State of
Nagaland.
(b) Special provision with respect to the
State of Nagaland.-
`371A. (1) Notwithstanding anything in this
Constitution,-
(a) no Act of Parliament in respect of-
(i) religious or social practices of the
Nagas,
(ii) Naga customary law and procedure,
(iii) administration of civil
and criminal justice involving
decisions according to Naga customary law,
(iv) ownership and transfer of land and its
resources,
shall apply to the State of Nagaland unless the
Legislative Assembly
of Nagaland by a resolution so decides;
(b) the Governor of Nagaland shall have
special responsibility with
respect to law and order in the State of Nagaland for so long as in
his opinion internal disturbances occurring in the Naga Hills-Tuensang
Area immediately before the formation of that State continue therein
or in any part thereof and in the discharge of his
functions in
relation thereto the Governor shall, after consulting the Council of
Ministers, exercise his individual judgment as to the action to be
taken:
Provided that if any question arises whether any
matter is or is not a
matter as respects which the Governor is under
this sub-clause
required to act in the exercise of his individual
judgment, the
decision of the Governor in his discretion shall be final, and the
validity of anything done by the Governor shall not be
called in
question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in the
exercise of his individual judgment:
Provided further that if the President on receipt of
a report from the
Governor or otherwise is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for
the Governor to have special responsibility with respect to law and
order in the State of Nagaland, he may by order direct
that the
Governor shall cease to have such responsibility with effect from such
date as may be specified in the order;
(c) in making his recommendation
with respect to any demand for a
grant, the Governor of Nagaland shall ensure that any money provided
by the Government of India out of the Consolidated Fund of India for
any specific service or purpose is included in the demand for a grant
relating to that service or purpose and not in any other demand;
(d) as from such date as the
Governor of Nagaland may by public
notification in this behalf specify, there shall be established
a
regional council for the Tuensang district consisting of thirty-five
members and the Governor shall in his discretion make rules providing
for-
(i) the composition of the regional
council and the manner in which
the members of the regional council shall be chosen:
Provided that the Deputy Commissioner of the
Tuensang district shall
be the Chairman ex officio of the regional
council and the
Vice-Chairman of the regional council shall be elected by the members
thereof from amongst themselves;
(ii) the qualifications for being chosen as,
and for being, members,
of the regional council;
(iii) the term of office of, and the salaries
and allowances, if any,
to be paid to members of, the regional council;
(iv) the procedure and conduct of business of the
regional council;
(v) the appointment of officers and staff of
the regional council and
their conditions of services; and
(vi) any other matter in respect of
which it is necessary to make
rules for the constitution and proper functioning of the
regional
council.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution,
for a period of ten
years from the date of the formation of the State of Nagaland or for
such further period as the Governor may, on the recommendation of the
regional council, by public notification specify in this behalf,-
(a) the administration of the Tuensang district shall
be carried on by
the Governor;
(b) where any money is provided by
the Government of India to the
Government of Nagaland to meet the requirements of the
State of
Nagaland as a whole, the Governor shall in his discretion arrange for
an equitable allocation of that money between the Tuensang district
and the rest of the State;
(c) no Act of the Legislature of Nagaland shall
apply to the Tuensang
district unless the Governor, on the recommendation of the regional
council, by public notification so directs and the Governor in giving
such direction with respect to any such Act may direct that the Act
shall in its application to the Tuensang district or any part thereof
have effect subject to such exceptions or
modifications as the
Governor may specify on the recommendation of the regional council:
Provided that any direction given under this
sub-clause may be given
so as to have retrospective effect;
(d) the Governor may make regulations for the
peace progress and good
government of the Tuensang district and any regulations so made may
repeal or amend with retrospective effect, if necessary, any Act of
Parliament or any other law which is for the time being applicable to
that district;
(e) (i) one of the members representing the
Tuensang district in the
Legislative Assembly of Nagaland shall be appointed Minister
for
Tuensang affairs by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister
and the Chief Minister in tendering his advice shall act
on the
recommendation of the majority of the members as aforesaid;
(ii) the Minister for Tuensang
affairs shall deal with, and have
direct access to the Governor on, all matters relating to the Tuensang
district but he shall keep the Chief Minister informed about the same;
(f) notwithstanding anything in the
foregoing provisions of this
clause, the final decision on all matters relating to the Tuensang
district shall be made by the Governor in his discretion;
(g) in articles 54 and 55 and clause (4) of
article 80, references to
the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of a State or to each
such member shall include references to the members or member of the
Legislative Assembly of Nagaland elected by the regional
council
established under this article;
(h) in article 170-
(i) clause (1) shall, in relation
to the Legislative Assembly of
Nagaland, have effect as if for the word
`sixty', the words
`forty-six' had been substituted;
(ii) in the said clause
the reference to direct election from
territorial constituencies in the State shall include election by the
members of the regional council established under this article;
(iii) in clauses (2) and (3), references to
territorial constituencies
shall mean references to territorial constituencies in the Kohima and
Mokokchung districts.
(3) If any difficulty arises in giving effect
to any of the foregoing
provisions of this article, the President may by order do anything
(including any adaptation or modification of any other article) which
appears to him to be necessary for the purpose of
removing that
difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall
be made after the expiration of
three years from the date of the formation of the State of Nagaland.
Explanation.-In this article, the
Kohima, Mokokchung and Tuensang
districts shall have the same meanings as in the State of Nagaland
Act, 1962.