SHILLONG, India, March 21 -- Meghalaya High Court issued the following judgment/order on Feb. 19:
1. This is an application for striking off the respondent No. 12 i.e. the Committee on Public Undertakings in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, who has been arrayed as party in the main writ petition being WP(C). No. 196 of 2025 as respondent No.12.
2. The grounds as set out and advanced by Mr. N.D.Chullai, learned Sr. counsel assisted by Ms. R.Colney, learned counsel on behalf of the applicant is that by virtue of Chapter XXV Assembly Committees of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Meghalaya Legislative Assembly containing Rule 193-194, the members are appointed by the Legislative Assembly on a motion made, or nominated by the Speaker as the case may be, and the said Committee which has been arrayed as party was accordingly, by virtue of the Rules constituted to examine the report as stipulated under the Rules. For the sake of convenience, the relevant Rules i.e. 193, 194, 242-A, whereby the controls and functions of the Committee are laid down, are reproduced hereinbelow:
"193. In this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, "Committee" means and includes "Assembly Committee" as defined in Sub-rule (1) of rule 2. 194.
(1) The members of a Committee shall be appointed or elected by the Assembly on a motion made or nominated by the Speaker, as the case may be.
(2) No Member shall be appointed to a Committee if he is not willing to serve on it. The proposer shall ascertain whether the Member whose name is proposed by him is willing to serve on the Committee.
(3) Casual vacancies in the Committee shall be filled by appointment or election by the Assembly on a motion made or nomination by the Speaker, as the case may be, and any Member appointed, elected or nominated to fill such vacancy shall hold office for the unexpired portion of the term for which the member in whose place he is appointed, elected or nominated would have normally held office. 242-A. There shall be a Committee on Public Undertakings for the examination of the working of the public undertakings or such other undertakings as may be referred to by the Speaker from time to time. The functions of the Committee shall be:-
(a) to examine the reports and accounts of the public undertakings specified in the Fourth Schedule, and of such undertakings as may be referred to the Committee by the House/Speaker from time to time;
(b) to examine the reports, if any, of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the public undertakings;
(c) to examine, in the context of the autonomy and efficiency of the public undertakings whether the affairs of the public undertakings are being managed in accordance with sound business principles and prudent commercial practices;
(d) to exercise such other functions vested in the Committee on Public Accounts and the Committee on Estimates in relating to the public undertakings specified above as are not covered by clauses (a), (b) and (c) above and as may be allotted to the Committee by the Speaker from time to time; Provided that the Committee shall not examine and investigate any of the following, namely :-
(i) matters of major Government policy as distinct from business of commercial functions of the public undertakings;
(ii) matters of day-to-day administration;
(iii) matters for the consideration of which machinery is established by any special statute under which a particular public undertaking is established."
*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=A9S7c5LDIsB6RXaCf816x3ncZT%2Fe5WU4ygyRikgP%2BBdrjvfto%2Bmank42aMFFvA6O&caseno=MC(WPC)/197/2025&cCode=1&cino=MLHC010011522025&state_code=21&appFlag=)
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