MC rejects TPO/BOA verdict on land dispute
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, January 03 2023:
Rejecting verdict of the Board of Arbitrators (BOA) of Tenyimi People's Organi sation (TPO) regarding dispute over Koziirii and Dziiko, Mao Council (MC) has said the verdict contradicts the facts already available with TPO/BOA.
As a party to the dispute being arbitrated on the basis of customary laws and practices of Tenyimis, Mao Council is therefore under no obligation to abide by the verdict that has been arrived at without compliance to Naga (Tenyimi) customary law and practices, MC president Dr Saheni Loli said in a statement.
Sharing views of the Mao Council on the verdict, Dr Saheni Loli said that it is difficult to understand how the TPO/BOA verdict of December 19, 2022 was declared in its very form and substance at the end of the seven years long arbitration process after all the narrations in the position paper, rejoinders, additional statements, field visits and illustrations on map.
While maintaining that the noble intervention of arbitration taken up by TPO through its Board of Arbitrators was not an easy task, Dr Saheni maintained that stakeholders and public have long awaited logical conclusion on the dispute with high expectations.
Unfortunately, the manner in which the verdict was declared unceremoniously and hastily after seven long years under the shroud of the ban on the Mao people by SAPO and the basis for the verdict given as 'to accommodate each other' citing lack of 'primary and documentary evidence' and not on the merit of the case was contradictory to the facts already made available with TPO/BOA.
All the contesting parties have submitted relevant documents, narratives and evidences through the position papers, the rejoinders, additional statements called for from the contesting parties and through the several joint field visits organised by TPO/BOA.
Mao Council has not been handed the official copy of the verdict till date but came to know of the ruling from media and social media.
Due to non-receipt of the official copy, Mao Council has not been able to comment its position on the verdict thus far.
The silence may have led to the assumptions that Mao Council has accepted the verdict.
In order to clear the air, Mao Council in its general body meeting held on December 30, 2022 discussed the verdict and rejected the same in view of unceremonious manner and situation in which the verdict was declared.
TPO did not accommodate request of Mao Council for holding the meeting at a neutral venue but went ahead under the cloud of SAPO's ban.
The verdict was declared in the absence of the contending parties and in the vitiated atmosphere of SAPO's direct defiance of the TPO's notification for December 19, 2022 Joint meeting of the TPO Presidential Council and BOA.
The verdict was declared when the Mao people were under ban from travelling through SAPO area and should have been deferred till normalcy was restored.
How can a verdict for resolution of a dispute be declared when one of the parties to the dispute is banned by another party, the MC general body meet resolved.
The fact that the officially signed copy of the verdict has not been handed over to Mao Council suggests that TPO/BOA has relinquished the responsibility and minimum courtesy of ensuring the receipt of the official verdict.
The verdict was beyond and outside the purview of the mandate that TPO/BOA was invested with, the MC president added in the statement.