• Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura 

Agartala, December 23, 2021 : With barely a year left for the 2023 Assembly elections, the Tripura government and the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) administration are at loggerheads over the legal position of the controversial Autonomous District Council (ADC) Police Bill or Act.

Replying to a specific query at Civil Secretariat here in Agartala city on Wednesday evening, Tripura Law minister Ratanlal Nath asserted that “The ADC Police Bill was translated into Act way back in 1997 but it triggers confusion on how the ADC laid the ADC Police Bill without repealing the existing act? There might be an error somewhere else”.

While explaining the procedure of enforcing the ADC Police Act 1997, Nath said the ADC shall issue a notification enforcing the Act in tribal council areas. Then, the ADC administration will send the Act to the Governor of the state for his consent. The Governor, in turn, is supposed to seek opinions of the state cabinet before giving his approval.

“If the cabinet gives its nod, then only the Governor will provide his consent to enforce it in the ADC areas. I don’t know exactly what has happened”, he added.

Nath said “It appeared somebody might have committed a mistake somewhere in regard to the sensitive issue. I have come to know that the tribal council had not tabled the ADC Police Bill-2021 rather it laid the Rules of the Act.”

Nath, however, confirmed that the trial council has the right to pass a Police Bill under the sixth Schedule of the constitution.

Law minister said, confusion has been created following the statement of ADC Chairman Jagadish Debbarma who had asserted that the ADC Police Bill-2021 was tabled in the House but could not be placed for voting during the three-day session.

“We need at least a ten-day session for deliberations on the Bill because it involves a lot of complicated legal issues. This will be considered later on”, he said.