Degree issue: Supreme Court rejects Zeliang’s petition

‘CM should make education certificates public’  DIMAPUR, JUNE 17: THE Supreme Court of India has rejected the petition of Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang who sought it to quash the High Court order discontinuing proceedings of the educational qualification case against him. The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the High Court and did not entertain his petition, a complainant informed in an email to the media on Friday. An email from one of the complainants said that TR Zeliang approached the Supreme Court to quash the High Court order to discontinue proceedings of the complaint case against him that was transferred to Peren district. “His actions were as expected and it was closely monitored because his intentions to delay the case instead of coming clean on his educational qualifications were already noted,” the email from complainant Maziezokho Nisa stated on Thursday. A copy of the court’s order was also attached. The order showed that the petition was called on June 15 and sat by Justice Adarsh Kumar Geol and Justice Nageswara Rao. The order stated: “Upon hearing the counsel the Court made the following order: Since by the impugned order, the matter has been left to be decided by the Trial Court, we do not consider it necessary to go into the merits and entertain this petition. However, we dispose of this petition with a direction that the Trial Court must, in the first instance, determine the question of limitation and for that purpose the petitioner need not appear in person and can appear through his counsel. It will be open to the petitioner to raise all contentions, as may be available in law.” If the petitioner is aggrieved by the order which may be passed by the Trial Court, the petitioner is at liberty to take his remedies in accordance with law. The special leave petitions are disposed of.” In his email, Nisa stated that TR Zeliang had tried to approach the Supreme Court “but unfortunately for him the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the High Court and did not entertain his petition.” “Mr.TR Zeliang, the person who initially said that he will give a ‘befitting reply’ to the allegations against him has now in turn tried to approach the Supreme Court to quash the High Court order to discontinue proceedings of the complaint case against him that was transferred to Peren. His actions were as expected and it was closely monitored because his intentions to delay the case instead of coming clean on his educational qualifications were already noted.” As chief minister of a state, the complainant stated, Zeliang was duty-bound to inform the people. “If he is innocent as he claims then he can openly declare his certificates and the matter will end but his clandestine approach to the Supreme Court without letting his constituents, the people of Nagaland know about it indicates the contrary to his claim,” the complainant stated. “It also strongly indicates that he has a weak case on the matter of limitation therefore he is trying his best not to have the hearing on limitation at Peren. The law on limitation is clearly against him and it is understandable even for a layman though some people were fooled in to believing that limitation is on his side.” Maziezokho Nisa also questioned to apex tribal organizations in Nagaland “if we can have a liar who repeatedly lied when he said ‘I swear’ all through is political career, who even lied in a church souvenir in our Christian state to be our top leader just for the sake Indo-Naga political solution?” Before Zeliang takes down all Nagas down along with him, Nisa stated , it is an opportune time to demand his educational qualification certificates.