The education qualification of the Chief Minister T.R Zeliang fails to die down with the NPCC questioning the cross transfer of the judicial Magistrate First Class(JMFC), Peren with that of Phek as reported on 25th May 2016. Moreover the NPCC has suggested the shifting of the case to some other place other than Peren since T.R Zeliang is from the same district. Since the transfer of the magistrates is affected by the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court it is presumed that it is for the best interest of fair and impartial judiciary. Likewise the suggestion of NPCC to shift the case to another nearby court also holds true since the case is of high profile nature relating to a person holding high political post from that same district.
Earlier three cases were filed in two different courts against the chief minister to summon him to verify if his statement in the affidavit filed during the Assembly elections were true. The complainants alleged that he had lied about his qualification in the sworn affidavit. In all the three cases, the matter went up to the high court as the chief minister filed a criminal revision petition in the Gauhati High Court Kohima Bench. One of the cases was quashed and set aside, whereas the remaining two complaint cases were referred back to the JMFC Peren for rehearing, of these one was transferred from Kohima since both the cases were of similar nature as per the order of the Gauhati High Court. The next hearing at Peren is awaited. However the matter continues to appear in the recent crises within the Naga People’s Front. The Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) of the Naga Peoples Front had earlier alleged in their show cause notice to Neiphiu Rio that he was behind the education qualification issue of the chief minister. It came up during the reception of the suspended NPF MP Neiphiu Rio at Dimapur Airport. In front of the massive crowd it was Thomas Ngullie, the Independent MLA who demanded that T.R. Zeliang show his certificates to bring the matter to an end. He even demanded that the President of the NPF to come clean on the issue.
With the turmoil in the NPF expected to worsen in the coming days the education qualification issue of the chief minister will only gain more steam. The complete silence from the chief minister’s camp and the NPF President on the issue is sending out the wrong message to all. Though subjudice, if the chief minister or the president of the NPF can address a press conference and display the pass certificates, no court in India will consider the action as a contempt of court as there is no directive by the Hon’ble Court that no party should discuss on the issue till the final judgement order is passed. The matter will end then and there and as the Independent MLA stated, the stature of the chief minister will be elevated instead.
