THE DISTRICT COUNCIL, UNITED KHASI-JAINTIA HILLS, SHILLONG AND ANR. versus KA DREPSJLA LYNGDOH OF SVLLAI-U-LOR, MYLLIEM, MYLLIEM SIEMSHIP, UNITED KHASI-JA1NTJA HILLS AND ORS.

Citation: [1975] 3 S.C.R. 601 · Decided: 20-02-1975 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: KUTTYIL KURIEN MATHEW · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed
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Judgment (excerpt)

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601 
THE DISTRICT COUNCIL, UNITED KHASI-JAINTIA HILLS, 
SHILLO~G AND ANR. 
I'. 
KA DREPSJLA LYNGDOH OF 
SVLLAI-U-LOR, 
MYLLIEM, 
MYLLIEM SIEMSHIP, UNITED KHASI-JA1NTJA HILLS AND 
ORS. 
February 2\' 1975 
[K. K. MHHEW, v. R. KRISHNA IYER A!\D A. c. GUPTA, JJ.] 
Co11stir111ion of India, 1950, Schedule VJ, Paras 6 and 20 Scope- of-Whether 
l'illai;<' of Mall'kher is included within tile Sl1i/lo11g Municipality. 
Th~ Exccu111·c Com111i11ce of the District Council, United Khasi·Jaintia Hills 
dir~cted thut no new construcllon or re-constr.u'ction of stalls should be under· 
taken in Burn Bnznr. The respondents, who were. thus p1·ohibitcd from construe· 
ting their shops !\led the writ petitions in the High Court chnllenglng the direc:Uon. 
Schedule VI of th~ Constitution shciws thnt tho United Khusi Jalntia Hills 
District is a tribal area within the State of Megbalaya, The territories rom· 
priseu·:·wi1hin this district include Bara Bazar area, In view of.para 6 o{ 
the 
Scbetlule which enumerates ·the powers of the District Council, 
the 
District. 
Col,ltlcil ha~ power to manage the Bara Bazar market and issue the impugned 
ord.ers. 
But oara 20 of the Schedule states that if any part of the area com· 
prise.<.! in tile district were included i~ the municipality of Shillong, before the 
district came into being the powers conferred on the District Council by para 6 
of the Schedule would not be available to the Council in respect of that area. 
The High Court found that the village of Mawkher 
which 
comprises 
Bara 
Baza'". wns .a pmt of the muni:ipality of the Shillong on the basis of ( 1) a 
.. 1Jo!iflc.i-tion d'c1ted hnuary 16. 1934. (2) <:n extrnq from •he Demand and Bill 
'Re~ist·~r of the '.Shillong Municipality for the year 1957-58 and (3) the Khasi 
Siemship.1 (1\pplication of Law.,) Order. 1949, a·nd held that the District Council 
had no jtfrisdiction. adminis1rative or otherwise over Bara Bazar and quashed tl1e 
Impugned orders. 
Allowing the appeal to this Court, 
HELD : (I) The 1934 notification show> that what was ceded by the Siem 
of l\1vlli"m when he ceded Mawkher and other villages to the British Govern-
ment 
was 
only 
the 
jurisdiction 
necessary 
for 
the 
municipal 
admi:1:st1 :1tion in nccordance with the Assam Municipal Act. 1923. 
and 
the 
Governor General in Council issued an order extending the 1923 Municipal Act 
to those Yill:igcs. The Order orovided that the villages were to be deemed as a 
municipality designated the Shillong (Administered Areas) Municipality. 
Thus 
the villages were ceded for the specified purpose of municipal 
administration 
only and though the provisions ot the Municipal Act were made applicable to 
the ceded villages they were never included within the territorial jurisdiction of 
the Shillong municipality, but were deemed to he a distinct municipality-the 
Shillong (Administered Areas) Municipality. This shows that 
the 
villages 
were not intended to b' merged in the Shillong Municipaliiy though the officers 
of the municinalitv were to exercise similar powers and discharge like duties in 
the cecl:-d ar:o,,.:, Chapter II of the Municipal Act which empowered the provin-
cial g<wernmcnt to include within a municinality any local area in its vicinity 
was not· made :1:irlicable to the villages. There. is also no evidence that these 
territor'c; were •.uhs~~uenlly merged in th,· Mu.nieirality of Shillong. 
[6D5F· 
60(1","\ 
(2) Th·' Demanc.1 and Bill Register of the Shillong municipality refers 
to 
Souih F,r;r Mawkher as a warJ of the Shillong Municipality. 
But it does not 
mean :hnt Mawkher or South East Mawkher was mcluded in 
the 
territorial 
juris,!'c'.icn of the 1\fHnici!lalitv. It onlv means that the District Council. instead 
of takin.g ur the administratior, allowed existing arrangements to continue 
in 
some places for some time. 
[6%B-C] 
8-470 Sup. Cf/75 
f)Q2 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1975] 3 S.C:.R. 
(3) The Khasi Siem.ships (Application of Laws) Order, 
1949 
refen1 
to 
.. Shillong Admini.stered Areas" by which is meant 'so much of the areas foir the 
time being comprised within the municipality· of Shillong' as forms part of the 
United Khasi Jaintia Hills District. and the lirst Schedule to the Order ddines 
the "Shillong Administered Areas" as comprising the areas 
covered 
by 
the 
Shillong (Administered Areas) Municipality ·which 
includes 
Mawkher. llut, 
in view of the notification dated January" 16, 1934, and
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