New Delhi, Jan 18 (Inditop.com) The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a lawsuit opposing “political moves” to confer statehood on Puducherry on the grounds that the new status will deprive the union territory of its special status as a former French colony.
A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan dismissed the lawsuit saying how could the court stop political moves to confer statehood to union territories.
“It’s after all now part of India,” observed the bench, which also included Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice Deepak Verma.
“We don’t say that you do not have a case but you first exhaust your other remedies,” the bench told counsel for petitioner, Yanam People’s Rights Protection Committee, which opposed the moves to confer statehood on Puducherry.
Appearing for the petitioner, counsel T.V. Ratnam argued there is a concerted move to confer statehood on the union territory against the wishes of the people of Puducherry – which consists of four unconnected regions Pondicherry, Karaikal and Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mahe on the Arabian Sea.
While Pondicherry and Karaikal are by far the larger and are both enclaves of Tamil Nadu, Yanam and Mahe are enclaves of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, respectively.
Ratnam told the court that the four former French colonies were ceded to India on May 28, 1956, following the 1954 Treaty of Cession between France and India, which provides for maintenance of special administrative status to the four former French colonies.
That is why Puducherry is the only union territory with some special provisions like a legislative assembly and French as its official language, he added
He contended that the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962 passed on Dec 28, 1962, vested in parliament the power to create a local legislature and a council of ministers for Puducherry.
Ratnam apprehended that the special status of Puducherry conferred by the treaties of 1954 and 1956 would now be in jeopardy with the move to confer statehood without taking into account the wishes of the people/residents of the union territory by way of a referendum as was contemplated between France and India.
