Help government see where they are going wrong, Nagaland law students told

KOHIMA — After becoming a law student, one starts to see so many wrongs in the government, and if the eyes of the law students are not open then whose eyes will, Chairperson of Nagaland State Human Rights Commission (NSHRC) Justice Songkhupchung Serto told students of Kohima Law College on Friday, urging them to help government see where they are going wrong.

Justice Serto was speaking during an awareness programme on ‘Humam Rights and the Role of State Human Rights Commission in its Better Protection’ held at Kohima Law College.

As future law professionals, he said, they (students) are going to become conscious people of the society because their eyes are opened to the laws of the country.

Urging the students to help the government see things they do not see, as well as where they are going wrong, he asked who is going to do it if law professionals don’t, adding that it’s their duty as citizens.

On why drug-related cases fail

The chairperson also pointed out that drug problem have “badly hit” the north-eastern states of India including Nagaland.

Drug business in Manipur is so big now and anything that comes from Manipur passes through Nagaland, he said while urging students to be alert and see where they can help.

‘So many drug-related cases in the state failed because investigations are not done properly. This is because standard procedures are not followed at the seizure stage. The primary reason to this issue is because police are faced with a challenge of getting cooperation from the public as a witness or submitting evidence to courts,’ he told the gathering.

Cautioning that drug is going to destroy so many homes and families, he urged the public to ‘think of helping the police’. 

Justice Serto also said the commission is examining some laws in the country, while expressing shock over some state governments including Northeast adopting and notifying the central laws without the resolution of the legislative Assembly. Pointing out that this taking place due to the failure of bureaucrats in properly advising the state governments, he advised the students to be extensive readers.

He went on to give a brief highlight of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has influenced many constitutions and treaties in the world.

On human rights

Member of the NSHRC, R Nzanbemo Lotha, said that ‘human rights are rights that everyone have, simply because we exist as human beings, irrespective of any other considerations’.

‘These are universal rights inherent to all humankind. It is the Constitutional duties of the State to promote and protect these rights and to prevent their violation. State Human Rights Commission, which is known as the “watchdog of human rights”, has the responsibility to see that these rights are safeguarded and protected in the State,’ he told the gathering.

‘The Commission is empowered with a jurisdiction of a Civil Court and all its proceedings are deemed to be judicial in nature. Anyone can file a complaint before the Commission by presenting a petition, including online, for any violation of human rights or abetment thereof, or negligence in the prevention of such violation by a public servant. The Commission can call for any information or report from the State govt or any other authority subordinate to it,’ he added.

He further informed that the commission has received about five complaints from public, besides suo moto cognizance it has taken up.

‘NLTP Act lacks clarity’

Advocate Apila Sangtam, retainer lawyer of the Nagaland State Legal Services Authority, gave an overview of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987.

She said that the state legal services authority have provided legal services to the victims on many counts and that Section 12 of the Act provides criteria for giving legal services to the eligible persons.

The section states that every person who has to file or defend a case shall be entitled to legal services under this Act if that person is a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe, a victim of trafficking in human beings or beggar as referred to in Article 23 of the Constitution, a woman or child, persons with mental disability or persons with disability, and in custody.

Speaking about common cases of legal services obtained by people, she said that unpaid loan and bill cases in Nagaland are common, which are mediated in the Lok Adalat.

On the issue of public raiding and destroying liqours, she said the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, 1989 does not provide clarity of the differentiation as to who can and cannot intervene.

Lifting or not lifting the Act is not an issue but the Act itself is defective and regulatory is defunct, she said, adding that the state should come up with a proper regulation and clarity in the Act.

Speaking on the Human Rights Protection Act 1993, Advocate Nagali Shohe, panel lawyer NSLSA, said that Human rights begins for an individual right, from the time they are conceived from the mothers’ womb.

She also highlighted the functions and composition of the National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commission.

The NSHRC was established in 2016 to exercise the powers conferred upon and to perform the functions assigned to the State Human Rights Commission under Chapter V of the Protection of Human Rights Act.

The commissions become fully functional with the appointment of its Chairman on March 13, 2023 and a Member of the Commission was appointed on July 17, 2023, she informed.