Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Lecture: Manipur State Constitution Act of 1947 still operative: Dr. Malem Mangal

Legal scholar Dr. Malem Mangal stated that the Manipur State Constitution Act of 1947 continues to remain operative despite Manipur having been annexed to the Dominion of India, though its functioning may have been hindered and not legally extinguished. He was delivering the 14th Ojha (Prof.) Naorem Sanajaoba Memorial Lecture organised by the Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Trust Manipur in connection with the 80th birth anniversary of Ojha (Prof.) Naorem Sanajaoba at the auditorium of the National Research Centre, Canchipur.
Speaking on the theme “Constitutional Government and the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947: A Retrospection,” Dr. Malem Mangal referred to Section 57 of the Manipur State Constitution Act, which, he said, indicated that even after the annexation of Manipur, the Act had not been legally repealed. He further cited Article 372(1) of the Constitution of India, which provides that all laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of the Constitution shall continue to remain in force until altered, repealed, or amended by a competent legislature or authority.
Dr. Malem Mangal also drew attention to Article 372(3)(a) of the Constitution, stating that it restricted the President’s power to adapt or modify such pre-Constitution laws to a period of 3 years from the commencement of the Constitution. From this perspective, he said, the Manipur State Constitution Act, being a law in force in the territory comprising Manipur prior to January 26, 1950, ought to have been either expressly repealed or adapted or modified within the constitutionally prescribed period.
However, he pointed out that the Manipur State Constitution Act of 1947 was neither adapted nor modified under the Constitution of India (7th Amendment) Act, 1956, nor under the Adaptation of Laws Orders of 1956 and 1957. As a result, he maintained that the Act continued to subsist as part of the corpus of pre-Constitution law unless it was specifically repealed by a competent legislature. Dr. Malem Mangal further raised the question of whether the Parliament of India possessed the legitimate authority to repeal, adapt, or modify the Manipur Constitution as a whole, given Manipur’s status on the critical date of October 15, 1949.
The 14th Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Lecture was attended by several senior academicians, including Prof. N. Rajmohan Singh, former Vice-Chancellor of Dhanamanjuri University and President of the Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Trust, Prof. Soyam Lokendrajit, former Dean of Humanities, Manipur University and Trustee Member, Prof. W. Nabakumar, former Dean of the School of Humanities and Environmental Sciences, Manipur University, Prof. K. Ibo, former Head of the Department of Political Science, Manipur University, and Prof. N. Nimai, former Head of the Department of Physics, Manipur University, who were present as presidium members.
Earlier, prior to the lecture, students staged a Thang Ta performance as a mark of respect to the late Ojha (Prof.) Naorem Sanajaoba. Floral tributes were also offered in honour of the scholar, who was remembered for his extensive academic contributions towards the cause and unity of Manipur.