- (1.) HISTORY is not merely a collection of the events of the past, but a connecting link between the past and the present. In the case at hand, the petitioner, who stands removed from the office of Syiem of Mylliem, following a referendum held by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council to test if the petitioner had lost confidence of the majority of his electors, has challenged the legality and validity of his removal from the said office. Whether a Syiem of a tribal society, in the State of Meghalaya, can be removed by holding referendum and, if so, how to hold the referendum and decide the out-come of the referendum are some of the vital issues raised for determination in the present writ petition. What changes have taken place, since after coming into force of the Constitution of India, in the concept of the office of the Syiem, in the tribal societies falling under the Autonomous District Council, in the State of Meghalaya, is yet another important issue raised in the present writ petition.
(2.) AS, at the bottom of this writ petition, lies a controversy as to whether the petitioner could have been removed from the office of Syiem of Mylliem by resorting to referendum in the manner as has been done in the present case, desirable it is that I, first, in the light of the relevant provisions of the Constitution of India and the laws enacted thereunder, ascertain as to what is the status of a Syiem in the tribal societies of the State of Meghalaya.
(3.) MY quest for an answer to the question, as to what the status of a Syiem is, necessarily takes me to the history of the Institution of Syiem and the changes, which this Institution has undergone, particularly, with the coming into force of the constitution of India.;