Nagaland Assembly repeals Public Debt Act, 1944

The Nagaland Assembly on Thursday repealed the Public Debt Act, 1944 and amended the Government Securities Act, 2006.

A government resolution was tabled by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.

Moving the resolution, Rio said the Public Debt Act, 1944, which regulates the operation of government securities, is a pre-constitutional Act and has become redundant with the enactment of the Government Securities Act, 2006.

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Since public debt is a state subject, repeal of the Public Debt Act, 1944 can be done only as per the procedure prescribed under Article 252 of the Constitution which requires passage of a resolution for repeal of the Act by the assembly, Rio said.

It also proposed to amend the definition of ‘government security’ as provided in Section 2 of the GS Act, Section 5 of the same Act to incorporate features of special securities issued under the Public Debt Act to save their non-transferability, and sections 31 and 35 of the GS Act to provide for the repeal of the PD Act.

Speaker Sharingain Longkumer put the resolution to vote and it was unanimously adopted by voice vote.