Srinagar, Aug 11: Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir can nominate five members in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly without the “assistance and advice” of the elected government, the Union Home Ministry has informed the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. The ministry said that according to a report in the Hindu, the enrollment was “out of the scope of the business of the elected government of Jammu and Kashmir”.
The five members include three members-two Kashmiri migrants (one of them), a member of the Pakistan-occupied J&K (POJK) community, and two women-in the opinion of the Lieutenant Governor, women are not adequately represented in the assembly.
MHA’s affidavit in the court said the nomination “J&K was out of the scope of the business of the government”. Saying that, “Once Parliament Bilav is once a separate right from the government of the Center area under the Parliamentary Act as a separate right, it is necessarily as a power to be used as a statutory work when a power is honored on the lieutenant-governor. And not as the government’s expansion, thus, without help and advice, ”
The amendment was challenged through a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Congress leader Ravinder Kumar Sharma. While hearing the petition, on October 21, 2024, the High Court sought an answer from the Central Government on changes in the 2019 Act.
“Are sections, 15, 15-A and 15-A and 15-A and 15-B J&K Reorganization Act, 2019, are providing provisions to nominate the members of the Legislative Assembly above and above the approved strength of the Legislative Assembly, and which have the ability to convert the minority government into a majority government and on the contrary, the constitution is in violation of the basic structure of the Constitution?” It was asked.
The 2023 amendment increased the total number of seats from the current 114 to 119. The government had kept 24 seats vacant for Pojk regions.
In the affidavit filed on July 24, the MHA stated that “the current writ petition has become academic as the landscape was not considered”.
It states that “Section 12 of the Central Region Act, 1963 will be interpreted to Section 15, 15A and 15B of the J&K Reorganization Act and accordingly, the enrollment made will be done without the assistance and advice of the minister, which is out of the scope of the business of the J&K government.”
The MHA said that the petitioner has failed to certify the claim that the nominations made under the J&C Act, 2019 are more than the sanctioned strength of the Legislative Assembly, while they do not do under the Act, 1963 of the Union Regulators. The MHA said, “The petitioner has not given any legal basis or legal interpretation to support such a distinction, and the presentations in this regard are wrong and unstable in the law,” the MHA said.
It states that Section 14 (3) of the 2019 Act does not provide the total strength of the Legislative Assembly; but only gives the number of elected members directly to such Vidhan Sabha “.
The MHA said, “The sanctioned strength of the assembly, therefore, is not 114, but 114 + all members have nominated in the context of sections 15, 15A and 15B.”
It further stated that the decline statutory interpretation of the petitioner was to be cross-appeared in the center area of Puducherry, then according to such a reading, the total strength of the assembly of Puducherry under Section 3 (2) of the 1963 Act will be 30.
The case is scheduled for hearing on 14 August.
The 90-seat J&K assembly election was held in September-October 2024 and the results were declared on 8 October, in which the National Conference-Congress coalition elections were selected.
