In a terse statement issued from Raj Bhavan in Srinagar, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has stressed that he has never overstepped the limits of his powers as vested under J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. He clarified that this Act passed by Parliament defines the powers of his office as also responsibilities that follow from that mandate.
In his statement on April 4, the LG said: “I want to make it absolutely clear — the Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act in 2019, and I have acted entirely within the domain defined by that Act. I have never overstepped my constitutional boundaries. I am fully aware of my jurisdiction and responsibilities. I have never violated them, nor will I ever do so.’’
The clarification came in the wake of an emergency meeting held at the initiative of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of all the alliance MLAs of his government earlier in the day. These included lone Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Mehraj Malik, CPM veteran Yusuf Tarigami and some independents, including Transport Minister Satish Sharma.
The meeting had been summoned by chief whip of ruling National Conference Mubarak Gul a day earlier and had talked of some urgent issues that needed to be discussed. It is widely believed that the trigger for the emergency meeting of legislators was the issuance of transfer orders of 48 Jammu Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) on Tuesday. These transfer orders of mid level JKAS officers were issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) headed by Mr Sinha. Among those transferred and given new postings were 14 additional deputy commissioners (ADCs) and 26 sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs).
The ADCs of Pulwama, Kupwara, Basohli, Doda, Anantnag, Sunderbani, Rajouri, Nowshera, Baramulla, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Kathua, Bhaderwah and Handwara were given new assignments. The order issued by the GAD had come at a time when the Omar government is awaiting nod from the Union Home Ministry headed by Amit Shah for the business rules it had framed about a month ago. These rules had then been sent to the LG for approval to facilitate smooth governance without any apparent confusion.
Basically, through these business rules, the Omar government wants clarity on the division of powers between the CM and the LG. This, however, is easier said than done as Omar has been reduced to one of the weakest CMs in India nowadays. In his previous tenure as CM of Jammu & Kashmir state, from January 2009 to late 2014, he was the most powerful CM in the country because of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
An impression was sought to be created by the ruling parties that the LG had overstepped his limits by ordering postings of JKAS officers. Some NC leaders had insinuated earlier that these postings of JKAS officers fall within the domain of the CM, something not borne out by facts.
After the “emergency meeting” of the alliance partners, NC’s Chief Spokesperson and MLA Zadibal, Tanvir Sadiq, accompanied by Congress leader and MLA Bandipora Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, addressed the media. “Today’s meeting focused on key issues, including the Waqf Bill passed in Parliament. This Bill is against Muslims and minorities in the country, and we oppose it. Another critical issue was the mandate given by the people of J&K to the NC-led government. We have once again demanded that the Government of India respect this mandate—it is non-negotiable. These two resolutions were unanimously passed today,” Tanvir told reporters.
Interestingly, Sadiq did not mention the postings of the JKAS officers nor did LG make any mention of the transfer orders issued by him. In what some termed as a “stern warning’’ to the Central government, the NC statement urged New Delhi “one last time” not to undermine the people’s massive mandate in J&K. It added that the Centre should “allow the democratically elected government to function without interference’’.
The emergency meeting had been convened to discuss the political and administrative implications of the recent transfer of 48 JKAS officers at the LG’s initiative. But saner and cooler heads prevailed realising the LG’s untrammelled powers in a Union Territory (UT) where he is definitely more powerful than the CM.
