Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Sep 22: The President of India has empowered the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh to exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the state government within the Union Territory under two central laws.
Details available reveal that Ministry of Home Affairs has issued two separate notifications for delegation of powers of the “state government” and the “appropriate government” under the Indian Stamp Act and Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, respectively, to LG of Ladakh within the UT. “In pursuance of clause (1) of article 239 of the Constitution, the President hereby directs that the Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of Ladakh shall, subject to the control of the President and until further orders, exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the State Government under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (2 of 1899) within the said Union territory,” reads one of the notifications issued by MHA.
In another notification, LG Ladakh has been empowered to exercise the powers and discharge functions of the appropriate government under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
“In pursuance of clause (1) of article 239 of the Constitution, the President hereby directs that the Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of Ladakh shall, subject to the control of the President and until further order, exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the appropriate Government, to the extent they relate to the State Government in the Union territory of Ladakh for the purposes of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (19 of 1952),within the said Union territory,” reads the notification.
It is pertinent to mention here that the President of India has also earlier delegated powers to LG Ladakh under different central laws. (KNO)
