Nomination of five MLAs outside purview of elected government: MHA

Srinagar, Aug 11: The Ministry of Home Affairs has informed Jammu & Kashmir High Court that nomination of five MLAs of Jammu & Kashmir Assembly falls outside the purview of the elected government and is to be made by the Lieutenant Governor without aid and advice of the council of ministers.
In a preliminary affidavit reply submitted to J&K High Court, the MHA has stated that J&K Reorganisation Act explicitly confers upon the LG the statutory authority to nominate members to the Legislative Assembly.
“Sections 15, 15A and 15B all recognize the power and authority of the Lieutenant Governor to make a nomination to the Legislative Assembly. Accordingly, there can be no manner of doubt that it is the Lieutenant Governor who has to exercise this statutory duty in his discretion, as a statutory functionary and not as an extension of the government, thus, without aid and advice,” reads the affidavit filed by MHA through Vishal Sharma, Deputy Solicitor General of India.
While Section 15 of the Reorganisation Act empowers the Lieutenant Governor to nominate two women to the Assembly if he feels that they are not adequately represented, Sections 15A and 15B confer upon him the authority to nominate two Kashmiri migrants and one Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) refugee, respectively.
The MHA has submitted that “Section 14(3) does not provide the total strength of the Legislative Assembly; but merely provides the number of directly elected members to such Legislative Assembly”.
“It is respectfully submitted that the petitioner has failed to substantiate the claim that the nominations made under the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Act; 2019, exceed the sanctioned strength of the Legislative Assembly, while those under the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 do not. The petitioner has not provided any cogent legal basis or statutory interpretation to support such a distinction, and the submissions in this regard remain misconceived and unsustainable in law,” the affidivat states.
The MHA further submitted that the sanctioned strength of the Assembly is not 114, but 114 + all members nominated in terms of Sections 15, 15A and 15B of J&K Reorganisation Act-2019.
The MHA has filed the reply in response to a petition challenging nomination of five MLAs. The petition has been filed by Ravinder Sharma, spokesperson of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC). (KNO)