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J&K Bureaucrats Challenge Statehood Resolution Before Assembly Debate
Jammu and Kashmir’s Assembly wanted to discuss bringing back the region’s statehood.
Before the discussion, two senior officials sent letters saying the matter was being considered by a court.
They said the Assembly should not take up the resolution.
Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather said this was an unusual interference by government officials.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he did not know about the letters beforehand.
He said the letters showed that Jammu and Kashmir does not have full statehood.
Abdullah also said restoring statehood was a right for the people.
The Assembly later passed the resolution while BJP members walked out.
Chief Secretary Atal Duloo and Law Secretary Achal Sethi urged the Assembly Secretariat to reject the statehood resolution.
The bureaucrats argued that the issue was sub judice and should not be considered by the Assembly.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he was unaware of the letters and had not approved them.
Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather called the letters an unprecedented attempt to undermine the Assembly’s functioning.
The Assembly passed the resolution amid a walkout by BJP members.
- Who
- Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, Chief Secretary Atal Duloo, and Law Secretary Achal Sethi were central to the dispute.
- What
- Senior bureaucrats asked that a resolution seeking restoration of statehood be disallowed, but the Assembly passed it.
- Where
- The dispute took place in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and its Secretariat.
- When
- The letters were sent three days after the resolution was moved and admitted, hours before debate began.
- Why
- The bureaucrats said the matter was sub judice; Assembly leaders said the letters improperly interfered with legislative business and reflected the region’s Union Territory status.
Assembly and Statehood Supporters
Bureaucratic Legal Objection
Whether the resolution could be considered
Assembly and Statehood Supporters
Omar Abdullah and Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather maintained that the Assembly could conduct its business and described the bureaucratic intervention as improper.
Bureaucratic Legal Objection
Atal Duloo and Achal Sethi argued that the issue was sub judice and that the resolution should not be taken up.
Meaning of the letters
Assembly and Statehood Supporters
Abdullah said the letters showed the consequences of Jammu and Kashmir lacking full statehood and suggested that the bureaucracy was acting on someone else’s instructions.
Bureaucratic Legal Objection
The letters presented the officials’ position that the Assembly should not proceed with the resolution because of the pending legal issue.
Key facts
- Resolution sponsor
- Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
- Bureaucratic objection
- The issue was described as sub judice.
- Letters sent by
- Chief Secretary Atal Duloo and Law Secretary Achal Sethi
- Speaker’s response
- Abdul Rahim Rather said the letters represented an unprecedented attempt to undermine the Assembly.
- Chief minister’s position
- Omar Abdullah said he had not approved or known about the letters before they reached the Assembly Secretariat.
- Outcome
- The Assembly passed the resolution amid a BJP walkout.
- Central issue
- Restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood
Quotes
Abdul Rahim Rather
Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly
“Can this happen in any state, where the chief minister moves a resolution and its own bureaucracy acts against it? This can happen only in a Union Territory. And this itself shows the reality of the situation”
freepressjournal.in
NDTV
“Speaker sir, I'm the Law Minister and also Chief Minister but I have no knowledge of my bureaucracy sending an opinion to you on my resolution. I do not know on whose instructions it was sent”
freepressjournal.in
Sources
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