• Source:JND
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Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Saturday targeted the central government over the amended Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, stating that the people of the Union Territory ‘deserve better than a powerless, rubber stamp CM’. The amendments now give more powers to the Lieutenant Governor of the UT.

“Another indication that elections are around the corner in J&K. This is why a firm commitment laying out the timeline of restoration of full, undiluted statehood for J&K is a prerequisite for these elections. The people deserve better than a powerless, rubber stamp CM who will have to beg the LG for to get his/her peon appointed,” Omar Abdullah posted on X (formerly Twitter).

In December last year, the Supreme Court upheld abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to the region. The apex court also directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to plan assembly polls in the UT by September 30, 2024.

Notably, assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held nearly a decade ago, in December 2014. The former state has been without a government or chief minister since June 2018, when the coalition government run by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), collapsed. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti was the Chife Minister in the alliance government.

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Amendments To Jammu And Kashmir Reorganisation Act

A sub-rule has been inserted in rule 5, and follows sub-rule (2). The sub-rule (2A) states that: “No proposal which requires previous concurrence of the Finance Department with regard to ‘Police’, ‘Public Order’, ‘All India Service’ and ‘Anti Corruption Bureau’ to exercise the discretion of the Lieutenant Governor under the Act shall be concurred or rejected unless it has been placed before the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary.”

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Additionally, rules 42A and B have been inserted in principal rules, which follow rule 42. While 42A says that appointments of law officers, including Advocate General, shall be made only after the LG's approval, 42A notes that proposals regarding grant or refusal of persecution sanctions shall be brought before the LG by Chief Secretary via the Law Department.