The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition against Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor’s (LG) power to nominate five members to the State Assembly.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar asked the petitioners to move the High Court first.
Senior Advocate Abhishek M Singhvi appearing for the petition told the court that the issue pertains to the basic structure of the constitution.
“If you nominate 5…you become 47, I become 48…you only have to get one more person. You can nullify the elected mandate.” Singhvi told the top court.
Justice Khanna however asked the petitioner to approach the High Court, saying that they have not done it yet.
“They may nominate, may not nominate… we don’t know. Go to the high court. Not everything has to come to this court directly,” the bench told Singhvi.
“But the power is there. Suppose this 5 becomes 10 tomorrow, by amendment…” Singhvi replied in the top court.
Singhvi further contended that a central government nomination means the person who has won the election can be negated.
Justice Khanna told Singhvi to approache the top court if high court refuses a stay.
Section 15 of the Jammu And Kashmir Reorganisation Act empowers the L-G to nominate five members to the assembly. These include two women; two Kashmiri migrants one of whom should be a woman (Section 15 A) and one person to be nominated from those displaced from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (Section 15 B).
The petition filed in the top court had contended that the LG’s power to nominate five members threatens the Assembly’s democratic structure by potentially altering its composition and influencing the majority.
The National Conference emerged victorious in the recent Assembly elections, winning 42 seats in the 90 seats. The Congress won six seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist) secured one seat. This brought the coalition strength to 49. Several Independent candidates and the sole MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have also supported NC, pushing its numbers comfortably beyond the majority mark.
On Sunday, President Droupadi Murmu signed a notification, formally ending the five-year-long President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir. On October 11, Omar Abdullah met LG Sinha and requested the swearing-in ceremony be scheduled at the earliest.