The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: In the run-up to the anticipated Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, the Union government has extended the scope of lieutenant governor’s administrative powers by setting up new rules for the second time through an executive notification, triggering uproar in the Union territory.
The notification, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday July 12, states that President Droupadi Murmu has issued the “Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (Second Amendment) Government Business Transaction Rules, 2024” under which three rules that came into force after the former state split into two Union Territories have been amended.
Under the new rules, the Lieutenant Governor will effectively have the final say on the functioning of the All India Service cadre, the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the senior bureaucracy of the Union Territory. The new rules have also placed the “Anti-Corruption Bureau”, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, prisons and the Jammu and Kashmir Forensic Science Laboratory under the LG’s control.
Earlier, some of these functions required the concurrence of J&K’s finance department.
This is the second time that the Bhartiya Janta Party-led union government has amended the business rules of J&K through an executive notification. Section 55 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 act empowers the LG to make new rules with the “aid and advice of Council of Ministers”.
“Provided also that in respect of matters connected with posting and transfer of Administrative Secretaries and cadre posts of All India Services officers, proposal shall be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor by the Administrative Secretary, General Administration Department through the Chief Secretary,” the notification said.
“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,” it said.
The notification, which has been issued under section 55 of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019) read with the proclamation dated October 31, 2019 under section 73, said that the appointment of J&K’s advocate-general and other law officers will also require the LG’s approval.
“Any proposal regarding grant or refusal of prosecution sanction or filing of appeal shall be placed before the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs”, it said.
Five months after Rule 50 change
The notification has been issued nearly five months after the Union home ministry said that President Murmu has amended Rule 50 of the Transaction of Business of J&K, 2019. Issued on February 24 this year, the new rules were named the ‘Transaction of Business of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (Amendment) Rules, 2024’.
Clause b of sub-rule 2 of Rule 50, which called on the LG to “make a prior reference” to the home ministry in the matter of the appointment of the Chief Secretary and Director General of J&K Police was amended to require the centre’s nod in the appointment of J&K’s home secretary as well.
After Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union territories on August 5, 2019 and J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 became operational, more than 900 central laws have become applicable to the union territory while some laws of the erstwhile state continue to remain operational.
Under section 96 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Union government can adapt new laws or modify existing laws in Jammu and Kashmir through repeal or amendment order. Before 2019, the extension of central laws to Jammu and Kashmir required the consent of the J&K assembly and the government.
Some legal experts believe that the Union government’s manoeuvres in Jammu and Kashmir undermine the country’s federal structure and also raise difficult questions about the centre’s constitutional relationship with the states and union territories.
The latest development triggered a political uproar with former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah taking to X to express his anguish.
“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 to get his/her peon appointed,” he tweeted.
Calling this “another example of “Samvidhan Hatya Diwas” continuing daily under the Modi government,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that granting more powers to the LG has only two meanings: “Modi Govt wants to delay the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, even though the Supreme Court has mandated Assembly Elections by Sept 30th, 2024. 2) Even if full statehood is restored, it wants to keep the newly elected State Govt at the mercy of the LG, by clamping its executive power.”.