Supreme Court declines to consider J&K L-G's proposal to nominate 5 members to Assembly

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a petition against a proposal by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor to nominate five members to the Assembly, which underwent to polls recently.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar asked the petitioner, Ravinder Kumar Sharma, a Congress leader to approach the High Court.

In the 90-member J& K Assembly, NC and Congress secured 48 seats, BJP won 29 seats, and PDP got three seats while AAP also won a seat in the recently concluded Assembly Elections in the Union Territory.

The petitioner was aggrieved with the amended Section 15 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which provided the J&K Lieutenant Governor the authority to nominate five members -- two women, two Kashmiri pandits, and a resident of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) -- to the Assembly.

After hearing senior advocate A M Singhvi for the petitioner, the bench said, "We are not inclined to entertain the present petition under Article 32 of the Constitution and give liberty to the petitioner to approach the jurisdictional high court by way of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution."

The court also clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on merits.

Singhvi, on his part, questioned validity of this system of nominating beyond 90-member in the Assembly.

He said that 48 is the number of Congress National Conference alliance number which is three above the majority.

"If you nominate five, you become 47 and I become 48. This can negate the elected mandate. A central government nomination can undermine the electoral outcome. Suppose this five becomes ten tomorrow through an amendment," he asked.

The bench, however, said that the power in question has not yet been exercised.

The court suggested that the high court should be approached first. It also felt many things are left out if such pleas are entertained directly here.

"If they do something, if the High Court does not give you stay, you can move over here," the bench told the counsel.

Singhvi asked the court to ensure that the order should include a provision allowing the petitioner to return if there is a delay by the High Court in making a decision.

He said that a lack of decision could impact the situation. The bench, however, said that such a scenario should not occur.

J&K is going to have an elected government for the first time in 10 years after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.