Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 12: A delegation of Bar Association of Jammu led by its president B S Slathia today called on Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde and submitted a memorandum.
The delegation apprised Mr Shinde that the simmering discontent in Jammu against the discrimination vis-à-vis Kashmir at the hands of successive State Governments finds its roots in the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir which is conspicuous by the absence of word “secular” in its preamble.
“The heads of successive State Governments who take oath of and bear allegiance to the Constitution of J&K predominantly convey their freedom to intentionally ignore the majority in Jammu”, the Bar said and sought Mr Shinde’s intervention to remove regional disparity and consistent discrimination against Jammu region by restructuring the criteria for political empowerment on equal basis, uniform growth in infrastructural development in distinct regions of the State and equal share to the people of the region at the grass root level of governance.
The Bar also stressed that a person from Jammu region should be given a chance to head the Government to satisfy the nationalist mind set of Jammu region in particular and State in general. “We propose the rationalization of Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and Panchayat seats in J&K by adopting a fair/uniform criteria in delimitation of constituencies in the State proportionate to the electorate”, the delegation said.
About the judiciary, the Bar said that the total sanctioned strength of Judges in State High Court, which at present is mere 14 and is not commensurate with the tremendous workload in the High Court. “The strength needs to be increased to a minimum of 20 Judges”, Bar stressed and said that lawyers and the litigant public of the State have been suffering on account of delayed adjudication of their grievances in the courts due to shortage of Judges.
“Though the Judges in J&K are performing to the best of their capacities yet the workload of 14 Judges cannot be handled by half the number”, the Bar said and urged the Home Minister to get expedited the process of appointment of Judges for the High Court of J&K. The Bar also requested Mr Shinde for rejuvenation of Subordinate Judiciary with increased number of courts and corresponding infrastructure.
The Bar also urged the Union Home Minister to formulate Central package for the young lawyers to ensure large participation of lawyers fraternity to strengthen the democratic set-up by contributing towards justice dispensation to the needy. The Bar also sought Mr Shinde’s indulgence for holding elections to the J&K State Bar Council so that lawyers would have a representation in the regulatory body of the lawyers.
The delegation comprised of M U Salaria (vice-president), Vikram Sharma (general secretary), Parimoksh Seth (joint secretary), Rohan Nanda (president YLA), Nitin Gupta (general secretary YLA), Pawan Kumar Manni (former general secretary Bar Association Jammu) and Baldev Singh.
Follow our WhatsApp channel