Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 18: Former Chief Minister and working president of National Conference Omar Abdullah today said that the J&K’s Constitution can neither be circumvented nor subverted.
In a press statement Omar said that the deliberate callousness shown by the State Government indicated the tacit connivance of PDP in allowing the step-by-step erosion of Article 370 through a series of politically patronized cases and litigation.
Referring to the recent instance of bleak surrender by the State Government’s counsel in defending the position of the State viz-a-viz the Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, enacted by Parliament in 2002 and its implications on the State’s Special constitutional character, the National Conference Working President asked the PDP-BJP Government to come clean on its stand on this vital issue that could have far reaching implications for the State.
“The Special Leave Petition challenging the verdict of the Division Bench of the J&K High Court was filed with the required notice being issued to the State Government in February. The appeal was argued in the Supreme Court by no less than the Attorney General for India, the top law officer of the Union Government. In light of this, two pertinent questions need to be answered by the PDP and its alliance Government in the State, first, since we were told PDP has entered into an alliance with the BJP with a concrete agreement from the Union Government and the BJP that the State’s Special Status would be protected – why is the Union Government using the judicial route to subvert certain attributes of the State’s constitutional character ? And second, why did the State Government fail to come up with an appropriate and serious response considering the sensitivity of this issue and the importance of safeguarding the State’s political rights ?”, Omar asked
“The State Government’s Counsel in the Supreme Court has made it evident that the State Government prima facie doesn’t oppose the application of the SARFAESI Act in Jammu and Kashmir. This has far reaching implications as the application of the SARFAESI Act to J&K was debatable in the context of Article 370 of the Constitution of India as also the provisions of the J&K Transfer of Property Act. Instead of highlighting these arguments and points of view, the State Government’s counsel virtually conceded before the Supreme Court that Parliament was competent to extend SARFAESI Act to J&K. This implicates the State Government in a visible pattern of such incidents that are aimed at undermining the State’s Constitution and Article 370 of the Constitution of India”, Omar added.
“It is the duty of the State Government to fully and competently defend the status of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and prevent any Central Laws from undermining the autonomous character of the State, its constitution and the essence of Article 370. Unfortunately the PDP-BJP Government it seems has absolved itself of this duty in what could be an understanding it has with the Central Government in this context. It is important to put the Instrument of Accession, the State’s Constitution and the State’s Special Autonomous Status in the right perspective while dealing with such cases and while representing the State in the Supreme Court – and that clearly hasn’t happened here”, the NC leader asserted.
The NC working president said the party would consult with eminent constitutional lawyers, jurists and civil society groups in an effort to prevent the subversion of the State’s Constitution and autonomous character.
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