SC declines to hear plea against LG’s power to nominate MLAs in J&K Assembly

New Delhi, Oct 14: The Supreme Court Monday refused to entertain a petition challenging the authority of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Jammu and Kashmir to nominate five Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

As reported by the Bar and Bench, the petition was filed by Ravinder Kumar Sharma, with senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi arguing that such powers vested in an unelected LG could potentially undermine the democratic process and override the electoral mandate.

However, a bench consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and P V Sanjay Kumar directed the petitioner to first approach the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh before seeking relief from the apex court.

“In many cases where we have entertained matters at first instance, we see that certain issues are overlooked,” the bench observed, signalling that the High Court would be the appropriate forum to address the matter initially.

At the heart of the petition is a provision from the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, which allows the LG to nominate five MLAs to the assembly, representing displaced Kashmiri people and residents from PoK.

The J&K Assembly currently has 90 elected members, and these additional nominations raise the majority threshold from 45 to 48.

In the recent elections, the INDIA alliance, comprising the National Conference, Congress, and Communist Party of India (Marxist), secured 49 seats, surpassing the adjusted majority mark of 48 even with the potential nomination of five additional MLAs by the LG.

They have already claimed to form the government and most likely the oath ceremony may take place on Wednesday, October 16.

On Sunday, the Centre issued a formal order for revoking the President’s rule in J&K, paving the way for the newly-elected government to be sworn in.