For over two months now, Jammu and Kashmir has been without an Advocate General, with the impasse between the Lieutenant Governor’s office and Omar Abdullah-led government that is reportedly holding up the appointment showing no signs of a resolution.
Hearing a petition against the new J-K reservation policy last month, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court had expressed concern over the matter, and issued a notice to the Union Territory.
As per norm, following the swearing-in of the National Conference-led government on October 18 last year, the existing Advocate General, D C Raina, had submitted his resignation. He was appointed to the post by former L-G Girish Chandra Murmu on November 1, 2019, a day after J-K officially ceased to be a state.
However, when Raina called on Omar Abdullah after his resignation, the Chief Minister asked him to continue in office.
Since there was no official communiqué though, Raina could not resume office. After waiting for a few weeks, he started appearing as a counsel for private parties in the High Court. Meanwhile, an official word on who is the Union Territory’s Advocate General is still to come in.
According to sources, the Raj Bhavan has not cleared the continuation of Raina, despite the CM’s go-ahead, as it did not take kindly to him resigning on his own and then choosing to approach Omar for further instructions. The Raj Bhavan reportedly took exception to this as Raina had been appointed by the L-G’s office.
Incidentally, the other government counsel, including Additional Advocates General, Deputy Advocates General etc, who did not resign after the formation of the elected government, continue to stay in office. Meanwhile, the website of the UT Office of Advocate General still shows Raina as Advocate General, with Manoj Sinha as L-G and Achal Sethi as Secretary, Law, J-K.
Raina refused to comment when approached by The Indian Express, and has also maintained silence over what transpired at the meeting he had with Omar after his resignation.
The Raj Bhavan did not respond to a questionnaire sent on the matter. There was no response either by the Principal Secretary and Media Advisor to the L-G, or the advisor to Omar on the relationship between the CMO and Raj Bhavan.
On December 4, when it noted the absence of an Advocate General, the High Court had requested the assistance of Advocate General for the next hearing.
Though the UT has a number of counsel, including senior additional advocates general and additional advocates general, to represent it in court, the Advocate General plays a critical role in giving legal opinion to the government and representing its interests in judicial proceedings. The government can consult other counsel also, but constitutionally, the Advocate General holds that role, a government advocate said.
While the NC government has repeatedly said that it does not want confrontation with Delhi and, by extension, the L-G, there have been several points of friction between the CMO and Raj Bhavan. Since he was sworn in, Omar has not called on Sinha even once.
Last month, in an embarrassment for the Omar government, the list of public holidays cleared by the L-G did not include the birth anniversary of NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (December 5) and Martyrs’ Day (July 13) that marks the killing of 22 people by Maharaja Hari Singh’s forces in Srinagar in 1931.
Both of these were gazetted holidays prior to the abrogation of Article 370, and have not been in the official list since 2020. However, with the elected government back, it was supposed to take a call on the matter. The General Administration Department, which issues the list of holidays, is with Omar.
The CM is also facing the heat over Delhi’s continued silence over restoration of statehood, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise regarding the same. At its very first Cabinet meeting, the Omar government had recommended restoration of statehood.
The Cabinet proposal was sent to the L-G, who in turn forwarded it to the Centre. But there has been no word since.
The statehood demand was itself seen as a climbdown, with NC opponents saying it showed that the party would not press on the more contentious issue of return of special status.
An NC leader admitted that they are facing questions from the people as to what their government had achieved in three months in power.
Omar’s appointment of senior party leader Nasir Aslam Wani as his Advisor also remains in limbo. The General Administration Department issued an order back on October 16 in this regard, adding that “the terms and conditions of the appointment shall be notified separately”. This has not happened yet, with a senior government official saying that “the file is under process”.
The Centre is also yet to notify business rules clarifying the powers of the CM and his ministers under the UT structure.
Following the abrogation of Article 370, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, defined the powers of the L-G over the Home Department and All India Services (AIS). However, there is no clarity on the powers of the CM and his Cabinet.
So, while the LG is the sole authority officially to transfer IAS officers, orders for shifting of Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers are being issued by both the LG and the elected government.
An NC leader said that even though senior bureaucrats attend meetings called by the CM and other ministers, they take their cues from the Raj Bhavan as the government does not have any administrative control over them.
The CM has said on a number of occasions that “having two power centres anywhere is a recipe for disaster”.
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