The chief justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Thursday agreed to establish a special bench to hear a petition challenging the lieutenant governor’s power to nominate five MLAs to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, reported the Hindustan Times.

Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan said he would constitute the bench on Monday.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee Senior Vice President Ravinder Sharma filed the petition.

The Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir has a strength of 119 members, including 24 seats reserved for areas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The recent Assembly elections were held in 90 constituencies. The lieutenant governor has the power to appoint five members. Therefore, a party or alliance needs 48 seats to secure the majority in the 95-member House.

These were the first Assembly polls in the region since Jammu and Kashmir lost its special status with the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. The Centre at the time also bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories.

The Congress leader had initially approached the Supreme Court challenging certain provisions in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 – the law at the core of the transformation of the state into two Union territories.

According to the Act, law enforcement agencies fall under the control of the central government and its representative, the lieutenant governor. The top court directed Sharma to first approach the High Court.

The Congress approached the Supreme Court on October 8, the day that the counting of votes for the Assembly elections took place. “However, the mandate gave a clear majority to the National Congress-Congress coalition,” Sharma was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times. “The petition came up before the division bench of the Supreme Court on October 14.”

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Congress leader, had told the Supreme Court: “Suppose I have a strength of 48 in the 90-member assembly. That’s three above the majority mark. If the lieutenant governor nominates five MLAs, the other side can become 47 and it boils down to just one member. You can completely frustrate the electoral mandate by using this power.”

While the National Conference won 42 seats in the recent Assembly polls, the Congress clinched six constituencies. Their ally, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), won one seat.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which won one constituency, backed the National Conference. Four Independent MLAs have also extended support to the party.

The Congress, however, decided not to join the government and urged the Centre to restore statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. The party contested the election in alliance with the National Conference.

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