The New Indian Express ·
Dy speaker’s post and five nominated seats vacant ahead of House session
SRINAGAR: L-G Manoj Sinha is yet to nominate five members to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly even as the House is set to complete two years next month and the 10-day autumn session will begin on September 21. The Omar Abdullah government has not decided on the appointment of a deputy speaker.
In an affidavit filed before the J&K High Court in August last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has maintained that the L-G can nominate the five members without the “aid and advice” of the elected government. The MHA has said the nomination is a statutory function of the L-G and falls outside the business of the elected government.
The five nominations can include two Kashmiri Pandits including a woman, one member from the displaced PoJK community and two women if they are not adequately represented in the Assembly. The nominations will take the strength of the Assembly from 90 to 95.
