Ishtiyaq Kar
Jammu, Feb 11 (KINS): The Business Rules Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly held its fourth meeting today in Jammu to deliberate on the draft rules circulated by the Assembly Secretariat.
The session, which began at 11: 30, was chaired by Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather and saw the participation of nearly all committee members.
Senior National Conference leader and committee member Mubarak Gul, who also serves as an MLA, said that all the members stressed the need to maintain the integrity of the existing Assembly rules.
However, he acknowledged the necessity of minor modifications to facilitate the smooth functioning of the Assembly.
“We agreed that the core rules of the Assembly should remain intact, we have given our consent to the Speaker only for minor adjustments to ensure the Assembly runs smoothly. For instance, references in the rules that previously mentioned ‘Governor’ may be updated to ‘Lieutenant Governor,’ and terms like ‘State’ would be replaced with ‘Union Territory,’” Mubark Gul told news gathering agency KINS over phone.
Gul further noted that they informed the Speaker that discussion with the Central Government regarding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, as promised by the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister in Parliament is going on.
“We conveyed to the Speaker that, for now, he can make the necessary minor changes to keep the Assembly functioning efficiently. Comprehensive rule changes will be addressed at an appropriate time,” he added.
As per the procedure the rules adopted by the Committee must be submitted to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for approval.
Since the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories—Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh—the Assembly has continued to operate under the old state rules. The Business Rules Committee is headed by Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather and includes prominent members such as Mubarak Gul (former Speaker), Saifullah Mir (former Law Minister), and Hasnain Masoodi (former MP and retired High Court judge), all from the National Conference. Other members include BJP representatives Ranbir Singh Pathania and Pawan Kumar Gupta, M.Y. Tarigami from the CPI(M), Nizam-ud-Din Bhat from Congress, and Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, an Independent MLA from Thannamandi.
Notably, all members except the two from the BJP are affiliated with the National Conference alliance.
The framing of ‘Business Rules’ for the House were necessitated after erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir was divested of its special status under Article 370 and was divided into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019 was passed on August 5, 2019 by the Parliament in which among other subjects the Legislative Assembly was allowed to function on existing Rules till new ‘Business Rules’ are framed for running the House after the State was converted into the UT.(KINS)
