Highest number of orders in 1967 and 1976; No order was issued for 21 years from 1996 to 2017
Srinagar, Jan 27 : As many as 54 presidential orders were issued under the Article 370 before the BJP-led Central government scrapped Jammu & Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019.
Details available with the wire service—reveal that 54 presidential orders were issued between 1950 to 2019. Under the presidential orders, the provisions of Constitution of India were applied to Jammu and Kashmir with modifications and exceptions.
Apart from applying provisions of the constitution of India, the safeguards and protections for Jammu & Kashmir and its permanent residents were also incorporated in these presidential orders. The first order- The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) order, 1950 was issued by the President of India on January 26, 1950.
According to document, 34 orders were issued between 1954 to 1975 when National Conference founder and former chief minister Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was in jail. This was the period when Jammu and Kashmir lost its substantial autonomy.
As per the document, the highest number of presidential orders were issued in I967, 1972 and 1976. Four orders each were issued in these three years. Three orders each were issued in 1952, 1964 and 1971 and two orders each were issued in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1985 and 1989.
One order each was issued in 1950, 1954, 1956, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1977,1986,1993 , 1994, 1995, 1996, 2017 and 2019, the document lays bare. It has also come to fore that no presidential order was issued for a period of 21 years between 1996 and 2017. The long hiatus was broken when Centre extended Goods and Services Tax(constitution amendment 101) to Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 when PDP and BJP government was in power.
Before August 5, 2019, the last presidential was issued on March 01, 2019 when Centre extended 103rd constitutional amendment to extend 10-per cent reservation in government jobs and education to economically backward section in the general category.
