HC to hear plea challenging L-G’s power to nominate MLAs on Mar 20

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court will on March 20 hear the petition challenging the authority of the J&K Lt Governor to nominate five MLAs to the Union Territory’s Legislative Assembly.

The petition was filed by former Member of Legislative Council (MLC) and Congress leader Ravinder Sharma, challenging Sections 15, 15A and 15B of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which authorised the L-G to nominate five members to the Legislative Assembly last year.

Section 15 of the Act empowers the L-G to nominate two members to the Legislative Assembly to give representation to women, if in his opinion women are not adequately represented in the House. Section 15A—which was added to the Act in 2023—empowers the L-G to nominate two members, one of whom shall be a woman, from the Kashmiri migrant community to the Assembly and Section 15B states that the L-G can nominate one member from displaced persons from POJK to the Legislative Assembly.

The Supreme Court had on October 14, 2024, refused to entertain the plea by Sharma and directed him to approach the high court instead.