Agencies | New Delhi:
The Central Government has authorised the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise key emergency powers related to telecommunications in the Union Territory during situations involving public safety and national security.
According to an official notification issued on Thursday, the President of India has empowered the Lieutenant Governor to exercise the functions of the state government under Section 20(2) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, within Jammu and Kashmir.
The provision enables the administration to take measures such as interception of communications, suspension of telecom services, blocking of signal transmission, and decryption of messages during a public emergency or in the interest of public safety.
The notification stated that the powers have been delegated to the Lieutenant Governor under Article 239(1) of the Constitution and will remain in force “until further orders” and subject to the control of the President.
“In pursuance of clause (1) of article 239 of the Constitution, the President hereby directs that the administrator (whether known as the lieutenant governor) of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall… exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the state government under Sub-Section (2) of Section 20 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023,” the notification reads.
The move effectively authorises the J&K administration to take immediate telecom-related decisions in situations deemed sensitive from a law-and-order or national security perspective.
Section 20(2) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 empowers the government to temporarily suspend telecom services or intercept communications during emergencies, subject to prescribed safeguards and procedures.
The development assumes significance given Jammu and Kashmir’s strategic and security-sensitive environment, where telecom restrictions and surveillance measures have often been used during periods of unrest or heightened security concerns.
