Examiner Bureau | Srinagar:
In an unusual development, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and Law Secretary Achal Sethi have written separate letters to the Legislative Assembly Secretariat, seeking that the resolution on restoration of statehood not be taken up, according to an NDTV report.
The letters were sent three days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah moved the resolution, which was subsequently admitted by the House. The officials reportedly cited the matter being sub judice as the reason for seeking that the resolution be disallowed.
Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather told NDTV that there was no precedent for the bureaucracy communicating with the Assembly Secretariat in such a manner. He said the communication, sent without the approval of the minister concerned, amounted to an attempt to interfere with the functioning of the House.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who also holds the Law portfolio, said he had no prior information about the letters and came to know about them only after being informed by the Assembly Secretariat.
Speaking in the House, Abdullah questioned how officials could send an opinion on a resolution moved by him without his knowledge.
The Chief Minister linked the episode to Jammu and Kashmir’s present status as a Union Territory, arguing that the arrangement limits the elected government’s authority over the bureaucracy.
The development came as the Assembly debated the resolution seeking restoration of statehood. The House subsequently passed the resolution amid a walkout by BJP members following disruptions over references in the resolution to earlier Assembly resolutions.
