Former Minister Harsh Dev Singh on Monday said that the writ petition pertaining to the conduct of early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir has been listed
for hearing by the Supreme Court on July 6.
Singh has filed the writ petition seeking indulgence of the court for restoration of democratic process in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh in a handout said that as per the “cause list” issued by the Supreme Court registry the matter would be heard by a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Court No.1 of the Apex court of the country.
“We have been compelled to move the top court of the country in view of the uneasy disquieting silence maintained by the Government of India and the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the issue,” he said.
Emphasising the need for the early elections to J&K Legislative Assembly in J&K, Singh said that any delay in this regard would not only amount to subversion of democracy but also violate the orders of the Supreme Court.
“The people could not be deprived of their democratic rights in the state only for the political inexpediencies of the ruling party at the Centre by taking to frivolous excuses”, said Singh.
He said, “A full time elected govt was a must to deal with the armed insurgency in the erstwhile state besides coping with the multiple issues confronting the UT.”
“The militancy which had erupted in early 90s in J&K had gradually subsided after the formation of an elected govt in the state,” he added and said that it had almost died down during popular govts but unfortunately got revived during the centre’s proxy rule.
“Any delay therefore in handing over power to the sons of soil through free and fair elections could prove counterproductive and further complicate the already volatile situation in the UT,” said Singh.
Pointing towards the growing tensions in various parts of the UT and the failure of administration to come up to the peoples’ expectations, Singh said that bureaucratic rule was no answer to the prevalent crisis.
