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| Jammu & Kashmir Cow Slaughter Verdict exposed a Constitutional fault-line | | | Hari Om | 10/26/2015 12:15:11 AM |
| On October 16, the Full Bench of Jammu Kashmir High Court delivered a landmark verdict on the Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in favour of and against ban on cow slaughter and consumption of beef in J&K. Disposing off both the PILs, the Full Bench of High Court, which was constituted as per the Supreme Court direction of October 6, said it was the prerogative of the J&K Legislature to retain, amend or modify any of the existing laws and its only function is to interpret the laws as they are and ensure that the existing laws are enforced in letter and spirit. "The executive wing of the state has to decide which existing laws require to be repealed, amended or modified and executive wing of state is duty bound to enforce the laws of land," the Full Bench said.
To be more precise, the Full Bench of the J&K High Court upheld the constitutional validity of Sections 298 A, B, C and D of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), which imposed ban on cow slaughter and consumption of beef 83 years ago. At the same time, however, the Full Bench directed the Chief Secretary to the J&K Government to take "appropriate" steps taking into consideration the issues raised by the petitioners in their respective PILs. Which means it directed the state government to take the whole issue to the State Legislature for its final disposal.
The PIL in favour of beef ban was filed in the Jammu Bench of the High Court by a Jammu-based lawyer belonging to the RSS-BJP. The Jammu Bench of High Court appreciated it and on September 8, directed the Director General of Police, J&K, to strictly enforce beef ban in the state. And the PIL against the beef ban was filed in the Kashmir Bench of the High Court by a Kashmir University Professor. The Kashmir Bench disposed off PIL on September 16, saying it was for the State Legislature to retain or not to retain any of the existing laws. The Full Bench also said the same thing, and very rightly, appreciating the Indian political system which defines the roles and jurisdictions of the legislature, executive and judiciary and maintains a balance between three organs of the Indian State.
However, what was most significant was the operative part of the judgement. It read:
"Law which creates wedge between different sections of society and has the potential of disturbing the peace in the society may not be a just and valid law… The executive wing of state has to apply its mind, frame a policy and cull out a solution which satisfies the soul of the constitution".
It was significant because it vouched for laws which unite, and not divide, the people on any ground whatsoever.
It is pertinent to mention here that the beef debate had brought Jammu and Kashmir face to face with each other. It also rocked the J&K Legislature for all the seven days it was in session in Srinagar with all the Kashmiri parties, including pro-greater autonomy National Conference, charging the PDP-BJP coalition government with implementing the "RSS agenda" to hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community and "eroding the state's separate status" and the under-severe-attack government avoiding debate on the issue in the Assembly saying the matter was "sub-judice". The developments which unfolded between October 3 and 10 had created a very serious situation in the state, particularly in Jammu where the outraged people demanded separation from Kashmir saying they couldn't have any kind of truck with "rabidly anti-Hindu and anti-Jammu Kashmiri leadership".
Demand in Jammu seeking segregation from Kashmir is 68-year-old. Those seeking separation of Jammu from Kashmir say day-in-and-day out that the wedlock between them is "unnatural" as both the regions subscribe to different ideologies and that the decision of the Indian political class to maintain the otherwise disparate Jammu province and Kashmir region as one political unit has only hurt the national interest in the state.
Now that none other than the Full Bench of the J&K High Court has vouched for laws which unite the people, it is time for the authorities in the state and at the centre to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution and also do away with the archaic State Subject laws. These Articles of the Indian Constitution and the 1927 State Subject laws are opposed by the people of Jammu province tooth and nail. They say these laws have not only jeopardised their general political and economic rights and deprived the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STS) and other Backward classes (OBCc) of the rights and privileges which are available to their counterparts in the rest of the country but also held J&K aloof from the national mainstream and given an opportunity to hostile countries to question the very political status of J&K. They do make a valid point when they insist on abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A and demand repeal of the State Subject laws.
Article 370 grants special status to J&K on religious considerations, restricts jurisdiction of New Delhi to just three subjects - Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communication - and creates another republic within the Indian republic. Article 35-A of May 14, 1954 and the State Subject laws bar all the Indians - other than the original inhabitants of the state - from acquiring immovable property anywhere in J&K, obtaining jobs under the J&K Government, settling in the state and availing the state-sponsored scholarship schemes. These are also the laws which deny citizenship rights to the children of the daughters of J&K married outside the state to non-State Subjects and refugees from Pakistan, mostly Dalits.
It is hoped that the powers-that-be in J&K and at the Centre will appreciate the verdict of the Full Bench of J&K High Court and remove from the statute books all those laws which divide the people of the state. Abrogation of these laws will go a long way in promoting democratic and liberal values, harmonising inter-regional relations, empowering the deprived sections of society and promoting the sovereign interests in this sensitive border state.
--Courtesy: www.niticentral.com |
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