Srinagar: PDP MLA Waheed Para on Wednesday submitted a privilege motion in the Assembly against the Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary and law secretary for their “role and conduct” in “questioning” the statehood resolution brought by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
“I hereby give notice of my intention to move a Motion of Privilege against the chief secretary and law secretary, J&K, in view of the concerns placed on record by the Hon’ble chief minister regarding the role and conduct of the two senior officers in questioning the contents and language of a resolution of this House,” Para said in the motion submitted to the Speaker.
The resolution was passed by the Assembly on Monday.
However, during the debate on the resolution, the chief minister cited severe bureaucratic overreach and pointed out that the Assembly Speaker had received an opinion from the chief secretary and the law secretary over the resolution.
“The Speaker has received an opinion from the Law department over the resolution. As law minister I have no information, law secretary has sent an opinion to you (speaker). Chief secretary has also sent you an opinion on the resolution. But, I am not aware. This can only happen in a UT, not a state,” Abdullah said.
In his motion, Para said the power of an elected Legislature to initiate, deliberate upon, amend and adopt resolutions is a core parliamentary function.
“While officers are entitled to provide administrative or legal advice to the government within the scope of their duties, such advice cannot be permitted to become an instrument for questioning, constraining or intruding upon the legislative privileges and authority of this House,” he said.
The PDP MLA from Pulwama, in south Kashmir, said if the facts stated by the chief minister are correct, the matter raises a serious question of legislative privilege and the constitutional separation between the elected Legislature and the executive bureaucracy.
“No un-elected official should be placed in a position where the legislative authority of this House, or the right of its elected members to initiate and debate matters before it, is effectively subjected to bureaucratic approval,” he said.
Para added that he was invoking the privilege jurisdiction of the House to ensure that the dignity and constitutional authority of the Legislature are protected.
“This is not merely a matter concerning one resolution or one member; it concerns the institutional rights of this House and the representative mandate entrusted to us by the people of J&K,” he asserted.
However, he said, for the avoidance of doubt, “this motion is not an endorsement of the chief minister’s resolution”.
“I have serious reservations regarding its substance, language and lack of clarity, and I have exercised my right as an elected member to place those objections before the House. The issue before us is fundamentally different: whether the elected Legislature can be subjected to scrutiny, approval or restraint by the bureaucracy in the exercise of its legislative functions,” he stated.
He urged the Speaker to take cognisance of the matter, examine the circumstances in which such objections were raised, and take appropriate action in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business and the applicable law governing the privileges of the House.
“The privileges of the Legislature are not privileges of individual members; they are safeguards for the authority of the House and the democratic mandate of the people,” Para said.
The issue of bureaucratic overreach also came up in the assembly during the Zero Hour on Wednesday.
Apart from Para, Congress MLA Irfan Lone, CPI(M) MLA M Y Tarigami, and Peoples’ Conference MLA Sajad Gani Lone also spoke on the issue.
The legislators said “it was unprecedented and unacceptable”.
“If you are really powerful, take action against the officers who have gone against the House,” Sajad Lone said.
