JammuThe ruling PDP-BJP government contentious bill in the Legislative Assembly that envisages making persons calling for strikes or demonstrations, which lead to damage of public property, liable for fines and imprisonment up to five years, was on Saturday stalled.
The Bill to amend Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damages) Act 1985 (LA Bill No: 9 of 2018) was referred to the House Select Committee.
As the Bill was introduced in the House by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Rehman Veeri, on behalf of the Chief Minister, Legislators Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, Nawang Rigzin Jora, Mian Altaf Ahmad, Hakeem Mohammad Yasin, Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, Altaf Ahmad Wani and others opposed it and demanded its referral to the select committee for further discussion.
The bill was introduced to replace the ordinance that was promulgated by Governor N N Vohra last year on the recommendations of the Jammu and Kashmir government.
CPM’s only legislator in the Assembly, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, termed the bill “draconian and unproductive”.
The bill, in its present shape, makes people calling for strikes or demonstrations that lead to damage of public property liable for fines and imprisonment of up to five years.
“Whosoever calls for direct action, whether he participates in such action directly or indirectly, which results in damage to private and public property, shall be deemed to be guilty of abetment of the offence under the act,” reads the bill.
The direct action, according to the bill, means the use of strikes, demonstrations or other forms of public protests rather than negotiation to achieve a demand.
The proposed legislation has already come under severe attack from rights groups and legal experts, who argue that it criminalises “all modes of protest and dissent”.
The bill, according to them, can also be misused by the government for framing its rivals as there are no safeguards for them.
When the ordinance was passed last year, separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik had condemned and ridiculed the “outrageous and dictatorial ordinance” passed by the state government, which calls for imprisonment of those who call and observe shutdown as a form of protest.
House Amends J&K Panchayati Raj Act
The house on Saturday passed a bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989.
Explaining the reasons to amend the Act, the Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice Abdul Haq said that government is contemplating to conduct the elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions shortly as the elections could not be held in the year 2016 due to obvious law and order/security situation in the Kashmir Valley.
He said the State Election Commission which has been empowered inter alia to determine and delimit the Halqa Panchayats in terms of the Act could not be constituted due to various reasons and in view of the population census, 2011 and the delimitation of various Administrative Units, there is a requirement of determining and delimiting the Halqa Panchayats in the State for which power lies with the State Election Commission which is not in place. Accordingly, a need had arisen to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 so that the desired object could be achieved.
He said The bill seeks to amend the Act to provide that till the State Election Commission is constituted under the Act, the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for and the conduct of, all elections as well as the powers to delimit and determine the Halqa Panchayats in accordance with this Act shall vest in the Chief Electoral Officer.
Legislators Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mubarak Gul, Nawang Rigzin Jora, Rajiv Jasrotia, GM Saroori participated in the debate and suggested constitution of a joint Select Committee to examine the amendment bill while as Shah Mohammad Tantray supported the bill. However the house passed the bill through voice vote and the amendments given by Ali Mohammad Sagar where rejected by the house.
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