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| Petition seeking publishing of original RAC Report filed in HC | | |
Jammu, October, 22
Amrit Malhotra a senior Congress party leader and MLC filed a writ petition in the State High Court Jammu wing seeking direction to the state Government and others to notify and make public the report of Regional Autonomy Committee, (RAC) submitted by its working President in June, 1998 and also to release the same to the media. He has also sought directions to the respondents to keep the said report intact in original form and not to change, being an unauthorized report, which the respondents have manufactured. In the writ petition it has been submitted that ever since the State of J&K became and integral part of Indian Union, the political leaders in the State and India made certain commitments for Regional Autonomy so that the powers to govern are given on equitable basis and the same are decentralized for all the three regions of J&K State. It is pertinent to state that towering personality like Shiekh Mohammed Abdullah and Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru had made commitments in this regard and many times categorical statements were made to the fact that the three regions will get Regional Autonomy, so that there is no regional imbalance in the state of J&K. In the petition it was stated that during that time, no serious attempt was made to find ways and means to evolve constitutional method for removing the regional imbalances. Malhotra in his petition further submitted that in October, 1996, when the election of state assembly were announced, the leaders of National Conference, particularly the then Chief Minister who was President of National Conference made categorical assertions and assurances in its election manifesto that the Regional Autonomy shall be granted to the three regions of the state. It is stated that the NC won the election mainly on this ground and the people of three regions gave overwhelming support to National Conference. It was further submitted in the petition that on November 29, 1996, a 6- member committee was appointed by the state Government consisting Dr. Farooq Abdullah as its Chairman, Mr. Attaullah Sohrawarthy (since died) and was replaced by Mr. Mohammed Shafi the then Finance Minister, Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Mubarak Gul and Pintoo Narbo of Ladakh and Balraj Puri from Jammu as its working Chairman. The committee toured the whole of the state and met different people of cross-sections and sought their views, received about 75 memoranda’s from different parts. The committee also held detailed discussions with the leading academicians, political, constitutional and financial experts including the then Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission of India Prof Madhu Dandwata and submitted its report in June, 1998 to the Chief Minister who was the Chairman of the committee for making it public and placing it before the Legislative Assembly. It has been alleged in the petition that there was no reference about the demarcation of the existing regions in the state and the report submitted as per the reference, the committee has exceeded its jurisdictions, and calls for quashing of the same .It has been also alleged that a new report was fabricated and the same was placed before the Legislative Assembly, when it was about to adjourn sin-die, which was signed by three members only out of six members and as per the information of the petitioner that Mr. Pintoo Narbo has neither signed the report nor was he consulted.
The petition filed through Advocate KK Jandial has prayed for issuance of direction to the state of J&K to notify and make public the report of Regional Autonomy committee and not to change the same.
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