J&K Chief Secretary Atal Duloo and the Law Secretary Achal Sethi have sent separate letters to the Assembly Secretariat calling for disallowing the resolution, three days after it was moved by chief minister Omar Abdullah and admitted by the House.
Hours before the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly started discussion on the resolution for restoration of statehood, the Speaker of the Assembly received an unusual missive from top bureaucrats of J&K informing him that the issue is sub judice and, therefore, the resolution cannot be taken up.
J&K Chief Secretary Atal Duloo and the Law Secretary Achal Sethi have sent separate letters to the Assembly Secretariat calling for disallowing the resolution, three days after it was moved by chief minister Omar Abdullah and admitted by the House.
Abdul Rahim Rather, Speaker of the state Assembly told NDTV that there is no precedent of such interference in the functioning of the Assembly by the bureaucracy. He said that sending a letter to the Assembly secretariat, that too without the approval of the minister concerned was a clear attempt to undermine the House.
“I don’t think there is any precedent, bureaucracy writing to the Assembly secretariat to scuttle the business of the house. That too without the approval of minister concerned,” he said.
Omar Abdullah, who also holds the portfolio of Law Minister, says that he had no information about the letter sent by the bureaucrats before he was informed by the Assembly secretariat. He said that such a letter is a direct consequence of Jammu and Kashmir not having full statehood.
Speaking on the statehood resolution before it was passed by the Assembly amid walkout by the BJP, Abdullah said the unapproved letters clearly show someone else is controling the bureaucracy.
