J&K headed for winter of discontent? It will depend on Lt Guv's playbook

NEW DELHI: The J&K LG will, prima facie, have the same powers as the Delhi LG , and also control prisons, which come under the state govt in Delhi. Observers are not ruling out recurrent strain in working ties between the LG and the elected govt — a common occurrence in Delhi — over several issues.

Perhaps the first indication that the Centre was ready for assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir came when it amended the Transaction of Business of the Govt of Union Territory of J&K on July 12, 2024, to make it mandatory for all decisions relating to postings and transfers of secretary-level officers, appointment of law officers, grant or refusal of prosecution sanction and prison-related matters, to be put up to the lieutenant governor (LG) for approval, through the chief secretary.

The amendments — which the Centre had said it was authorised to notify as per provisions of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 — enhance LG’s powers by making his approval necessary for postings and transfers of secretaries of all J&K administrative departments and cadre-post officers.

While this is a signifi-cant power as the LG can decide the heads of various J&K departments, a source said the transfers and postings of the subordinate staff, which total nearly five lakh, will continue to be in the hands of the J&K govt.

The J&K LG will, prima facie, have the same powers as the Delhi LG, in that he shall have the final word on matters relating to J&K police, including its various wings like CID, and SIA as well as the J&K anti-corruption bureau (ACB). Over and above these powers, all files on matters relating to prisons, directorate of prosecution and forensic science laboratories, as well as appointment of law officers, will need to be routed to LG through the chief secretary or the chief minister.

The LG also enjoys the sole discretion to appoint the five nominated MLAs in the J&K assembly.

Police matters, law and order as well as control of the security grid will remain exclusively with LG, who will continue to head the Unified Headquarters. This means that the LG will be chairing all the counter-terror strategy meetings and sessions with heads of Army, central paramilitary forces, central and state intelligence agencies, and J&K police.

This leaves no scope for the incoming elected dispensation to interfere with or tone down the security offensive, which has been focused on pro-active engagements with terrorists, choking terror financing through investigations and actions by the NIA and SIA and dismantling the terror ecosystem by denying benefits like passports and govt jobs to local overground workers (OGWs) and terror supporters/sympathisers.

Any opposition by the J&K govt to tough terror actions against locals could make it prone to attacks by BJP. Congress, as the national player in the J&K coalition, may particularly find it tricky to ward off such attacks as it strikes a balance between regional interests of NC, its major partner, and maintaining its nationalist credentials.

What observers are not ruling out is the recurrent strain in working ties between the LG and J&K dispensation — a common occurrence in Delhi that follows the same model of governance — over what the latter may project as law and order and counter-terror ‘slip ups’, besides the transfer and postings of preferred bureaucrats. But eventually, both sides may learn to live and govern with disagreements from time to time.