Implications of Article 370
This article specifies that except for Defence, Foreign Affairs,
Finance and Communications,(matters specified in the instrument of
accession) the Indian Parliament needs the State Government's
concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus the state's residents
lived under a separate set of laws, including those related to
citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as
compared to other Indians. Similar protections for unique status exist in tribal areas of India
including those in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland
however it is only for the state of Jammu and Kashmir that the
accession of the state to India is still a matter of dispute between
India and Pakistan still on the agenda of the U.N.Security Council and
where the Government of India vide 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord committed
itself to keeping the relationship between the Union and Jammu and
Kashmir State within the ambit of this article . The 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord mentions that " The State of Jammu and
Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in
its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of
the Constitution of India " . Indian citizens from other states and Kashmiri women who marry men
from other states can not purchase land or property in Jammu & Kashmir. Article 370 was introduced to abide by the terms of J&K's accession.
The accession of J&K was conditional.
India desperately wanted to prove 2-nation theory wrong and wanted a
muslim majority region under its fold, also the strategic significance
of Kashmir and willingness of Kashmiri leaders to have separate state
for themselves (under protection of India) were the main reasons why
India went ahead for accession of J&K.
When Instrument of Accession was signed, constitution of India was not
ready. As per clause 7 of the Instrument of Accession, J&K was not
committed to accept the future Constitution of India.
In 1949 november when all the princely state heads and provincial
heads of Indian dominion were supposed to issue proclaimations making
Constitution of India operative in their respective states and
provinces, J&K refused such proclaimation refering to the clause 7 of
Instrument of Accession. This is because the draft form of
constitution refused separate constitutions for the states and J&K
always wanted their own separate constitution.
There was a legal imbroglio in this situation, the accession issue was
already with united nations and in such situations India has to abide
by its promise. This lead to Article 306-A of the draft Constitution
of India (which became article 370 in the actaul constitution).
Considering the overall situation prevalent, Article 370 was a major
step forward at that time. The Article at least paved the way for the
Republic of India to make several laws and provisions of the
Constitution of India applicable to Jammu & Kashmir State beyond the
strait jacket of the Instrument of Accession. Besides, Article 370 was
conceived as a temporary arrangement, with hopes of a full integration
in time to come.
UPA allies SP and RJD on Wednesday piped down on their threat to
withdraw support to the government and the ruling coalition appeared
not to be in a hurry to press ahead with the Women's reservation bill
in the Lok Sabha.
A day after the Rajya Sabha passed the historic legislation, Trinamool
Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, whose party boycotted the voting, on
Wednesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi who reportedly addressed
her concerns and assured her all parties would be consulted before the
historic legislation is brought before the Lok Sabha.
However, Banerjee continued to sulk over Congress attitude when she
walked away from the Rajya Sabha during the discussion on the Railway
budget after a Congress leader made a veiled attack on her suggesting
she was not following "Cabinet discipline".
The timing of tabling the bill in the Lok Sabha was a matter of
speculation amid reports that the Government does not want to take any
chance with the crucial money bills to be voted before the House
adjourns for a recess on March 16.
However, Law Minister Veerappa Moily dismissed any fears of threat to
the government on the issue of financial business saying government
had the numbers and there was no deliberate strategy to delay the
Bill.
Parliamentary Affairs minister P K Bansal gave no indication of the
Bill being brought before March 16, saying "We want everyone on board.
We will certainly try for a congenial atmosphere."
On the other side, the Bill's strong opponents SP chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who had threatened to withdraw
support over its passage, did not execute their threat today.
Women's Bill to be in place in two years
It will be more than two years after the Women's Reservation Bill is
passed in Lok Sabha for it to be implemented because of the long
subsequent legislative and other processes associated with it.
"It will take a minimum of two years. Just like the delimitation
process...a commission or a committee it will take two to two-and-a-
half years from now. The process is such," Moily told PTI.
However, he expressed confidence that the reservation of seats and the
identification of 181 of the 543 seats for women in Lok Sabha will be
in place "definitely" before the next Lok Sabha elections due in 2014.
Apart from reserving seats in Lok Sabha, the Constitution Amendment
Bill, which was passed by Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, seeks to provide
reservation for women in 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in 28
assemblies.
The principle of reservation of seats for women will also apply to
seats reserved for SC/ST candidates.
The Bill also provides for rotation of seats reserved for women every
Lok Sabha.
Explaining the process, Moily said once Lok Sabha passes the Bill and
the President signs it it will be sent to all the states for
ratification.
At least 14 of the 28 states will have to ratify the legislation for
it to become a law. This process, Moily said, may take about nine
months.
Women's bill in LS likely on March 15
The Women's Reservation Bill, which has been passed by Rajya Sabha,
may be tabled in Lok Sabha on March 15 or 16 but a final decision on
it will be taken by the Business Advisory Committee which meets on
Friday.
"The BAC is meeting on Friday. It will have to decide the date," Law
Minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters when asked when the
Constitution (108th Amendment) bill would be tabled in the Lower
House.
Replying to questions, Moily said the bill could be tabled on March 15
or March 16.
He expressed confidence that the bill that provides for 33 per cent
reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies would have a
smooth sailing in the Lower House of Parliament too.
The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha yesterday with overwhelming
majority, with 191 voting in favour and only one against among those
present in the House.
Moily said the government has some other agenda like the Finance bill
and some legislations to replace ordinances that are needed to be
taken up urgently.
Asked whether there was any plan to revoke suspension of the seven
Rajya Sabha members considering demands for the same, the Law Minister
evaded a direct reply and merely said, "The Congress and UPA
government are not interested in keeping out members of either Lok
Sabha or Rajya Sabha. That is not our legacy. Our legacy is to involve
everybody.
No quotas within quota, no threat to Govt: Moily
Government ruled out providing 'quota within quota' for OBCs and
Muslims in the Women's Reservation Bill and said there was no
deliberate delay in bringing the measure to Lok Sabha on perceived
threat to its stability.
Unfazed by threats of withdrawl of support by allies like SP and RJD,
the Government is absolutely confident and has no worries about
numbers in Lok Sabha or about passage of the money bills in the lower
house.
"There is no provision for sub quota for OBCs or minorities under the
present scheme of things in Constitution and also because there is no
data available even today on communities and castes under the census,"
Moily said.
BPCC suspends Lalu's relative, Tytler says no
Congress in Bihar suspended RJD chief Lalu Prasad's relative Anirudh
Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav for reportedly speaking against Women's
Reservation Bill, but AICC general secretary in-charge of state
affairs, Jagdish Tytler, said no such measure was taken against him.
"He does not stand suspended as announced by BPCC president Anil
Sharma earlier in the day," Tytler told reporters in Patna.
Yadav had personally explained his position to him stating that he
believed in the policies and programmes of the Congress, Tytler said.
"Yadav has explained to me that he was not averse to the party line on
the Women's Reservation Bill. "I have asked Yadav to explain his
position in writing to which he has agreed," Tytler said.
Yadav, brother-in-law of Lalu, said, "I have not said anything on the
issue. Since the assembly elections are around the corner, some vested
interests in the party are playing dirty politics to malign me."
Earlier in the day, the BPCC chief said, "We have taken a serious note
of Yadav going to the extreme step of violating the party lines on the
bill and suspended him with immediate effect."
According to reports, Yadav had threatened to resign from the Congress
to protest against its stand on the Bill. He had switched over to
Congress following differences with Lalu on allotment of party ticket
before the last Lok Sabha election.
AP Cong demands Bharat Ratna for Sonia Gandhi
Hailing AICC president Sonia Gandhi for getting the Women's
Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, women wing of the Andhra
Pradesh Congress demanded that she be awarded Bharat Ratna for her
valuable contribution for the empowerment of women in the country.
"We have faxed our demand to President Pratibha Patil already. We will
meet her soon and request her to confer Bharat Ratna on madam
Soniaji," state Mahila Congress president K Ganga Bhavani said in
Hyderabad.
She said a resolution has also been passed in this regard by the
Congress' women wing.
Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the state Congress Committee, wore
a festive look with party members distributing sweets, bursting
crackers, lighting sparklers and dancing with joy over the passage of
the women's reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha.
The party members hit out at RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Samajwadi Party
supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal (U) president Sharad Yadav
for opposing the bill.
"The behaviour of MPs who tried to snatch away and tear the papers was
abominable. If Lalu has so much love for dalits, then why had he made
his wife (Rabri Devi) chief minister. He could had made a dalit leader
the chief minister," T Venkata Ratnam, a woman Congress leader, said.
Finance and Communications,(matters specified in the instrument of
accession) the Indian Parliament needs the State Government's
concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus the state's residents
lived under a separate set of laws, including those related to
citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as
compared to other Indians. Similar protections for unique status exist in tribal areas of India
including those in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland
however it is only for the state of Jammu and Kashmir that the
accession of the state to India is still a matter of dispute between
India and Pakistan still on the agenda of the U.N.Security Council and
where the Government of India vide 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord committed
itself to keeping the relationship between the Union and Jammu and
Kashmir State within the ambit of this article . The 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord mentions that " The State of Jammu and
Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in
its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of
the Constitution of India " . Indian citizens from other states and Kashmiri women who marry men
from other states can not purchase land or property in Jammu & Kashmir. Article 370 was introduced to abide by the terms of J&K's accession.
The accession of J&K was conditional.
India desperately wanted to prove 2-nation theory wrong and wanted a
muslim majority region under its fold, also the strategic significance
of Kashmir and willingness of Kashmiri leaders to have separate state
for themselves (under protection of India) were the main reasons why
India went ahead for accession of J&K.
When Instrument of Accession was signed, constitution of India was not
ready. As per clause 7 of the Instrument of Accession, J&K was not
committed to accept the future Constitution of India.
In 1949 november when all the princely state heads and provincial
heads of Indian dominion were supposed to issue proclaimations making
Constitution of India operative in their respective states and
provinces, J&K refused such proclaimation refering to the clause 7 of
Instrument of Accession. This is because the draft form of
constitution refused separate constitutions for the states and J&K
always wanted their own separate constitution.
There was a legal imbroglio in this situation, the accession issue was
already with united nations and in such situations India has to abide
by its promise. This lead to Article 306-A of the draft Constitution
of India (which became article 370 in the actaul constitution).
Considering the overall situation prevalent, Article 370 was a major
step forward at that time. The Article at least paved the way for the
Republic of India to make several laws and provisions of the
Constitution of India applicable to Jammu & Kashmir State beyond the
strait jacket of the Instrument of Accession. Besides, Article 370 was
conceived as a temporary arrangement, with hopes of a full integration
in time to come.
UPA allies SP and RJD on Wednesday piped down on their threat to
withdraw support to the government and the ruling coalition appeared
not to be in a hurry to press ahead with the Women's reservation bill
in the Lok Sabha.
A day after the Rajya Sabha passed the historic legislation, Trinamool
Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, whose party boycotted the voting, on
Wednesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi who reportedly addressed
her concerns and assured her all parties would be consulted before the
historic legislation is brought before the Lok Sabha.
However, Banerjee continued to sulk over Congress attitude when she
walked away from the Rajya Sabha during the discussion on the Railway
budget after a Congress leader made a veiled attack on her suggesting
she was not following "Cabinet discipline".
The timing of tabling the bill in the Lok Sabha was a matter of
speculation amid reports that the Government does not want to take any
chance with the crucial money bills to be voted before the House
adjourns for a recess on March 16.
However, Law Minister Veerappa Moily dismissed any fears of threat to
the government on the issue of financial business saying government
had the numbers and there was no deliberate strategy to delay the
Bill.
Parliamentary Affairs minister P K Bansal gave no indication of the
Bill being brought before March 16, saying "We want everyone on board.
We will certainly try for a congenial atmosphere."
On the other side, the Bill's strong opponents SP chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who had threatened to withdraw
support over its passage, did not execute their threat today.
Women's Bill to be in place in two years
It will be more than two years after the Women's Reservation Bill is
passed in Lok Sabha for it to be implemented because of the long
subsequent legislative and other processes associated with it.
"It will take a minimum of two years. Just like the delimitation
process...a commission or a committee it will take two to two-and-a-
half years from now. The process is such," Moily told PTI.
However, he expressed confidence that the reservation of seats and the
identification of 181 of the 543 seats for women in Lok Sabha will be
in place "definitely" before the next Lok Sabha elections due in 2014.
Apart from reserving seats in Lok Sabha, the Constitution Amendment
Bill, which was passed by Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, seeks to provide
reservation for women in 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in 28
assemblies.
The principle of reservation of seats for women will also apply to
seats reserved for SC/ST candidates.
The Bill also provides for rotation of seats reserved for women every
Lok Sabha.
Explaining the process, Moily said once Lok Sabha passes the Bill and
the President signs it it will be sent to all the states for
ratification.
At least 14 of the 28 states will have to ratify the legislation for
it to become a law. This process, Moily said, may take about nine
months.
Women's bill in LS likely on March 15
The Women's Reservation Bill, which has been passed by Rajya Sabha,
may be tabled in Lok Sabha on March 15 or 16 but a final decision on
it will be taken by the Business Advisory Committee which meets on
Friday.
"The BAC is meeting on Friday. It will have to decide the date," Law
Minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters when asked when the
Constitution (108th Amendment) bill would be tabled in the Lower
House.
Replying to questions, Moily said the bill could be tabled on March 15
or March 16.
He expressed confidence that the bill that provides for 33 per cent
reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies would have a
smooth sailing in the Lower House of Parliament too.
The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha yesterday with overwhelming
majority, with 191 voting in favour and only one against among those
present in the House.
Moily said the government has some other agenda like the Finance bill
and some legislations to replace ordinances that are needed to be
taken up urgently.
Asked whether there was any plan to revoke suspension of the seven
Rajya Sabha members considering demands for the same, the Law Minister
evaded a direct reply and merely said, "The Congress and UPA
government are not interested in keeping out members of either Lok
Sabha or Rajya Sabha. That is not our legacy. Our legacy is to involve
everybody.
No quotas within quota, no threat to Govt: Moily
Government ruled out providing 'quota within quota' for OBCs and
Muslims in the Women's Reservation Bill and said there was no
deliberate delay in bringing the measure to Lok Sabha on perceived
threat to its stability.
Unfazed by threats of withdrawl of support by allies like SP and RJD,
the Government is absolutely confident and has no worries about
numbers in Lok Sabha or about passage of the money bills in the lower
house.
"There is no provision for sub quota for OBCs or minorities under the
present scheme of things in Constitution and also because there is no
data available even today on communities and castes under the census,"
Moily said.
BPCC suspends Lalu's relative, Tytler says no
Congress in Bihar suspended RJD chief Lalu Prasad's relative Anirudh
Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav for reportedly speaking against Women's
Reservation Bill, but AICC general secretary in-charge of state
affairs, Jagdish Tytler, said no such measure was taken against him.
"He does not stand suspended as announced by BPCC president Anil
Sharma earlier in the day," Tytler told reporters in Patna.
Yadav had personally explained his position to him stating that he
believed in the policies and programmes of the Congress, Tytler said.
"Yadav has explained to me that he was not averse to the party line on
the Women's Reservation Bill. "I have asked Yadav to explain his
position in writing to which he has agreed," Tytler said.
Yadav, brother-in-law of Lalu, said, "I have not said anything on the
issue. Since the assembly elections are around the corner, some vested
interests in the party are playing dirty politics to malign me."
Earlier in the day, the BPCC chief said, "We have taken a serious note
of Yadav going to the extreme step of violating the party lines on the
bill and suspended him with immediate effect."
According to reports, Yadav had threatened to resign from the Congress
to protest against its stand on the Bill. He had switched over to
Congress following differences with Lalu on allotment of party ticket
before the last Lok Sabha election.
AP Cong demands Bharat Ratna for Sonia Gandhi
Hailing AICC president Sonia Gandhi for getting the Women's
Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, women wing of the Andhra
Pradesh Congress demanded that she be awarded Bharat Ratna for her
valuable contribution for the empowerment of women in the country.
"We have faxed our demand to President Pratibha Patil already. We will
meet her soon and request her to confer Bharat Ratna on madam
Soniaji," state Mahila Congress president K Ganga Bhavani said in
Hyderabad.
She said a resolution has also been passed in this regard by the
Congress' women wing.
Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the state Congress Committee, wore
a festive look with party members distributing sweets, bursting
crackers, lighting sparklers and dancing with joy over the passage of
the women's reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha.
The party members hit out at RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Samajwadi Party
supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal (U) president Sharad Yadav
for opposing the bill.
"The behaviour of MPs who tried to snatch away and tear the papers was
abominable. If Lalu has so much love for dalits, then why had he made
his wife (Rabri Devi) chief minister. He could had made a dalit leader
the chief minister," T Venkata Ratnam, a woman Congress leader, said.
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