HC Upholds PSA Adaptation Post 2019 J&K Reorganisation Act

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh on Friday upheld the constitutional validity of the adaptation of the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act after the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019.

While dismissing the challenge, a bench of Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal held that Sections 95 and 96 of the Reorganisation Act expressly empowered continuation and adaptation of pre-existing laws applicable to the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.

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The Court observed that the continuance of the Public Safety Act after reorganisation flowed directly from parliamentary mandate and was not merely an executive exercise.

“A careful reading of Sections 95 and 96 of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 makes it abundantly clear that Parliament itself, while enacting the Reorganisation Act, consciously provided a complete statutory mechanism not only for continuation of the existing laws applicable to the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir, but also for their adaptation and modification so as to facilitate their applicability to the successor Union Territories,” the court said.

Referring to S.O. 1229(E) dated March 31, 2020, the Court said the substitution of the expression“State” with“Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir” was carried out within the statutory authority delegated by Parliament itself.

“The argument that only Parliament could carry out such substitution overlooks the fact that Parliament itself, by virtue of Section 96 of the Reorganisation Act, delegated such limited power of adaptation to the Central Government,” the court said, adding,“Once the parent law itself gives such power, the action taken under it cannot be said to be outside the statute or unconstitutional.”

The court said that the adaptation does not change the basic nature, object or policy of the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978.

The replacement of the word“State” with“Union Territory” is only a consequential change made because of the reorganization of 2019, the court underscored.“The purpose and operation of the law remain the same.”

The court held that accepting the petitioner's contention would undermine the entire adaptation mechanism contemplated under the Reorganisation Act and render all such statutory modifications vulnerable.

Accordingly, the Court ruled that the adaptation of the Public Safety Act was valid and did not suffer from any constitutional or legal infirmity, dismissing the challenge as devoid of merit.

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“Accordingly, the challenge laid by the petitioner to the constitutional validity of the provisions of the Public Safety Act is devoid of any merit and therefore, rejected,” the court.

The court was hearing a plea against detention order under PSA passed by District Magistrate, Baramulla against Tanveer Ahmad Mir of Bomai Zaingeer. The court ultimately dismissed the plea.

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