1 week Ago
After three consecutive days of uproar and disruptions over the Waqf (Amendment) Act, Jammu and Kashmir assembly speaker Abdul Rahim Rather adjourned the House sine die on Wednesday afternoon amid intense sloganeering and protests led by National Conference (NC) members. The final session began at around 1.15pm with speaker Rather appealing for order in the House.
“As we all know, for the past three days the House has been disrupted, with both the treasury and opposition benches trying to express their opinions and resentment — the reason being the Waqf (Amendment) Act,” he said. Rather acknowledged the dissatisfaction among legislators over the rejection of an adjournment motion on the Act. He said, however, that his decision was guided by the rulebook and the constitutional limitations of the assembly.
“My role as a speaker is limited. I referred to the rule book and analysed the provisions. My wisdom told me that the adjournment motion on the Waqf Act cannot be admitted,” he said, citing rule 58 (7) and (9) of the legislative business rules.
The speaker reminded the members that the issue was sub-judice with 12 writ petitions pending before the Supreme Court and that the Act had been passed by the Parliament — not the J&K Assembly. “Was the Waqf Act in the domain of the J&K government? Whether we had any authority over it? My wisdom told me that it was not,” Rather said. He added that the only avenues now were either a repeal by Parliament or a verdict by the Supreme Court.
“Tell me, does the J&K Assembly have the authority to repeal a law passed by Parliament through debate? Haven’t you already protested? We must wait for the SC decision. I am not a dictator — I follow the rules and I respect your sentiments,” he told the members. Addressing the no-confidence motion moved against him by Sajad Lone and two other MLAs over his alleged “undemocratic conduct”, Rather said he had taken it seriously.
“They have the right to do so. I examined it thoroughly. But let’s set aside technicalities — if there’s no confidence against me, I will go (quit).
I will stay only if you have faith in me,” he added. As he began thanking members, media and other stakeholders for the smooth conduct of the budget session, NC legislators surged toward the well of the House, reigniting their protest. Amid the din, AAP MLA Mehraj Malik stood on his table demanding attention over an alleged assault by BJP MLAs.
Despite the uproar, the speaker concluded, “The budget session comes to a close and I adjourn the House sine die.”.
