J&K HC Bar Association removes the term 'Kashmir dispute' from its constitution

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association has removed from its constitution a paragraph that stated “working towards a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute”, according to a media report.

The term 'Kashmir dispute' has been dropped and it now concerns itself only with promoting “the rights and interests of the legal profession in general and of the members of the Association in particular”, according to the report by a leading national daily.

In 2020, the Srinagar district magistrate raised concerns over the now-removed text, which was included in a section about the association’s objectives.

The magistrate had said that the text is "not in consonance with the Constitution of India," as J&K is an integral part of India and not a dispute.

In a letter on July 5, the bar association, which has about 3,000 members said: “Some changes in the constitution of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Kashmir, also became necessary [after the Supreme Court judgement on Article 370 provisions on December 23, 2023] and, accordingly, were brought about.”

“It is not naysaid that JKHCBA was one amongst many political, social and non-governmental organizations, recognized under law, who had invoked the jurisdiction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court against the constitutional changes that had taken place in August 2019,” the lawyers’ body added.

Earlier, the J&K Lieutenant governor’s administration had declined permission to the bar association to conduct its elections in the past five years on various grounds including law and order concerns, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

In June, fresh restrictions were imposed on the bar association elections by the district magistrate under a provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure dealing with unlawful assembly (section 144). It alleged that the association’s past activities indicated a “secessionist ideology”.

In the letter, the association also responded to the ban saying that “all citizens of the country have a fundamental right to form association under Article 19 (1)(c) of the Constitution of India and such right cannot be made illusory by imposing curbs on its functioning and in this case in the garb of colorable exercise of power under section 144 CrPC.”

“There is no reason why elections of the Bar Association cannot be conducted peacefully, freely and fairly," it added.