Nomination to UT Assemblies

Why in news:

The Union Home Ministry (MHA) has filed an affidavit before the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. It stated that the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of J&K has the power to nominate five members (two women, two Kashmiri migrants, and one displaced person from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) to the J&K Legislative Assembly without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. This raises constitutional and democratic accountability concerns.

UPSC Relevance:

Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

UPSC PYQ 2022:

Consider the following statements:

1. The Constitution of India classifies the ministers into four ranks viz. Cabinet Minister, Minister of State with Independent Charge, Minister of State and Deputy Minister.
2. The total number of ministers in the Union Government, including the Prime Minister, shall not exceed 15 percent of the total number of members in the Lok Sabha.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both 1 and 2

D) Neither 1 nor 2

UPSC Mains PYQ 2018:

Q: Whether the Supreme Court Judgement (July 2018) can settle the political tussle between the Lt. Governor and elected government of Delhi? Examine. 

Constitution Provisions:

• Article 80:
  • The Constitution lays down the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha as 250, out of which 12 members are nominated by the President and 238 are representatives of the States and of the three Union Territories.
• By 104th constitution amendment act 2020 the provision for nominating Anglo-Indians to the lok sabha and state sssemblies was abolished.

• Article 80(3):
  • The members to be nominated by the President under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall consist of persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as the following, namely:- Literature, science, art and social service.

• Article 171:
  • for states that have legislative council one-sixth of their members nominated by the Governor based on ministerial advice.

Union Territory(s):

• Delhi Assembly: 70 elected members, no nominated members.
• J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 (amended 2023): 90 elected members + up to 5 nominated by the LG (2 women, 2 Kashmiri migrants, 1 PoK displaced).
• Puducherry Assembly: 30 elected members + up to 3 nominated by Union Government.

SC Judgement:

• Puducherry Case (K. Lakshminarayanan vs Union of India, 2018):
  • Madras HC upheld Union Government’s power to nominate 3 members to Puducherry Assembly without ministerial advice.

Issues:

• UTs have elected governments accountable to the people.
• When the same party rules at the Centre and the UT, nominations don’t cause tension. But when different parties are in power, nominated MLAs can shift the balance — turning a majority into a minority or vice versa.
• This will undermines federal-democratic norms.

Way forward:

J&K is a case sui generis for it was a State till 2019 with even more autonomy than other States. While the conversion of J&K into a UT has been upheld by the Supreme Court, the Union government has informed the court that it would restore statehood to J&K at the earliest. Considering these factors, it is appropriate that the nomination of five members to the J&K Assembly is made by the LG based on the advice of its Council of Ministers. This would uphold the democratic principle.