Union Territories Of J-K, Ladakh To Have Common High Court, 164 State Laws To Be Repealed

The Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will have a common high court, State Judicial Academy’s Director Rajeev Gupta said on Sunday. He also said 108 Central Laws would be applicable for the two UTs while 164 state laws would be repealed and 166 state laws will continue to be applicable. This came after New Delhi on August 5 announced abrogation of provisions of Article 370 and decided to bifurcate the state into Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - hours after Kashmir was placed under a total clampdown. 

Speaking at a refresher programme, organised by the SJA on topic “Appreciation of evidence with specific reference to Dying Declaration, Accomplice Statement and Confessional Statement for Session Judges of Jammu province, Gupta discussed the effects of J&K Reorganization Act, 2019 on State Laws in Jammu and Kashmir and the pending cases.

He said the legislative Assembly will be formed in J&K as UT but there will be no legislative Assembly in the Union Territory of Ladakh as it will be directly controlled by the Union government.

“There will be a common High Court for the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Existing law and procedure for practice in the high court will remain the same,” he said.

Also the ministries of home, law and tribal affairs and the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes have “broadly” agreed to a proposal to recommend “tribal area” status for Ladakh, a senior official of the NCST has said. Internal discussions took place among representatives of the ministries and the commission on September 4 to understand the issue, the official said.

“Broadly, everyone has agreed to the proposal of recommending tribal area status for Ladakh. A discussion on various provisions of the Fifth and the Sixth Schedule took place during the meeting. A final call will be taken on the matter on September 11,” the official said.

The meeting came amid a growing demand from leaders in Ladakh for according “tribal area” status to the region.

Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Chairman Gyal P Wangyal had also told the minister that “now their only demand is that Ladakh be brought under the Sixth Schedule so that their land remains protected”.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will have a common high court.
• 108 Central Laws would be applicable for the two UTs while 164 state laws would be repealed.
• 166 state laws will continue to be applicable in the Union Territories.