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REGISTERED No. D. 221

The Gazette of India

EXTRAORDINARY

PART II—Section 2

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

No. 4] NEW DELHI, MONDAY, FEBRUARY, 19,1968/MAGHA 30, 1889

Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed as a separate compilation.

LOK SABHA

The following Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on the 19th Feb- ruary, 1968:—

BILL NO. 9 OF 1968

A Bill to supplement the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the

People Act, 1957.

BE IT enacted by Parliament in the Nineteenth Year of the Republic of India as follows: —

1. (1) This Act may be called the Jammu and Kashmir Represen- tation of the People (Supplementary) Act, 1968.

Short title and com- mence- ment.

5 (2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 9th day of February, 1968.

(69)

70 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II

T:lida- ,ion of certain

. visions

Jammu and Kashmir Act No. IV of 1957.

2. The provisions of sections 123, 124 and 124A of the Jammu and Kashmir ^Representation oi the People Act, 1&57, providing for appeal to the Supreme Court trom every order made by the Jammu And Kashmir High Court under section 106 or section 107 of that Act and for matters connected therewith, shall be as valid as if those 5 provisions had been enacted by Parliament.

3f the Jammu md Kashmir Represen- tation of he People \ct, 1957.

3. (1) The Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People

2 of 1968.

(Supplementary) Ordinance, 1968, is hereby repealed.

Repeal -nd saving.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done I⁰ or taken under this Act.

SEC. 2] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 71

STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS

The Representation 01 tho People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) was amended in 196b by Aci No. 47 of 1966, and one of the important changes effected by that amendment was the abolition of the elec- tion tribunals and provision for the trial of election petitions by the High Court. That amendment also made prov^ion for appeal from the order of the High Court in an election petition, whether on a question of law or of fact, to the Supreme Court.

2. The Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957 (Jammu and Kashmir Act No. IV of 1957) was amended by the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People (Second Amendment) Act, 1967 (Jammu and Kashmir Act No. XI of 1967) which was passed by the Legislature of the State of Jammu and Kashmir with a view to incorporating such of the changes in the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957 as were incorporated in the Representation oi the People Act, 1951, by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 1966, so far as the rest of India is concerned. This was done with a view to putting the State of Jammu and Kashmir on the same footing as the rest of India in the matter of the law relating to elections. One of the important changes effected by the Jammu and Kashmir Representa- tion of ;,he People (Second Amendment) Act, 1967, was the provi- sion made m that amendment Act for appeal to the Supreme Court irom every order made by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in respect of an election petition. The said provisions contained in the new sections 123, 124 and 124A of the Jammu and Kashmir Re- presentation of the People Act, 1957, sought to confer jurisdiction on the Supreme Court and this was btyond the legislative compe- tence of the Legislature of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. For, under article 138 of the Constitution, it is Parliament alone that can by law confer additional jurisdiction on the Supreme Court in res- pect of any of the matters in the Union List.

3. Therefore, in order to meet the situation thus created by the aforesaid provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957, it was considered necessary to extend Entry 72 of the Union List in the Seventh Schedule, with suitable modifi- cations, to the State of Jammu and Kashmir by a Constitutional

72 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II—SEC. 2]

Order issued by the President under article 370 of the Constitution. The extension of the Entry with suitable changes was by itself not sufficient and it had to be followed by a legislation so as to confer additional jurisdiction on the Supreme Court to hear appeals from orders of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in respect of election petitions. As Parliament was not in session, and as the situation called for immediate action, an Ordinance called "The Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People (Supplementary) Ordinance, 1968 ( No. 2 of 1968)" was promulgated by the President.

4. The Bill seeks to replace the Ordinance and, when enacted, would confer jurisdiction on the Supreme Court to hear appeals from the decisions of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in respect of election petitions.

NEW DELHI; P. GOVINDA MENON.

The 11th February, 1968.

S. L. SHAKDHER,

Secretary.

PRINTED BY THK GENERAL MANACLn GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PRESS, MINTO HOAD NEW DELHI AND PUBLISHED BY THE MANAGER OF PUBLICATIONS, 1967.