HC judgment on Darbar Move may pave way for practice to end

‘Digitization of records can keep both secretariats functional’

Srinagar, May 10: The recent judgment of Jammu and Kashmir High Court asking the government to look into the 148-year old Darbar Move practice seems to have  paved the way to end this tradition once for all.
Every year capital of J&K is relocated from Srinagar to Jammu in winter and vice-versa in summer.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, said that the Darbar Move resulted in “wastage of tremendous amount of time, efforts and energy on inefficient and unnecessary activity (packing of records)”.
The High Court asserted that “valuable resources of the State — financial and physical — cannot be diverted to completely non-essential usage.”
The High Court  did not issue any direction to the authorities, taking note of the limitations on its jurisdiction saying, “it can just ring the bell.”
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “It appears that curtains on Darbar Move are likely to fall.”
The Civil Secretariat reopened partially in Srinagar due to the outbreak of COVID-19 but the government has stated that Darbar will open fully once the threat of pandemic is over. “The outbreak of COVID-19 has provided a chance to the government to end this practice once for all. But the helmsmen will have to make a choice between Srinagar and Jammu,” he added.
The analyst said that “If the government wants to keep both the secretariats functional then the digitization of records needs to be expedited. Both the secretariats can remain connected through internet and pinch of the Darbar Move practice being shelved won’t be felt in any of the regions. Turning only Jammu or Srinagar into a permanent capital may not be that easy.”
The High Court noted that when the practice began, it involved a few officers and records in a few cartloads. “Now, it involves shifting of nearly 151 government departments and over 10,000 personnel, along with thousands of official documents and equipment loaded in over 150 trucks and transported for 300 km between Jammu and Srinagar, twice a year.”
The court asked whether the government can afford the practice of Darbar Move at an annual expenditure of at least Rs 200 crore.
An observer said, “Political regimes in the erstwhile J&K State on many occasions tried to build the consensus about ending this practice but they couldn’t change the tradition due to the political compulsions. The incumbent regime in J&K has no compulsion. It can end this practice with a stroke of a pen. But the helmsmen before taking any decision should take the people of both the regions into confidence. The scrapping of this practice needs to be for the common good. It should not be like Jammu versus Kashmir.”

 

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