Naya Kashmir

Legal Document No 81

(Extract)

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE

Citizenship: Its Basic Rights and Obligations,

1. A single State Citizenship is hereby established for all citizens of Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and the Frontier Regions, including the Poonch and Chinani illaqas. The equality of the rights of all citizens, irrespective of their nationality, religion, race, or birth, in all spheres of national life-economic, political, cultural, and social shall...be an irrevocable law. Any direct or indirect restriction of these rights, or conversely the establishment of direct or indirect privileges for any citizens or class of citizens on account of nationality, religion, race or birth, as well as the propagation of national, racial or religious exceptionalism or hatred and contempt shall - be punished by law.
2. Freedom of conscience and of worship shall be guaranteed for all citizens.
3. In conformity with the interests of the people, for the purpose of promoting political awakening and strengthening the national resurgence, all Citizens shall be guaranteed by law:
Freedom of speech
Freedom of the Press
Freedom of Assembly and Meetings
Freedom of Street Processions and Demonstrations
4. In conformity with the interests of the people and for the purpose of developing self-expression through the organisation and political activity of the masses of the people, all Citizens shall be ensured the right of combining in public organizations: trade unions, co-operative societies, moments and youth organizations, sport and self-defence organizations poetical parties and cultural, scientific and technical societies.
5. Inviolability of the person shall be ensured to all Citizens. No Citizen may be arrested or detained except by decision of a Court of Law, or by the sanction of the Advocate General of State.
6. The privacy of the homes and secrecy of correspondence of Citizens shall not be violated except in accordance with Law.
7. The defence of the Motherland is the supreme and sacred duty of all Citizens. Treason to the Motherland violation of oath, desertion to enemies of the Motherland, impairing the military power of the State, espionage shall be punishable wit! the full severity of the Law as the gravest crime in pursuance of this sacred task every Citizen is obliged to tram himself to use and shall be ensured the right to bear arms. Universal compulsory military service shall be established by law.
8. All Citizens have the right to work, that is, the right to receive guarantee work with payment for their labour in accordance with its quantity and equality subject to a basic minimum and maximum wage established by law. In the absence of the provision of employment, Citizens are entitled to security of the necessaries of decent existence for themselves and their families by universal social insurance. The right to work shall be ensured by the planning of national economy, by the advance of industrialization of the country, by the steady growth of productive forces, and the simultaneous raising of the standard of life of the people whereby economic crisis and unemployment shall be eliminated.
9. All Citizens shall have the right to rest. This right shall be ensured by the reduction of the working day to eight hours maximum, the establishment of annual vacations with pay for workers and employees and the provision of a wide net work of sanitariums, rest homes and clubs for the accommodation of working people.
10. All Citizens shall have the right to material security in old age as well as in the event of sickness and loss of capacity to work. The right shall be ensured by the wide development of social insurance of workers and employees at the expense of the State, free medical aid for workers and the provision of wide network of health resorts for the use of working men and women.
11. All Citizens shall have the right to education. This right shall be ensured by universal compulsory elementary education, free of charge. In addition a wide system of States scholarships shall be provided for poor students in the higher schools and universities. The mother-tongue shall be the medium of instruction. Free vocational technical and agronomic education shall be organized for adult workers in the fields and factories.
12. Women citizens shall be accorded equal rights with men in all fields of national life: economic, cultural, political, and in the state services. These rights shall be realized by affording women the right to work in every employment upon equal terms and for equal wanes with men. Women shall be ensured rest, social insurance and education equally with men. The law shall give special protection to the interests of mother and child. The provision of pregnancy leave with pay and the establishment of a wide network of maternity homes, nurseries and kinder gardens shall further secure these rights.
13. All children born in the State shall ensured equality of opportunity irrespective of accidents of birth and parentage. The State shall watch and protect our children as the greatest wealth the world possesses. In all questions of administration or legislation, medical, educational, domestic, municipal or industrial, the interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.
14. All Citizens shall be secured protection by the laws and recourse to the courts through an administration of justice which shall be quick, cheap and impartial. This right shall be ensured by the elective character and the independence of the judiciary; by the independence of the office of the Advocate General and State Advocates; by the provisions of People's Courts and Tehsil Courts to decide the majority of cases locally; by the use of the local language in Court proceedings; by the certainty, and codification of laws; by the equality of all Citizens before the law.
15. The right of personal property of Citizens, as well as the right of inheritance of personal property of Citizens, is protected by law within the limits of the planned economy of the State. No person shall own immovable property in the State who does not fulfill a productive role inside the State in accordance with the National Economic Plan. This shall not operate to divest a pensioner or infirm person property legitimately acquired by him during his working life.
16. Work in the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be an obligation and a matter of honour to all citizens capable of work.
17. The State of Jammu and Kashmir grants the right of asylum to foreign citizens persecuted for defending the interests of the masses, for their scientific activity, or for their struggle for national liberation.
18. Every citizen of the State is obliged to observe the Constitution of the State, to carry out the laws, to observe labour discipline, to honestly fulfill social duties, and to respect the rules of the community.


THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

19. The highest legislature of the State, the National Assembly, is elected by Citizens of the State by electoral districts on the basis of one deputy per 40,000 population, for a period of five years. The National Assembly shall elect its own Speaker and Officers and shall determine its own procedure. A law shall be considered adopted by the National Assembly if approved by a simple majority vote and if it receives the Ruler's assent. Laws adopted by the National Assembly shall be published in the Urdu language, as well as the language of the nationalities of the State over the signatures of the Ruler and the Speaker of the Assembly. The National Assembly elects a Credentials' Commission which verifies the credentials of Deputies of the Assembly.
20. A Deputy of the National Assembly shall not be prosecuted or arrested without the consent of the National Assembly, and in the period when the National Assembly is not in session, without the consent of the Speaker of the National Assembly. In no case shall imprisonment or constraint operate to prevent a deputy from participating in the deliberations and decisions of the National Assembly, save by a decision of the National Assembly taken after the Deputy has been afforded the opportunity to speak in his defence. The Speaker shall be empowered to issue summons to any person having the detention or custody of a Deputy to produce him in order that he may attend a session of the National Assembly.
21. The National Assembly appoints when it thinks fit, investigating and auditing commissions upon any question. All institutions and officials are obliged to comply with the demands of such Commissions and to supply them with the necessary materials and documents.
22. After the elections, the Ruler shall convene the newly-elected National Assembly within a period of one month. When the term of the National Assembly expires, or in the event of its dissolution before the expiration of its term, the Ruler shall fix new elections within a period of not more than two months from the date of the expiration of its authority or of the dissolution, the case may be.
23. Subject to the general control of H.H. the Maharaja Bahadur the jurisdiction of the National Assembly shall include:

1. representation of the State in exterior relations, conclusion and ratification of treaties with other States;
2. approval of alterations of the boundaries of the States;
3. organization of the Defence of the State and the direction of its armed forces;
4. foreign trade upon the basis of State monopoly;
5. protection of State security;
6. establishment of tile National Economic Plan of the State;
7. approval of the State Budget;
8. administration of banks, industrial and agricultural establishments and enterprises as well as trading enterprises;
9. regulation of currency and the direction of the monetary credit system;
10. administration of transport and means of communication;
11. organization of State insurance;
12. contracting and granting loans;
13. establishment of the fundamental principles for the use of land as well as the exploitation of deposits, forests and waters;
14. establishment of the fundamental principles in the field of education and protection of public life;
15. organization of a unified system of national economic accounting:
16. establishment of the principles of labour laws;
17. laws on tile citizenship of the State and the rights of foreigners;
18. legislation on legal procedure, court establishments, criminal and civil codes;
19. organization and control of the radio broadcasting system;
20. legislation for the protection and development of nationalities;
21. organization for an archaeological survey; legislation for the protection and rehabilitation of monuments;
22. legislation in furtherance of this constitution, upon all aspects of national life.

1. The Council of Ministers of the State is responsible to the National Assembly.
2. Ministers of the State direct the branches of the State administration which come within the jurisdiction of the National Assembly. Ministers of the State issue within the jurisdiction of their respective departments orders and instructions on the basis and in fulfillment of existing laws, as well as of decisions and orders of the Council of Ministers, and verify their execution.
3. Ministers of the States all divide among themselves the following branches of administration.

Defence - Agriculture & Animal Husbandry
Foreign Affairs - State Grain and Livestock Farms
Foreign Trade - Finance and Banking
Railways - Home Trade
Communications - Home Affairs
Water Transport - Justice
Heavy Industry - Health
Defence Industry - Education
Food Industry - Local Industry (Including cottage Industries)
Light Industry - Municipal Economy
Timber Industry - Social Welfare

THE RULER OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

27. The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir shall:

1. convene sessions of tile National Assembly twice a year; shall convene extraordinary sessions of the Assembly at his own wish or at the request of the speaker of the Assembly; and
2. dissolve the National Assembly and fix new elections;
3. conduct a referendum upon his own initiative or upon the demand of the majority of the legislators;
4. declare general or partial mobilization;
5. ratify international treaties after they have been approved by the National Assembly.
6. summon the leader of the largest single party in the National Assembly to form the Ministry.

28. Deputies to the National Assembly as well as to the Peoples' Panchayats are selected by the electors upon the basis of universal equal direct suffrage by secret ballot. Franchise shall be universal: all Citizens of the State who have reached the age of eighteen years, irrespective of race and sex, nationality or religion, educational qualifications, residential qualifications, social origin, property, status, or past activity shall have the right to participate in the elections of deputies and to be elected with the exception of insane persons and those deprived of electoral rights by court sentence. Franchise shall be equal: every Citizen takes part in elections upon an equal basis. Every Citizen shall have one vote, provided that, during the transitional period, Sikhs, Kashmiri Pandits and Harijans shall be provided with two reserved seats each, and for this purpose they shall exercise the right of a second vote. Women shall have the right to elect and to be elected upon equal terms with men in all institutions of the State.
29. Citizens serving in the armed forces shall have the right to elect and be elected on equal terms with all citizens.
30. Candidates shall be put forward for election according to electoral districts. Any one hundred electors residing in an electoral district may sponsor a candidate. No other precondition, whether money security or otherwise, shall be required of a candidate.
31. Every deputy is obliged to render from time to time a report to his constituency regarding his work and the work of the body to which he was elected; he may at any time be recalled by his constituency in the manner established by law.
32. Polling stations shall be provided in all electoral districts within convenient walking distance. Polling stations shall be provided for all factories employing more than 100 workers.


JUSTICE: THE COURTS AND THE ADVOCATE GENERAL




33. Justice is administered by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, and by the District and Tehsil People's Courts.
34. In all courts, cases shall be tried with the participation of the people's Judges with the exception of cases specially provided for by law.
35. The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir is the highest judicial tribunal. It is charged with the supervision and direction of the judicial activity of all organs of the State.
36. The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir is elected by the National Assembly for a period of five years. The lower courts are appointed by the High Court for a period of five years, with the exception of the People's Courts which are elected by the People's Panchayats for a period of five years.
37. Court proceedings in the High Court shall be conducted in the lingua franca of the State, that is Urdu. Proceedings in the lover courts shall be conducted in the local language. Persons not knowing the language of the Court shall be assured the possibility of fully acquainting themselves with the material of the case through an interpreter, as well as having the right to address the Court in their own language.
38. In all cases an accused person is fully ensured the right of defence.
39. In all courts of the State cases are heard openly, except when otherwise provided for by law.
40. Judges shall be independent and subject only to law.


THE ADVOCATE GENERAL AND STATE ADVOCATES

41. The Advocate General of Jammu and Kashmir is appointed by the National Assembly for a period of five years. State Advocates in Districts and Tehsilare appointed by the Advocate-General of Jammu and Kashmir for a period of five ears.
42. The Advocate-General of Jammu and Kasl1mh- is charged with the highest supervision of the strict observance of the laws by all State Ministers and institutions under them, as well as by individual persons holding official posts and also by citizens of the State.
43. The Advocate-General and the State Advocates perform their functions independently of any local organs whatsoever, the latter being subordinate only to the Advocate General of the State.
44. In case of the retirement of ~ Judge or the Advocate-General falling at a time when the National Assembly is in a State of dissolution, the date of retirement shall be deemed postponed until the meeting of the fresh National Assembly is able to make a new appointment.


LOCAL ADMINISTRATION




45. The organs of State power in District of the Tehsils, Cities and Villages, shall be the People's Panchayats. The People's Panchayats direct the activities of the organs of administration subordinate to them, ensure the maintenance of State order observance of laws and the protection of the rights of citizens, direct local, economic and cultural development in fulfillment of the National Plan, organise Civil Defence, and draw up the local budget. The People's Panchayats adopt decisions and issue orders within the limits of the powers vested in them by law. The executive and administrative organs of the People's Panchayats are the Executive Committees elected by them, composed of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Members.
46. The Executive Committee of the People's Panchayats are directly responsible to the People's Panchayats which elected them and are also subject to the Council of Ministers of the States.
47. The People's Panchayats are elected by the people of their area of jurisdiction for a pericd of five years. The ratio of representation in the people's Panchayats shall be determined by law.

48. The national languages of the State shall be Kashmiri, Dogri, Balti (Pall), Dardi, Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu shall be the lingua franca of the State. The State shall foster and encourage the growth and development of these languages, especially those which are more backward, by every possible means, including the following:

1. The establishment of a State Languages Academy, where scholars and grammarians shall work to develop the languages?

1. by perfecting and providing scripts; 
2. by enriching them through foreign translations; 
3. by studying their history; 
4. by producing dictionaries and texts books.

3. The founding of State scholarship for the study of these languages.
4. The fostering of local Press and publication in local languages.

28. Amendments to this Constitution shall be effected only by a decision of the National Assembly when adopted by the majority of not less than two-thirds of the votes cast therein subject to the ratification of the Ruler.

50. The economic life of the State shall be determined and directed by the National Economic Plan for the purpose of increasing public wealth, of ensuring a steady rise in the material and cultural level of working men and women, and consolidating the defence capacity of the State.