Govt amends rules, Lt Guvs to be part of meetings if UTs go under President’s rule

The amendment was notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs on September 9 and published on Friday, September 18. It changes the Inter-State Council Order, which was issued in May 1990 and under which the council was set up.

President Droupadi Murmu has amended the rules governing the Inter-State Council to allow the lieutenant governors of Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi to attend its meetings when President’s Rule is in force in these Union territories.

The amendment was notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs on September 9 and published on Friday. It changes the Inter-State Council Order, which was issued in May 1990 and under which the council was set up.The recent amendment replaces an earlier proviso added to the order in July 1990.

Under the May 1990 order, the Inter-State Council consists of the prime minister, the chief ministers of all states, specified representatives of Union territories, and six Union ministers of Cabinet rank.

The July 1990 proviso dealt with the attendance of a governor when a proclamation under Article 356 was in force in a state, or when an order issued by the governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under Section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir was in force.

In 2019, Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh after Article 370 was abrogated. The new provision keeps the rule for states under Article 356 and says that “the governor of that state shall be invited to attend the meetings of the Council.”It also adds three separate provisions for Union territories with assemblies. For Puducherry, it says that when an order under Section 51 of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, is in force, “the lieutenant governor of the Union territory of Puducherry shall be invited to attend the meetings of the council.”

For Jammu and Kashmir, the amendment says, “Where an order issued by the president under section 73 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019) in relation to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is in force, the Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall be invited to attend the meetings of the council.”

It also says the lieutenant governor of Delhi will be invited when an order under Article 239AB is in force. President’s Rule is imposed when there is a failure of the constitutional machinery in a state or a Union territory.

With this amendment, the rules for Inter-State Council meetings now specifically cover the participation of lieutenant governors of Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi when President’s Rule is imposed, while retaining the existing provision for governors of states under Article 356