Srinagar, Jun 25 (KNO): Responding to recent reports questioning the validity of legislative assembly elections in a Union Territory (UT) if it is subsequently upgraded to a state, the ruling National Conference on Wednesday dismissed such concerns as legally baseless and an attempt to sow confusion regarding the long-standing demand for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
Speaking exclusively to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), National Conference leader and MLA Pampore, Justice (Retd.) Hasnain Masoodi strongly rebutted the narrative that elections held in a UT would not be valid for the legislative assembly of a newly formed state post-restoration of statehood.
“I think that the government's position, both in Parliament—where it was promised that statehood would be restored—and later in the Supreme Court, has always been clear: statehood will be restored. There is no precedent or legal indication requiring fresh elections upon restoration, nor has it ever been presented as an issue before the Supreme Court. I believe this is an afterthought and see no legal necessity for it if the state is being restored,” Justice Masoodi told KNO.
He added that for the last four to five years, the Central government’s stance—echoed by the Home Ministry, the Prime Minister, and Parliament—has consistently affirmed the commitment to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. “When the roadmap was laid out, it was repeatedly said that first delimitation, then elections, and then restoration of statehood. This sequence has been reiterated many times, with no mention of any legal hurdle or need for fresh elections after restoration,” Masoodi explained.
Justice Masoodi further questioned the origins of the current narrative, suggesting it is designed to confuse or impede the process. “No one knows where this is coming from or who is planting such stories. Since August 5, 2019, the Central government’s position has always been that statehood will be restored, with no mention of restrictions or additional requirements. If such legal impediments existed, they would have been raised before the recent elections in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
He stressed that the issue of statehood restoration has been under discussion for years, well before October 2024 [when JK elections were held], and has been addressed multiple times in Parliament, outside Parliament, and before the Supreme Court. “There is no mention of any such requirement in the facts and events of the past three to four years. As a legal expert, I do not believe there is any validity to these claims, nor do I think any legal process requires this transition to be handled differently,” he asserted.
Masoodi said that the notion of invalidating assembly elections due to a change from UT to statehood is unfounded. “This rhetoric has no legal validity. If Parliament had intended such a provision, it would have been made clear during discussions on the roadmap for Jammu and Kashmir’s future,” added the NC leader—(KNO)