Srinagar: In a 93-page judgement on the bi-annual ‘Darbar Move’, the J&K High Court on Tuesday left the decision of abolishing/ keeping the practice of shifting capitals between Srinagar and Jammu to the wisdom of the central and the Jammu and Kashmir governments.
The court, however, made clear that it found no reasons or grounds to continue with the practice, which it termed as “an unwarranted drain on the public exchequer.”
“We defer this task to the best wisdom of those on whom the Constitution of India bestows this solemn duty, keeping in view the interest of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the larger interest of its people, and the mandate of the Constitution of India,” the court said.
Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajnesh Oswal directed that a copy of the judgment be served upon the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, with the direction to place the same before competent authorities for taking a considered decision thereon.
The copy of the judgement was also directed to be served upon Chief Secretary of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The court before delivering the judgement recorded that both Jammu and Kashmir regions equally require administration and governance round the year.
“It is unfair and opposed to public interest to deprive either region completely of access to government machinery for six months at a time,” the court noted.
The court remarked that given the modern weather control mechanisms, the consideration of extremities of weather, which was the reason for the Darbar Move, does not hold weight today. “This justification of the Darbar Move has lost all relevance,” the court said.
It was recorded by the court that valuable documents are put to tremendous risk in the process of their transportation as they are packed in trunks and carried in hired trucks over a distance of 300 kms between Jammu and Srinagar twice a year.
“This practice may have the consequence of imperilling state and national security,” the court said.
The court also observed that in the age of electronic modes of maintenance of record and communication, there is no need for physical conveyance of assets.
“Therefore, even if the Secretariat and Departments were divided and placed at different locations, they could be virtually unified into a single Secretariat with minimal movement of human resources,” the court recorded in the judgement.
Another demerit of Darbar Move that the court noted was that thousands of government employees are compelled to live apart from their families for six months at a time.
“This has an exponentially negative impact on emotional health of the employees and their families, and would contribute to dejection and lack of interest in assigned tasks of the Darbar Move employees,” the court said.
The court mentioned that the Darbar Move places a huge burden on the police and security forces.
The court said that rights to life, education, health, good environment, etc, are guaranteed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and ensuring these are more necessary than the Durbar Move.
“The Union Territory is unable to provide to all its people even basic essentials, resulting in violation of the right to life. Valuable resources of the state cannot be diverted to completely non-essential usage,” the court said.
The court noted that Jammu and Kashmir already suffers from high fiscal deficit and the expenditure on the Darbar Move is an unwarranted burden on the depleted resources of the Union Territory.
“The Darbar Move is an unwarranted drain on the public exchequer and the taxpayers’ hard-earned contributions,” it said.
Looked at from any angle, the court said, the Darbar Move results in wastage of tremendous amount of time, efforts and energy.
“It also has a huge financial cost in terms of salary paid to employees who spend weeks on this unproductive work. It is a practice which works to the detriment of the larger interest of all the people,” it said.
The court also noted that the Darbar Move causes delay in justice dispensation as government records are not available to the pleaders in one region for six months at a time.
In the conclusion of the judgement, the court said, “In case this (Darbar Move) practice was rationalised, the amount of money, resources and time which could be saved could be utilised towards the welfare and development of the Union Territory, which has otherwise witnessed much turmoil. The financial saving and resources could be utilised for contributing towards the protection and propagation of its inherent culture and heritage of the communities. It could also be used for facilitating expenditure on the Covid-19 related issues including those of food shortages, unemployment and healthcare.”

NUSRAT SIDIQ