SRINAGAR: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has submitted to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court that the powers granted to the Union Territory’s Lt Governor to nominate five members to the legislative assembly were necessary for inclusivity and adequate representation of all communities.

The MHA’s remark drew a sharp reaction from PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who termed it as “blatant subversion of democratic principles” and urged the Omar Abdullah government to challenge this “undemocratic precedent” because “silence now would be complicity later”.

The MHA, in an affidavit, said the LG’s powers were discretionary and can be exercised without the aid and advice of the council of ministers, asserting that the LG’s office was not an extension of the government.