Decode Politics: Stalled elections, flurry of arrests, and a Bar association feeling Jammu and Kashmir heat

Earlier, the State Investigation Agency of the police arrested former HCBA president Mian Qayoom, in a case related to the 2020 murder of advocate Babar Qadri, followed by the booking of its ad hoc chairman Nazir Ahmad Ronga and Qayoom’s nephew Mian Muzaffar under the PSA. Under the Act, a detainee can be held without a trial for up to two years.

The notification by the HCBA suspending the elections came soon after the arrest of its chairman Ronga in a midnight raid at his house.

The HCBA is now without an elected body since 2019, or the abrogation of Article 370, with Ronga acting as the in-charge chairman. The HCBA last made a move to conduct its annual elections in 2020, but was prevented by the administration which raised objections to its constitution calling Kashmir a disputed territory.

What is the HCBA and what significance does it hold?

The HCBA is a representative body of around 3,000 lawyers of the Union territory. It has always been viewed with suspicion by the Centre for its regular reports on the condition of inmates, many of them political prisoners, in J&K during the period before the scrapping of its special status. Many of these reports were picked up by human rights activists, building pressure on the government over the Kashmir issue.

Why have elections to the HCBA not been held since 2019?

The last time the association issued a notification announcing its elections was in July 2019, with the process to be completed by mid-August. But then came August 5, 2019, when the Narendra Modi government abrogated Article 370 and divided the J&K state into two Union territories. In the curfew and shutdown imposed by the government in the Valley that lasted months, the elections had to be postponed.

Meanwhile, the widespread detentions by the administration of key figures in the Valley – to contain dissent and protests over Article 370 – included that of HCBA president Mian Abdul Qayoom, who was booked under the PSA.

In 2020, the HCBA tried to start the election process afresh, but the J&K administration, which is under Central rule, barred it from doing so.

What reason was given for barring the HCBA elections?

A day before the scheduled polls on November 9, 2020, the J&K administration wrote to the HCBA seeking a clarification on its position regarding Kashmir as a “disputed territory”. In a separate notice, it prohibited the HCBA from conducting elections to its body, placing restrictions on court premises to ensure this.

In its notice barring the HCBA polls, the then Srinagar Deputy Commissioner said: “The JKHCBA Srinagar constitution states the following as its first objective: ‘to find ways and means, take steps, for resolving the issues concerning public at large, including the larger issue of peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute’… You are required to explain your position on the subject since it’s not in consonance with the Constitution of India, whereby J&K is an integral part of the country and not a dispute.”

The Deputy Commissioner also asked the HCBA to furnish documents and certificates issued by a “competent authority” on various aspects of the association, including its executive body and the validity of its registration.

After the government barred the HCBA polls, it formed an ad-hoc body to run its affairs. Advocate Nazir Ahmad Ronga, a former HCBA president, was made its ad hoc chairman.

What has happened now?

On June 25, former HCBA president Mian Abdul Qayoom was arrested. Soon after, the Bar began the process of conducting its elections, with a deadline of wrapping up the entire process by July 31. Immediately after the notification, the J&K administration again barred the HCBA from holding the elections saying the elections “could lead to breach of peace”. In response, the HCBA wrote to the Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, on July 5, clarifying that it had made an amendment in its constitution and dropped the reference to the Kashmir dispute.

“It is to inform you that misgivings you harbour regarding conducting of elections of JKHCBA Kashmir are unfounded and/or lopsided,” the HCBA election commission wrote to the Deputy Commissioner. It added that some “changes in the constitution of JKHCBA, Kashmir, also became necessary after the Supreme Court judgment on the Article 370 provision”.

How did the government respond?

Six days later, on July 11, the J&K Police arrested HCBA chairman Ronga in a surprise midnight raid. Soon after, the Bar suspended the process of conducting its elections. Mian Muzaffar was held on July 15, and HCBA former general secretary Mohammad Ashraf Bhat on July 17.