While the International media is in an overdrive to hurt India’s image globally and peddle Pakistan’s nefarious agenda, the Indian media it seems too doesn’t want to be left behind. The Indian Express has stooped to a new low as they ran a ‘report’ titled ‘Centre did not renew President’s rule in J&K in time. It is a gaffe that has had dire consequences’ by Gopal Shankarnarayanan who claims to be an advocate at the Supreme Court of India. The report has been completely debunked the Ministry of Home Affairs and busted the fake agenda peddled by Shankarnarayanan and The Indian Express.
The report attempts to question the process adopted by the Modi government to abrogate Article 370 with the claim that the President’s Rule in Kashmir had lapsed by the time the Central Government moved to remove the special status given to Kashmir. For the revocation of Article 370, it had to pass through the J&K Legislative assembly, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. NDA had the numbers in both the houses of the Parliament but since the breaking up of the PDP-BJP alliance, the latter didn’t have the required numbers in the J&K legislature to pass the bill to revoke Article 370 in Kashmir. However, this was no longer a sticking thorn in the BJP’s quest to fulfil its long-standing promise as the state was currently going through President’s Rule and hence the Bill to revoke the special status of Kashmir was passed without hurdles.
The Article 356(4) of the Indian Constitution, states that “a Proclamation so approved shall, unless revoked, cease to operate on the expiration of a period of six months from the date of issue of the Proclamation” effectively meaning that the President’s Rule will have to be renewed after six months. The Indian Express claims that the government has committed a blunder by not renewing the President’s Rule in due time as the first proclamation was passed on December 19, 2018 and hence, by the time the government moved to revoke Article 370, the President’s Rule in the state had lapsed, effectively meaning that the erstwhile legislature where the PDP was the single largest party had to be restored. The Indian Express made a grave accusation against the Government and on such a sensitive issue without basic fact-checking, clearly indicating that the article was intended to drum up the hatred against the government rather than presenting clear cut facts. The Ministry of Home Affairs stepped in quickly to completely crush the allegations made by The Indian Express through facts. Ministry of Home Affairs also tweeted :
J&K President's Rule: A thread –
President's Rule was applied under Article 356 on 19/12/18.
Original provisions under Art 356 allow it to exist for six months from the date of the 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 of the resolutions approving the proclamation.
1/n
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) September 4, 2019
The MHA argued that since President’s Rule was applied under Article 356 on 19/12/18. Original provisions under Article 356 allow it to exist for six months from the date of the Second of the resolutions approving the proclamation. The Proclamation dated 19th December 2018 was approved by Lok Sabha on 28th December 2018 and Rajya Sabha on 3rd January 2019. Therefore, the Proclamation of the President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir was due to expire on 3rd July 2019 i.e. six months from 3rd January 2019. Lok Sabha on 28/6/18 & Rajya Sabha on 1/7/19 approved the continuance of the Proclamation of the President’s Rule for a further period of six more months beyond 3rd July 2019. Thus, this proclamation was within the provisions of Article 356 as applicable to Jammu & Kashmir.
It seems that The Indian Express didn’t care to read Article 356 and its subsequent nuances as the author claimed that since the President’s Rule was applied on December 19, 2018, it was slated to expire on June 19, 2018 well before the Central Government moved to renew the proclamation of the President’s Rule in J&K, thus putting question marks on the Government’s move to abrogate Article 370. Since the proclamation was approved by Rajya Sabha on 3rd January 2019 the proclamation could only expire on 3rd July 2019 and the government had moved to renew the Proclamation well before the date of expiry.
Such hollow articles are a threat to society and aim to spark tensions. In their quest to discredit the Modi government, the Indian media has crossed the lines of decency and have resorted to spreading fake news to further their agenda.