J&K HC hears government submissions over Darbar Move, reserves order

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday heard the government's submissions over the impending Darbar Move amidst the coronavirus outbreak and reserved its order. The practice of 'Darbar Move', under which the state government functions in Jammu during six months of winter and in Srinagar during summer, was started by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872 to escape the extreme weather conditions in the two regions of the Union Territory.

However, the practice was continued even after Independence with the aim of providing governance benefits to both Kashmir and Jammu regions of the erstwhile state for six months each.

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A division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court comprising Chief Justice, Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajnesh Oswal on Wednesday heard the government's submissions about the impending Darbar Move during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional Advocate General Amit Gupta on behalf of the Financial Commissioner, Finance Department presented a list of 151 departments, including public sector undertakings and statutory corporations which are all involved in the Darbar Move. The AAG submitted that in view of the recent hike in the number of COVID-19 cases and the need for effective control of the same, the annual Darbar Move arrangements have been reviewed and the government has observed that the formal opening of the darbar on May 4 as ordered on April 10 may affect the efforts to control the spread of coronavirus in the Union Territory.

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"The said order has, therefore, been partially modified by an order dated April 17. The formal opening of the darbar at Srinagar has been directed to take place on June 15," he said. He also submitted the tentative seven-day salary expenditure incurred by government departments of the annual move. After hearing the government's submission, the high court reserved its order in the matter.