Srinagar/ Jammu, Aug. 12 -- Political parties in J&K have strongly reacted to the Ministry of Home Affairs written response in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh saying the powers to nominate five members to the legislative assembly rest with the lieutenant governor. Last month the MHA while replying to the HC had mentioned that the nomination of five legislators rests with J&K LG Manoj Sinha. However, leaders of various political parties have strongly reacted to MHA's response with former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti terming 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. The affidavit was filed in response to a plea of Congress leader Ravinder Sharma challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 15, 15-A and 15-B of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which made provisions for the lieutenant governor to nominate five members of the legislative assembly over and above the sanctioned strength. Following response of the union home ministry before the HC describing nomination of five MLAs to the legislative assembly as its prerogative, petitioner in the MLA nomination case, advocate and senior Congress leader Ravinder Sharma on Monday said that he will file a rejoinder to the reply submitted by the BJP government at the Centre before the Jammu and Kashmir HC fixed the date for the final hearing. The matter is listed for August 14, when the prayer for fixing the date of the final hearing will be made and decided in open court. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi is representing Ravinder Sharma in the case. "Government of India's reply was filed at the eleventh hour after several extensions and the petitioner now has the right to respond. We shall examine the reply with our senior lawyers and then seek time to file a rejoinder before the court on the date fixed for the final hearing," Sharma told reporters here. Sharma, a former MLC and chief spokesperson of the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee, further said that as a petitioner, he has challenged provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act that allow the lieutenant governor to nominate five MLAs without the aid and advice of the council of ministers, and in excess of the sanctioned strength of the J&K Assembly-114 members (90 elected and 24 reserved for PoJK). "The five nominations are over and above the total strength of 114, which is wrong," Sharma asserted. "Moreover, such nominations can turn a minority into a majority, or a majority into a minority, which goes against the basic structure of the Constitution", he added. The HC has framed a key question of law: whether these provisions of the reorganisation act violate the basic structure of the Constitution, he said. Sharma further said that the court had directed the Government of India and the LG to file their replies-now submitted after a long delay. Sharma reiterated that the petitioner has the right to file a rejoinder, after which the PIL will be taken up for final hearing by the court on August 14. The sections were enacted to ensure that diverse voices, including those from under-represented communities, could contribute to the legislative process, the MHA said. According to the Union government, the lieutenant governor has the powers to exercise the duty in his discretion, as a statutory functionary without aid and advice and not as an extension of the government. The impugned sections serve a critical legislative function by ensuring representation for historically displaced communities and unrepresented persons within the governance structure of the Union Territory, it added. As per the affidavit, the lieutenant governor of J&K holds executive authority, like the governance model of New Delhi and Puducherry. The affidavit of Ipsita Paul, under secretary, department of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh affairs of the MHA, sought dismissal of the plea with exemplary cost, terming it as "politically motivated". It said J&K is governed by the Constitution of India and the laws enacted by the Parliament of India. "J&K does not retain any special status and all laws made by the Parliament of India shall be applicable to the UT of Jammu and Kashmir," the affidavit added. In a post on X, the PDP president said, "GOI's (Government of India's) decision to nominate five MLAs in J&K after holding elections is a blatant subversion of democratic principles. Nowhere else in the country does the Centre handpick legislators to override the public mandate. In India's only Muslim-majority region, long marred by conflict, this move feels less like governance and more like control."Mufti said following the "illegal bifurcation" of the erstwhile state, skewed delimitation and discriminatory seat reservations, this nomination is yet another blow to the idea of democracy in J&K."Representation must be earned through the people's vote, not granted by central decree," she said. National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq also raised questions over the decision and called it "contempt for people's mandate". "When J&K has an elected govt with an absolute majority, bypassing it to let the LG handpick members is not governance, it's contempt for the people's mandate. It strikes at the heart of parliamentary democracy, ignores the constitutional spirit of 'aid & advice', and sets a dangerous precedent where unelected appointees can rewrite the people's verdict," he wrote on X. CPI(M) leader and legislator Kulgam, Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami said that the Union Home Ministry's justification for empowering the LG of Jammu and Kashmir to nominate five members to the Legislative Assembly is a clear attempt to "undermine the electoral democratic process in the region". "This move is yet another step in eroding democratic norms. The LG himself is an unelected nominee of the government, and giving him the authority to nominate members to the assembly runs contrary to the very spirit of representative democracy," he said....