35th AGM OF IIPA J&K REGIONAL BRANCH

35th Annual General Meeting of the Jammu and Kashmir Regional Branch of IIPA was held in Jammu last evening which was attended by 70 members. The presentation of reports by the Hony Joint Secretary Vikrant Kuthiala and Hony Treasurer T.P.Singh were followed by discussion on the reports and future activities. The members complimented the outgoing Executive Committee for record number of quality programs during 2013, publication of Souvenir on the 35th year of the Branch and getting sponsorship for programs by close association with Government institutions, think tanks and Universities.

J.A.Khan, former Chairman and Dr Ashok Bhan addressed the AGM setting out future targets for the Branch in organizing activities aimed at capacity building for good governance. It was emphasized that day to day problems faced by the people in the state and contemporary issues should receive more attention. The Regional Branch will soon launch its website to increase its reach to the civil society as well as the members.

Election of Office Bearers and Executive Committee members for the period January 2014 to January 2016 was conducted by the returning officer Er V.N.Sharma.

Dr S.S. Bloeria will be the Patron and Dr Ashok Bhan was re elected as Chairman of the Branch. The other office bearers elected were B.R.Sharma IAS, A.M.Watali and Dr C.M.Seth as Vice Chairmen; JBS Johar as Hony Secretary; Dr Anil Gupta and G.M.Indrabi as Joint Secretaries; Er S.K.Gupta as Hony Treasurer; Prof Alka Sharma as Director Seminars and Prof S.M.Afzal Qadiri and Dr Komal Nagar as Joint Director Seminars.

The other members of the Executive Committee will be T.P.Singh, Chander Gulhati, Shantmanu  IAS, Vikrant Kuthiala, Nissar Ahmed IPS, Er Vikram Gour, Shakti Pathak, Er B.K.Suri, A.K.Singh IFS, Er V.N.Sharma, Dr G.N.Qasba, Prof Rekha Choudhary, Prof Mushtaq Ahmed Darzi, Prof Mehrajjudin and Prof Neelu Rohmetra.

The AGM was preceded by a very scholarly talk on “Supreme Court: Expounding Philosophy of the Constitution of India” by Prof K.L.Bhatia, presently Professor at National Law School, Jodhpur. He explained how the Apex Court had carried out its “transformative” responsibilities by interpreting the Constitution with changing realities and filled the vacuum wherever the Legislature or the Executive had chosen a “preservative” stance. He cited a number of cases including the famous Kesvanand Bharti verdict on limits to amend the Constitution, Meneka Gandhi case and S.R.Bommai case to demonstrate that the superior courts do not only interpret the textual Constitution but expound the constitutional law that binds the posterity.

Unearthing the “invisible state” was another theme of his talk and he cited the recent verdict on the establishment of CBI without a legal sanction as held by the Guwahati High Court as an example in this regard.  Other issues covered by Prof Bhatia included expounding nature of equality as in the Novartis case, nature of locus standi and nature of Art 142 of the Constitution.

The talk was followed by discussion and concluding remarks by J.A.Khan, Economic Advisor to the Government of J&K.