Srinagar, Sep 16: Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Speaker Abdul Raheem Rather on Wednesday hit back at Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma for criticising the duration of the upcoming Autumn session, asking him to “check facts before raising fingers” and asserting that the Union Territory’s record of Assembly sittings was better than the national average.
Addressing media persons during a meeting convened ahead of the Autumn session, Speaker Rather as per Kashmir Convener said the 10-day session, comprising seven working days, was planned in accordance with the business before the House and there was no purpose in extending it unnecessarily. The Autumn session, he said, was traditionally shorter and would deal with government business, including legislative work, besides private members’ business.
“It won’t serve any purpose to have a long session. We have to keep it as per the business,” Rather said.
Taking on the Opposition over its criticism of the session’s duration, Rather cited figures from different state legislatures and said J&K has an average of 28 Assembly sittings against a national average of 24. “Our position is best when we compare our position with other legislatures. J&K is performing better in terms of holding sittings,” he said.
Speaker Rather said the Constitution required that the gap between two sessions should not exceed six months and alleged that some legislatures held sittings largely to fulfil this constitutional requirement. He specifically referred to Assam, governed by the BJP, and said the state had convened a one-day Autumn session.
“Ask the LoP about Assam which is governed by BJP. Sunil Sharma (our LoP) served as the BJP’s election in-charge for the state. He should answer this,” Rather added.
The Speaker also said that as per figures from other states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Goa, J&K’s Assembly has performed favourably with legislatures elsewhere. Gujarat, after its Assembly was adjourned in March, met again in September for three days, while Rajasthan had two sittings, Uttar Pradesh four, Madhya Pradesh five, Punjab six and Goa five, he said.
“My request to the LoP is to check facts before raising fingers,” Rather said.
He also referred to the duration of Autumn sessions held under previous governments, saying the J&K Assembly, when the erstwhile state had greater legislative powers, held its 2015 Autumn session from October 3 to 10. In 2017, he said, the Autumn session lasted four days, from July 4 to 8. “The present LoP was part of the decision-making process at the time. We are now holding the session for 10 days and opposition (LoP) says we are making a joke of it,” Rather said.
The Speaker said the length of an Assembly session should be determined by the volume of business and not merely extended to increase the number of days, pointing to the expenditure involved in convening the House.
Rather also called upon the media to exercise greater caution and responsibility while reporting the proceedings of the legislature. “The media is a respected section of society and journalists act as an important bridge between the government and the people,” he said. The media had the responsibility of communicating government policies, programmes and performance to the public while honestly conveying people’s problems and aspirations to the government, he added.
On media coverage of the Assembly proceedings, the Speaker urged journalists to prefer quality of legislative proceedings over disruptions and noisy scenes. “Prefer quality over noise. Make performance primary so that the legislators should realise that adherence to rules, law and meaningful participation in the House will attract greater media attention than disorderly conduct,” he said.
He said excessive focus on ruckus could tempt other members, particularly younger legislators, to resort to similar behaviour for attention. “Legislators should feel that sensible behaviour in the House will invite more coverage,” he added.
The Speaker also cautioned journalists to report Assembly proceedings with due care and avoid any “breach of privilege”. He assured the media of smooth arrangements, saying efforts would be made to address inconveniences faced by journalists during previous sessions.
The Autumn session of the J&K Legislative Assembly is scheduled to commence on September 21, 2026.
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