A Journey to the Brink of India’s Legal Landscape: Jammu and Kashmir’s Relationship with the Indian Union

Abstract

This paper seeks to briefly assess the place of Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian Union, as well as the latter’s repercussions on the daily administration of justice in Srinagar. Although regional States have retained certain specificities and prerogatives under the Constitution of India, J&K’s status is significantly different. Being the only State with its own constitution, J&K’s accession to India has been achieved through specific legal instruments granting it a peculiar type of sovereignty. In order to define the relationship between India and J&K, this article compares similar legal frameworks from a comparative perspective. It submits that J&K belongs to a sui generis legal category, similar to the one New Caledonia currently enjoys within the French Republic. It then seeks to explore how this peculiar status interacts with the administration of justice at the grass-root level in Srinagar. It suggests that the overall acceptance of the judicial system in J&K, as well as its growing integration into the Indian legal framework is closely linked to concerns about efficiency, and most importantly to the permanent residency status of its judicial officers.