Cabinet meet to finalise Autumn Session schedule today
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By Shafat Malik
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22 Sep 2025
Six-month deadline ends Oct 28
Sectt warns time short for questions, bills, resolutions
Srinagar, Sept 22: The Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister
Omar Abdullah, is scheduled to meet at
10 am on Tuesday to recommend a date to the
Lieutenant Governor (LG) for convening the autumn session of the
Legislative Assembly, officials confirmed.
According to sources, the session
must begin before October 28, in accordance with the
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which mandates that no more than six months shall elapse between two sittings of the Assembly. The last sitting was held on
April 28, during a one-day special session in Jammu following the Pahalgam terror attack.
“The next session must begin before October 28 to remain within the legal limit,” said a senior official. The Act empowers the LG to summon the Assembly “from time to time,” but stipulates a maximum six-month gap between sessions.
The
Assembly Secretariat has flagged the approaching deadline in a communication to the
Law Department, urging urgent action to ensure compliance.
Under standard procedure, MLAs are given at least a
month to submit starred and unstarred questions, as well as private member’s bills and resolutions, following the LG’s summons based on Cabinet recommendation. If the session is to begin on
October 28, notices would need to be issued by
September 28. However, officials noted that in exceptional cases, the notice period can be
shortened to 10–15 days.
The Cabinet is expected to decide both the
dates and duration of the session. Following this, the LG will formally notify the session, after which the
Speaker will issue the calendar detailing sittings and business to be conducted.
Sources indicated that the upcoming session is likely to see significant discussion around
statehood and reservation issues. Only one bill was introduced and passed during the last budget session, so new bills may also be tabled this time.
The Secretariat has proposed
reserving one day each for private members’ bills and resolutions—a provision that was disrupted during the budget session due to protests by MLAs over the Waqf Bill passed by Parliament.
Each legislator is likely to be allowed
five starred and five unstarred questions, down from 10 each in the previous session. Starred questions are taken up during
Question Hour, while unstarred ones receive
written replies.
The
budget session was held from
March 3 to April 9, with a break during Eid. The April 28 special session in Jammu is being counted as the
last official sitting for the purpose of the six-month rule.
Unlike most states and Parliament, which hold three sessions annually, budget, monsoon, and winter,
Jammu and Kashmir traditionally holds two: a full budget session in
Jammu and a shorter
autumn session in Srinagar.
With the
festival season approaching, officials said that dates will be carefully chosen to avoid overlap. The Cabinet meeting is expected to finalise the schedule without further delay, as the
six-month statutory deadline expires next month.
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