(Re)legislating Land

On 5 August 2019, the Indian government revoked the special status of J&K and protections under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. At the same time, the latter reorganised the federal state of J&K into two centrally administered territories, J&K and Ladakh. Even in the context of the tumultuous history of J&K within the Indian Union, this was a seismic reorganisation. The J&K Reorganisation Bill was passed and turned into an Act (JKRA) of considerable scope and authority. Among other things, this Act allowed the Union government to independently amend the provisions of different acts applicable in the state, including itself, until one year after its implementation (Section 96). The Union government used this provision to introduce a slew of measures including the rules of conduct of business within the newly constituted UT, the domicile law for jobs and the land laws. These changes are so widespread that they can have far-reaching consequences for the social, economic and political future of J&K. Hence, it becomes crucial to explore and investigate these profound changes that these laws have a propensity to bring in the common life of the residents of the erstwhile state.