Spouse of native woman, married outside, to get domicile certificate in J-K

JAMMU — In a significant decision, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has announced to issue domicile certificates to the spouse of permanent residents of Jammu & Kashmir and to those who are married outside the Union Territory, while previously, those who were married outside of Jammu and Kashmir made their spouse ineligible for domicile certificate.

In the absence of any specific clause for the spouse of permanent resident, issuing authorities were unable to grant domicile and had set a 15-year ceiling to get the certificate.

However, the Union cabinet in 2020 had approved the Jammu & Kashmir (Adaptation of State Laws) Second Order, 2020 issued under Section 96 of Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

Now the spouse of a domicile certificate holder can get the certificate upon submission of certain documents, as new clause has been added under the J&K Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020.

Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department, Jammu and Kashmir also confirmed that the new clause in JK Domicile rule is for a spouse and not gender specific, which means if a male member of Jammu and Kashmir marries in Rajasthan or Gujarat his wife will enjoy all the rights like a girl from Jammu and Kashmir. “Similarly, if a girl from JK chooses a Maharashtrian as a life partner, he will enjoy all the rights in Jammu and Kashmir.”

The power to grant the category of domicile to the spouse of the domicile has been conferred with the Tehsildar. The spouse is eligible to get a certificate upon showing domicile certificate of his/her spouse and a valid marriage proof.

The order modified the applicability of Domicile conditions to all levels of jobs in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir under the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution of India, read with Section 15 of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services Act 2010, the government hereby directs in sub-rule (1) of rule 5 of the Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules 220, after S.No/Clause 6, the following shall be added,” reads the order.

Meanwhile, Bhartiya Janta Party J&K Unit has hailed the decision of the UT Government to issue a domicile certificate to the spouse/husband of a native woman, who is a domicile holder in the UT.

Addressing a press conference in Jammu today, J&K BJP President Ravinder Raina termed it a historic decision and end of the injustice meted to the girls of J&K at the hands of previous governments who were married outside the erstwhile state.