Jammu, March 5
The Assembly today passed a Bill denying the right of acquiring immovable property in the state to any girl of Jammu and Kashmir who marries an outsider. Such woman would immediately lose her status of being a permanent resident of the state and would not be in a position even to inherit any property.

The law would come into force with retrospective effect from October 7, 2002 when a full bench of the state high court ordered that there was no provision in the existing law to withdraw the permanent status of a woman in case she married an outsider. The court had also observed that the state legislature had powers under Section 8 of the J&K Constitution to make such a law.

The Bill was moved by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Beig, and was passed within 10 minutes only, Mr Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami (CPM), seeking a clarification.

There was no dissent against the Bill. The lone BJP member, Mr Jugal Kishore, was not present in the House when the Bill was introduced. The Congress, the National Conference, the Jammu State Morcha and the Panthers Party also supported the Bill.

Mr Beig said that in the light of the judgement of the high court, it was necessary to enact the law and also remove the doubt in the minds of the people at large.

He said that the proposed law would not alter the legal position of women descendants of permanent residents in the matter of inheritance that would continue to be in accordance with the personal law applicable to them.

The issue dominated the proceedings of the House during the current session as members of the opposition National Conference accused the Mufti-led coalition government of tampering with the permanent resident law by suddenly withdrawing a SLP against the high court judgement from the Supreme Court. Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed denied these allegations and said that it was not the intention of the government to defeat the objective of the state subject law.

However, legislators of various parties yesterday reached consensus on the issue and it was decided to introduce the Bill today.

Passing of the Bill has evoked strong criticism outside the House with a number of women accusing the government of adopting double standards against women.

Ms Neeru Khajuria said that while a woman from outside the state marrying a boy here automatically becomes a state subject, why should a local girl marrying an outsider lose her state subject rights.