Srinagar (J&K): PDP leader and elected District Development Council member Pulwama Waheed Para urged the administration to allow him to take the oath and facilitate his swearing-in ceremony, which was halted after he was jailed in a militancy case. In a letter accessed by ETV Bharat, Waheed urged District Commissioner Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary, who is also the deputy electoral officer of the district, to facilitate his oath-taking ceremony, which is a constitutional obligation of the administration.
"Sir, I request you to grant me the permission to assume the duties that I have earned as a DDC member and humbly ask you to facilitate my swearing-in ceremony," Waheed has written to the DC. Citing Supreme Court guidelines, Waheed has said an oath of office is “not an empty formality, but has a constitutional significance”.
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"To abrogate from the principles attached to a constitutional oath, one would be in violation of the supreme duty under the Constitution. Therefore, I am under an obligation to take the oath so that I can work for the people of my constituency by upholding the objectives and goals of the Constitution, which governs all of us and the State is also under a constitutional obligation to facilitate the same," he said.
Waheed Para is yet to take oath as a DDC member as he was jailed by NIA on allegations of being linked with militancy and was arrested by NIA two days after he filed his nomination for DDC contestant from Pulwama-1 on November 25, 2020. The DDC elections were held in December 2020 and Waheed won by a margin of 529 votes against his rival candidate while being in jail.
His family and supporters had campaigned for his DDC election. Out of 1,851 votes polled in DDC Pulwama-1, Waheed secured 1,322. Para's counsel had filed a petition in the NIA court to facilitate his swearing-in which had directed the jail authorities to make arrangements for him to take the oath over video conferencing. However, the J&K High Court stayed the order on January 22, 2021, and suggested the administration seek permission from the authorities concerned and administer the oath to him physically.
