13 months and counting: Jammu & Kashmir still doesn't have an Advocate General

Thirteen months is a long time in governance. Long enough for policies to shift, governments to settle and institutions to stabilise. But in Jammu & Kashmir, thirteen months have passed without the appointment of an important constitutional authority: the Advocate General.

And the silence surrounding this vacancy is beginning to speak louder than any official explanation.

On June 11 this year, during a hearing on the Nav Durga Jhaleri Mata Shrine temple management, Justice Rahul Bharti questioned how long the Union Territory could “go without an Advocate General in office.”

The Court noted that Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), which empowers the Advocate General (AG) to file civil suits for the better management of religious and charitable trusts, has become a “dead letter" in the absence of an AG.

The delay is not a result of bureaucratic inertia, but rather of political tension. Reports suggest a standoff between the Lieutenant Governor’s office and the government, with both sides locked in disagreement over candidate selection.

The previous Advocate General, DC Raina, stepped down on October 18, 2024 after the new government came in. Although he offered to continue, the office of the Lieutenant Governor reportedly did not formally clear his continuation, leading to complications.

The question is no longer simply why the Advocate General hasn't been appointed. The more worrying question is: at what cost is the delay continuing?

Bar associations have raised their voices. Political leaders have questioned the delay. Civil society is uneasy. Yet, the file remains stuck. What should have been a straightforward administrative action has become inaction amidst the push-and-pull within J&K’s power corridors.

In a letter to Lieutenant Governor’s Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Bar Association President K Nirmal Kotwal highlighted the serious difficulties being faced by advocates due to absence of the Advocate General, particularly in the disbursement of benefits from the Advocates Welfare Fund. The AG serves as an ex-officio member of the Advocates' Welfare Fund Committee. As a result of the vacancy, numerous welfare claims and files are pending approval, causing undue hardship to advocates and their families, the Bar Association says.

For ordinary citizens, the cost is real: slower decision-making, weakened legal oversight and increased judicial burden. For the administration, it is a dent in its credibility. And for the idea of accountable governance, it is a setback at a time when trust is already thin. More than a year on, the vacancy is no longer just a technical gap. It is a symbol - one that tells a story of indecision, institutional imbalance and a worrying disregard for the legal backbone of governance.

The government may fill the position tomorrow or next month. But the delay has already raised a deeper concern: is J&K’s legal system being asked to function without an essential pillar?

Until that question is addressed, the absence of an Advocate General remains not just an administrative lapse, but a constitutional and moral one.