Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019: notes for bank exams

At a glance

In August 2019 Parliament ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and passed the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. From 31 October 2019 the former State became two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, with an elected legislature, and Ladakh, without one. The Supreme Court upheld the changes in December 2023 and asked for statehood to be restored as soon as possible.

Key facts

Introduced by: Home Minister Amit Shah, in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August 2019
Passed: Rajya Sabha 5 August 2019, Lok Sabha 6 August 2019; Presidential assent 9 August 2019
Appointed day: 31 October 2019 (Sardar Patel's birth anniversary)
Article 370 route: Presidential orders C.O. 272 (5 August 2019) and C.O. 273 (6 August 2019)
UT of Jammu and Kashmir: legislature on the Puducherry model; Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha; Chief Minister Omar Abdullah (since 16 October 2024)
UT of Ladakh: no legislature; administered by the LG (Vinai Kumar Saxena since 13 March 2026)
Lok Sabha seats: five for J&K, one for Ladakh
J&K Assembly: 90 elected seats after the 2022 delimitation (43 Jammu, 47 Kashmir), plus 24 seats kept vacant for Pakistan-occupied areas
High Court: common High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
Supreme Court verdict: 11 December 2023, five-judge bench, upheld the abrogation

How it works

Feature	UT of Jammu and Kashmir	UT of Ladakh
Legislature	Yes (elected Assembly)	No
Head	Lieutenant Governor	Lieutenant Governor
Elected government	Chief Minister and Council of Ministers	None; local hill councils (LAHDC Leh and Kargil)
Police and public order	With the Centre through the LG	With the Centre through the LG
Lok Sabha seats	5	1
Assembly term	Five years	Not applicable

Delimitation. A Delimitation Commission headed by Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai redrew Assembly constituencies, and its final order of May 2022 raised the elected seats from 83 to 90 and reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes for the first time.

Nominated members. The LG can nominate members to the Assembly, including Kashmiri migrants and a person displaced from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, under amendments passed in 2023. The 2023 amendments also extended one-third reservation for women to the UT.

After the Act. The separate J&K Constitution and Article 35A ceased to apply, and central laws now apply directly.

Timeline

1950: Article 370, a "temporary provision" in Part XXI, comes into force with the Constitution (26 January)
2019: Article 370 made inoperative (5–6 August); Act passed (August); two UTs formed (31 October)
2022: Delimitation final order (May)
2023: Supreme Court upholds the changes (11 December); amendments on nominated members and women's reservation
2024: First Assembly elections in the UT (September–October); Omar Abdullah sworn in (16 October)

Recent developments

24 Oct 2026: MHA named Dr Sajjan Singh Yadav (IAS 1995, AGMUT cadre) Chief Secretary of J&K from 1 November 2026, succeeding Atal Dulloo.
8 Sep 2026: Ladakh LG Vinai Kumar Saxena was given additional charge of J&K while LG Manoj Sinha was on leave.

Exam traps

J&K is a UT with a legislature; Ladakh is a UT without one. Delhi and Puducherry are the other UTs with legislatures.
The UTs came into being on 31 October 2019, not on 5 August 2019 (the date of the Article 370 order).
Ladakh has one Lok Sabha seat; J&K has five (six in total, as in the old State).
Article 370 was not deleted from the Constitution; it was made inoperative through Presidential orders.
Both UTs share one High Court.

Quick check

Q: From which date did the two Union Territories come into existence? A: 31 October 2019.
Q: How many elected seats does the J&K Assembly have after delimitation? A: 90.
Q: When did the Supreme Court uphold the abrogation of Article 370? A: 11 December 2023.

Sources

In the news

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25 October 2026Sajjan Singh Yadav named Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir