In July 2024, a district court in Jammu handed two retired judges a clear job: get the Jammu Press Club to hold its overdue election, “by all means”, by September 30.

It’s been over two years since, and the elections are nowhere in sight. The two former judges are still in place. And the club is still paying them Rs 1 lakh each a month to oversee its accounts: signing off on 49 member staff salaries, bar bills and daily supplies, either from the committee room, or the accounts office, or from their own homes when a club employee is sent over with paperwork.

This seems to be a strange arrangement for a body of nearly 870 journalists: an institution whose members spend their working lives asking public offices why their processes have stalled, unable to run a ballot of its own for two years. The former judges refused to clearly specify the amount they have received so far, but by Newslaundry’s estimates, the club has committed close to Rs 48 lakh to the two men since July 2024. This amount, some members say, could have gone towards repairs the building has not seen since years. 

Apart from the district court, the matter has also reached the high court. And at the centre of the dispute are two names known to every reporter in Jammu.