The Indian Supreme Court is currently hearing cases that challenge the revocation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. This is the twelfth day of the hearing. On Monday, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated that the now-repealed Article 35A had deprived Jammu and Kashmir residents of all privileges.
On Tuesday, the Indian government informed the Supreme Court that the union territory status of Jammu and Kashmir is not permanent. “The union territory status of Jammu and Kashmir is not permanent. As for Ladakh, its UT status will remain for some time,” Mehta said.
Here are the key points from the Article 370 hearing in the Supreme Court:
- On Tuesday, the Centre informed the Supreme Court that it will make a detailed statement on the contentious political issue in court on August 31.
- Solicitor General Tushar Mehta conveyed the central government’s response to the court after a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud asked it to establish a specific timeframe for restoring electoral democracy in the former state.
- The top government law officer stated that he will make a detailed statement on the future of the union territory status of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh before the bench, which also includes Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, on August 31.
- The bench, which was hearing Mehta’s arguments in defense of the Centre’s decision to abolish the former state’s special status and reorganize it, stated, “Democracy is important, although we agree that in light of the national security situation, reorganization of the state can be done.”
- However, the court stated that a lack of electoral democracy cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.
“This must come to an end… give us a specific timeframe for when you will restore actual democracy. We want to record this,” said the bench, and asked Mehta and Attorney General R Venkataramani to seek instructions from the political executive and report back to the court.
- In 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah proposed that Articles 370 and 35A be repealed. Then-President Ram Nath Kovind issued an order, the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 2019, stating that the provisions of the Indian Constitution would henceforth apply to Jammu and Kashmir, which experts say brought the northern state ‘on par’ with other Indian states.
- PDP President Mehbooba Mufti was placed under preventive house arrest in 2019 along with other PDP leaders. A lockdown-like situation was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir as tensions erupted in the state, with residents protesting against the decision.
- During hearings on petitions challenging the revocation of Article 370, there was a call to remove Article 35A. On Monday, CJI Chandrachud noted that ‘35A took away three fundamental rights.’
