On Friday, the honorable Supreme Court said that it will take up the petitions challenging the validity of Centre’s August decision of abrogation of special status given to the State of Jammu and Kashmir through Article 370 of the Constitution.
The concerned matter was discussed before the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit who confirmed that the matter will be discussed after dussehra break which will commence from October 3 till October 10.
It is pertinent to note that since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, incessant petitions have been filed challenging the validity of the abrogation and the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Other petitions were filed on the condemnation of the government’s action for delimitation pertaining to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019.
The stocked up petitions have lucidly made the point that Centre has brought vehement changes which affected the rights of a large group of people consequently affecting them and despite having pending petitions, the Centre has made static actions.
Further, it must be noted that petitions challenging the Centre’s decision last came before the Supreme Court’s five-judge bench headed by then-Cheif Justice N.V. Ramana on March 2, 2020. However, the bench rejected the prayer of referring the matter to a larger bench.
Apart CJI Ramana, other members of the bench included Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant.
However, the bench of the Supreme Court have to be re-constituted as CJI Ramana and Justice R. Subhash Reddy who were the core of the bench retired.
The concerned matter was supposed to be referred to the larger bench by the NGO People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association and an intervenor on the pretext that two judgements of the Supreme Court, namely, Prem Nath Kaul v. Jammu and Kashmir (1959) and Sampat Prakash v. Jammu and Kashmir (1970) which dealt with the provisions of Article 370 were in conflict with each other, hence the five-judge bench is incapable of hearing the matter. However, the bench made it clear that there wasn’t any conflict between the judgements of the two cases.
Tit-bits of 2019 decision
On August 5, 2019, the Union government abrogated Article 370 which provided special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Article curtailed the Indian Parliament’s power to make laws for the state, and the laws in order to be applicable to the state need to be passed by the state’s legislature. It allowed the state of Jammu and Kashmir to have its own flag, Constitution and decisions in matters except defence and foreign concerns. This provision, though temporary, was added in the Indian Constitution on October 17, 1949.
The abrogation of the Article led to the annihilation of the special status given to the state of Jammu and Kashmir in various matters. On the eve of abrogation, the whole of the Indian laws extended to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and were made immediately effective.
Apart from that the right to buy and settle in the state of Jammu and Kashmir was also extended to the non-residents of the state.
