The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday said that it will start hearing a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and the subsequent bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammy and Kashmir into two union territories.
Article 370 of the Indian Constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, providing it with significant autonomy and restricting the legislative authority of the Indian Parliament in the territory. Article 370 was unilaterally revoked by the Government of India on August 6, 2019, and Jammy and Kashmir was divided into two UTs – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
The matter will be heard by a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court; DY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India, will be the presiding judge, and the other judges would be Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant.
The apex court said that the matter will be heard on a daily basis from August 2, except on Mondays and Fridays. The Court directed all parties to file documents, compilations, and written submissions by July 27. The Court appointed Advocates S Prasanna and Kanu Agrawal as the nodal counsel for the preparation of common convenience compilations.
“The hearing of the petitions before the constitution bench shall commence on August 2, 10:30 am and then proceed on day to day basis barring miscellaneous days that is Mondays and Fridays,” the Supreme Court’s order said.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing the Union Government, filed an affidavit regarding the present situation of Jammu & Kashmir on Monday. In the affidavit, the Government noted that the decision to abrogate Article 370 has ushered in an ‘unprecedented era of peace, progress and prosperity’ in the valley.
The affidavit cited the recent hosting of the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar as a sign of Kashmir’s development. The Government claimed that “life has returned to normalcy in J&K after three decades of turmoil”.
However, the Supreme Court observed that the Union Government’s affidavit will not be relied upon by the bench to decide the constitutionality of the Centre’s decision.
“Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has submitted that though Centre has filed an additional affidavit setting out central government view on post notification development… it would have no bearing on the constitutional question and it would not be relied upon,” the Court said.
“The affidavit of the centre has no bearing on the constitutional question,” CJI Chandrachud said.
The petition against the Centre’s abrogation of Article 370 was filed by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Shah Faesal. However, lead petitioner Faesal and human rights activist Shehla Rashid, another petitioner in the plea, withdrew their names from the petition. The apex court allowed them to have their names deleted as petitioners from the court’s records.
The title of the case will now be ‘In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution’.
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