Supreme Court to hear petitions challenging scrapping Article 370 from August 2

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, July 11, 2023: The Supreme Court will hear from August 2 petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

 

A five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant said the hearing of the pleas will be on a day-to-day basis except Mondays and Fridays. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:30 am on August 2 (Wednesday).

The petitions challenge a presidential order from August 5, 2019, which abrogated Article 370.

A total of 23 petitions have been filed challenging the scrapping of Article 370. The Constitution bench asked all the parties to give their responses by July 25 in online mode.

The bench said all files and documents related to the matter should be submitted in paperless mode.

During the hearing, the Supreme Court made it clear that it would not hear the fresh affidavit filed by the Centre regarding the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Before the hearing, the central government on Monday filed the affidavit and defended its decision to abrogate Article 370, stating it brought "unprecedented stability and progress" to the region.

The Constitution bench said it will hear only on constitutional issues.

"We will hear only on Constitutional issues. The Centre’s new affidavit will have no effect on the matter," the bench said.

Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran told the court that IAS officer Shah Faesal and former student activist Shehla Rashid withdrew their petitions related to the matter from the Supreme Court.

CJI Chandrachud directed the registry to remove the names of both from the list of petitioners.

Now, the title of the case will be "In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution", the Supreme Court ruled. Earlier, the lead petitioner was Shah Faesal.

Under Article 370, special rights and privileges were granted to the people of Jammu and Kashmir from 1954 to 2019 in accordance with the Instrument of Accession.

Subsequently, the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act of 2019 came into effect, bifurcating the erstwhile state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Courtesy: India Today