JAMMU: Nearly four years after the government abrogated Article 370 that bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will take up for hearing on July 11 a batch of pleas—around two dozen– challenging the contentious decision.
The political parties in Kashmir Valley have welcomed the development, save for the Bharatiya Janata Party which said that ‘the dead cannot be brought back’.
.According to a notice issued on the apex court website on Monday, the five-judge bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant will take up the pleas, including the one filed by IAS officer Shah Faesal and others, for passing directions.
Faesal, a 2010 batch IAS officer, the first Kashmiri to have topped the all-India civil services examination, was detained for over a year after Article 370 of the Constitution was scrapped. He had resigned from service and launched Jammu Kashmir People’s Movement, a political entity in January 2019. The government didn’t accept his resignation and Faesal, a doctor by profession, was later posted to the Union Culture Ministry.
He had also moved a petition in the Supreme Court against government’s decision on Article 370.
On August 5, 2019, the Centre decided to strip the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir of special status and bifurcate it into two Union Territories.
Several petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split J-K into two Union Territories Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh were referred to a constitution bench in 2019.
By abrogating Article 370, the Central government had revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), a prominent NGO, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, and an intervenor had earlier sought that the matter be referred to a larger bench on grounds that two judgements of the apex court — Prem Nath Kaul versus Jammu and Kashmir in 1959 and Sampat Prakash versus Jammu and Kashmir in 1970 — which dealt with the issue of Article 370 conflicted with each other and therefore, the current bench of five judges could not hear the issue.
Disagreeing with the petitioners, the top court had ruled in March 2020 it was of the opinion that “there is no conflict between the judgements” and the issue will be heard by the five-judge bench.
In December last year, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said, “We will examine and give a date,” when intervenor Radha Kumar, who is an academic and author, sought early listing of the petitions.
Faesal, who had floated his political party, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM), had filed the petition in the top court in 2019.
In April 2022, the government had accepted Faesal’s application for withdrawing his resignation from service and reinstated him.
Faesal had in April last year filed an application seeking deletion of his name from the list of seven petitioners who have challenged the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution.
Other petitioners in the matter are Javid Ahmad Bhat, Shehla Rashid Shora, Ilyas Laway, Saif Ali Khan and Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Hussain Padder.
Advocate-on-Record Aakarsh Kamra, who has filed the plea on behalf of Faesal and others, said besides the IAS officer, Rashid has also filed an application seeking deletion of her name from the list of petitioners.
Meanwhile, political parties in Kashmir Valley have welcomed the development.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Monday said he is looking forward to the Supreme Court hearing petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370.
“Finally the bench is constituted. I look forward to the hearings beginning in right earnest now,” Abdullah said in a tweet.
PDP chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to list for hearing petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370.
“Welcome Hon’ble SC’s decision to finally hear petitions pending since 2019 challenging the illegal abrogation of Article 370. I hope justice is upheld and delivered for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The SC ruling on Article 370 maintained that the provision can be abrogated only on the recommendation of the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly,” Mehbooba said in a tweet.
PDP leader Naeem Akhtar said, “We have been waiting for this day for the last four years. We were disempowered and disenfranchised. The only hope we have is the judiciary of this country.”
GM Shaheen of Janta Dal(United) said, “We will welcome every step taken by the honourable Supreme Court. People have faith in the judiciary… As far as the abrogation of Article 370 is concerned, the majority of the people are upset about the issue… We expect the verdict will be in our favour. This will be a big win for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Congress leader Raman Bhalla said that the party will welcome the Supreme Court verdict on petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370.
However, Bharatiya Janata Party said that ‘the dead can’t be brought back’.
“Article 370 was removed legally by the Parliament. Those who want to take the matter to courts can do so as they are open to all. But, article 370 is already dead. The dead cannot be brought back,” BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur said.
