SC to pronounce verdict on Monday on pleas challenging abrogation of Article 370 in J&K

NEW DELHI: India’s top court will deliver its verdict on Monday regarding a series of petitions that challenge the Union government’s August 5, 2019 decision to revoke special status under Article 370 for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and its decision to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories—J&K and Ladakh.

According to the cause list for December 11 (Monday), uploaded on the apex court’s website, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud would deliver the verdict. The other members of the bench are Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant.

Petitioners and lawyers say they are quite hopeful that the top court’s verdict will be beneficial for them. Muzzafar Iqbal Khan, who is one of the petitioners, believes that the SC’s verdict will be a historical decision with long-term repercussions on Indian politics.

“The question before the Supreme Court would be the scope and sweep of the parliament’s power under Article 3 of the constitution to disintegrate a state. This question is going to have long-term repercussions for Indian politics. Since it is for the first time the Supreme Court will decide this issue, as never before in independent India, ever any state was reduced to union territory,” Khan told the TNIE.

The apex court had started the hearing on a day-to-day basis from August 2, 2023, for 16 tumultuous marathon hearings on a batch of 23 petitions until September 5, 2023, challenging the constitutional validity of changes made to Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of J&K and its reorganisation into Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.

The five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court reserved its judgement on September 5, 2023, after hearing from all the parties, including the petitioners, the Government of India (respondent), and others.

During the hearing, the top court heard Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Harish Salve, Rakesh Dwivedi, V Giri and others on behalf of the Centre and the intervenors defending the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370.

AG Venkataramani, and SG Mehta, the top and senior law officer of the Union of India (UOI), respectively, had submitted that the Centre had filed an additional affidavit setting out the central government’s view on post-notification development but added that it would have no bearing on the constitutional question and would not be relied upon.

Senior advocates, including Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subramanium, Rajeev Dhavan, Zaffar Shah and Dushyant Dave, had argued on behalf of the petitioners.

The lawyers had dwelt on various issues, including the constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370, the validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which split the erstwhile state into two Union territories, challenges to the imposition of the governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir on June 20, 2018 and the imposition of the president’s rule on December 19, 2018 and its extension on July 3, 2019.