The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the central government’s historic 2019 move to scrap Article 370 withdrawing special status of Jammu and Kashmir and declared it “valid”, media reports said.
A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, hearing the on pleas challenging the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, said Article 370 was a temporary provision which was meant to facilitate the region’s merger with India.
The Supreme Court has also ordered the Election Commission of India to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by Sept 30, 2024.
The Supreme Court said that Article 370 was only a transitory provision during the wartime conditions in J&K.
“It was for a temporary purpose because of war conditions in the State. Textual reading also shows it is a temporary provision and thus it was placed in part 21 of the Constitution,” the top court said.
“The J&K constituent assembly was not intended to be a permanent body. It was formed only to frame the Constitution. The recommendation of the Constituent Assembly was not binding on the President,” the court said according to media reports.
“Article 370(3) was introduced for constitutional integration and not for constitutional disintegration,” the court said.
“When the constituent assembly ceased to exist, the special condition for which Article 370 was introduced also ceased to exist. But the situation in the state remained and thus the Article continued,” the top court added, quoted NDTV.
The court said: “The exercise of power by the President under Article 370(1)(d) to issue CO 272 is not mala fide. The President in exercise of power under Article 370(3) can unilaterally issue a notification that Article 370 ceases to exist. The President did not have to secure the concurrence of the Government of the State or Union Government acting on behalf of the State Government under the second proviso to Article 370(1)(d) while applying all the provisions of the Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir because such an exercise of power has the same effect as an exercise of power under Article 370(3) for which the concurrence or collaboration with the State Government was not required.”
Apart from scrapping Article 370, the Narendra Modi government in 2019 also scrapped Article 35A, which was used to define “permanent residents” of Jammu and Kashmir barring non-residents to buy immovable assets in the valley.
Also the Centre had bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories- Jammu and Kashmir with an assembly, and Ladakh without an assembly.
In August this year, the Centre told the Supreme Court that it was ready to hold elections any time in Jammu and Kashmir, but could not give an exact timeline for restoring its statehood.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the Supreme Court, “We are ready for elections at any time in Jammu and Kashmir now.”
SG Mehta, however, said steps to restore J&K’s statehood were already being implemented gradually, it (the Centre) cannot give an exact time frame for giving back its statehood.