New Delhi, July 11: The Supreme Court Tuesday said it will commence day-to-day hearing from August 2 on a batch of petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, which passed several procedural directions, fixed July 27 as the deadline for filing of written submissions and convenience compilations by different parties.
The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant said hearing on the clutch of petitions will be held on a day-to-day basis except on Mondays and Fridays, which are days for hearing miscellaneous matters in the apex court. Only fresh petitions are taken up on these days for admission hearing and regular matters are not heard.
It appointed two lawyers – one each from the petitioner’s and the government side – to prepare convenience compilation and file it before July 27, and made it clear that after the said date no documents will be accepted. A convenience note gives the court a snapshot of the entire case to assist it in quickly appreciating the facts.
The five-judge bench said that Centre’s affidavit filed on Monday with regard to the conditions prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir after the August 5, 2019 notification will have no bearing on the constitutional issue to be adjudicated by the five-judge bench. Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who is leading the petitioners challenging the constitutional validity of abrogation of Article 370, said two petitioners – IAS officer Shah Faesal and Shehla Rashid Shora – have filed an application for withdrawal of their names from the list of petitioners.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said he has no difficulty if anyone wishes to withdraw his or her name from the list of petitioners.
The bench then allowed Shah and activist Shora to delete their names from the list of the petitioners. (PTI)
