Wouldn’t touch special provisions applicable to NE, Centre tells SC

NEW DELHI, Aug 23: The central government on Wednesday made it clear before the Supreme Court that it has no intentions to interfere with the special provisions in the Constitution applicable to the Northeastern states of the country.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said, “We must understand the difference between a temporary provision such as Article 370 and special provisions which are applicable to the Northeast (India). The central government has no intention to touch any part that gives special provisions to the northeast and other regions. This will have serious repercussions. There is no apprehension and there is no need to create apprehension.”
Mehta, appearing for the Centre, made the statement during the hearing of the pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 after senior advocate Manish Tiwari representing a political party in Arunachal Pradesh, raised apprehensions about taking away the special provisions applicable to northeastern states in the manner in which Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was repealed.
Even a slight apprehension in the periphery of India can have serious implications, Tiwari said, adding that this court is currently dealing with one such situation in Manipur.
To this, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, “When as a constitutional principle the Solicitor General has informed us that the government has no such intention, why should we apprehend this at all? We should not enter that territory at all. ”
The bench then disposed of the application in which Tiwari appeared while recording the statement of the Solicitor General. (ANI)