New Delhi, Dec 11: In a significant victory for the Modi government, the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the 2019 revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir even as it ordered Assembly elections there by September end next year and restoration of statehood “at the earliest”.
Holding that Article 370, which was incorporated in the Indian Constitution in 1949 to grant special status to J&K, was a temporary provision, a Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said the President of India was empowered to revoke the measure in the absence of the Constituent Assembly of the erstwhile state whose term expired in 1957.
Scrapping Article 370 has been among the core issues of BJP’s agenda and had been consistently included in its election manifestos. The apex court verdict also comes as a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Settling the decades-long debate over the contentious issue of Article 370 after a marathon 16-day hearing, the five-judge bench delivered three concurring judgments upholding abrogation of Article 370 that provided a unique status to J&K when it acceded to the Union of India in 1947. Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna penned separate but concurring verdicts on the issue.
The apex court also upheld the validity of the Centre’s decision to carve out the union territory of Ladakh from the erstwhile state of J&K.
The court said the erstwhile state of J&K does not retain any “element of sovereignty” after the execution of the Instrument of Accession and the issuance of the proclamation dated November 25, 1949 by which the Constitution of India was adopted. It also held that Article 370 was a feature of “asymmetric federalism and not sovereignty.”
CJI Chandrachud referred to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s statement that J&K’s statehood will be restored, except for the carving out of the Union Territory of Ladakh. While splitting the state into two Union Territories, the government provided for legislative assembly only for the UT of J&K.
“In view of the statement we do not find it necessary to determine whether the reorganisation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir is permissible under Article 3.
“However, we uphold the validity of the decision to carve out the Union Territory of Ladakh in view of Article 3(a) read with Explanation I which permits forming a Union Territory by separation of a territory from any State,” the CJI said.
“The President had the power to issue a notification declaring that Article 370(3) ceases to operate without the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly. The continuous exercise of power under Article 370(1) by the President indicates that the gradual process of constitutional integration was ongoing,” the CJI said in a 352-page verdict.
Prime Minister Modi hailed the verdict as “historic” and said it fortified the very essence of unity. The verdict constitutionally upholds the decision taken by Parliament on August 5, 2019, he added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said there will now be only “one Constitution, one national flag and one prime minister”.
“I have already promised that statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored at an appropriate time,” he told the Rajya Sabha shortly before the House passed two J&K bills on reservation, representation in the Assembly paving the way for their approval by Parliament. (PTI)
qReactions on P-7
