Supreme Court To Hear Plea For Restoring Jammu And Kashmir Statehood Today

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Supreme Court will today hear a plea for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the Supreme Court's causelist, a bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran is likely to hear the matter.

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Last year, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academician, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist, filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir within two months.

'Grave violation of the idea of federalism'

"It is submitted that the delay in the restoration of statehood would cause a serious reduction of democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir , causing a grave violation of the idea of federalism which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India," the application said.

It said the assembly and Lok Sabha elections were conducted peacefully in Jammu and Kashmir without any incidents of violence, disturbance, or security concerns being reported.

"Therefore, there is no impediment of security concerns, violence or any other disturbances which would hinder or prevent the grant/restoration of the status of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as had been assured by the Union of India in the present proceedings," the plea said.

The plea said that the non-restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood status would result in a lesser form of elected democratic government in the state, particularly given that the legislative assembly results were declared on 8 October 2024.

'No steps have been taken by the Centre'

Despite the apex court's directions for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir "at the earliest and as soon as possible", no steps have been taken by the Centre to provide any timeline for the implementation of such directions, it claimed.

"Jammu and Kashmir is being operated as a Union Territory for a period of almost five years now, which has caused many impediments and grave losses to the development of Jammu and Kashmir and has affected the democratic rights of its citizens," the plea added.

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In August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi -led Union government abrogated Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The erstwhile state was also bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

On 11 December 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370, even as it ordered that assembly elections be held in Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024 and its statehood be restored "at the earliest".

It is submitted that the delay in the restoration of statehood would cause serious reduction of democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, causing a grave violation of the idea of federalism.

In its verdict, the apex court held that Article 370, which was incorporated in the Indian Constitution in 1949 to grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was a temporary provision. 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, the court said.

Omar Abdullah's Letter

Earlier this month, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wrote to the presidents of 42 political parties, including Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, urging them to press the Centre to bring legislation in the ongoing Parliament session to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

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Officials said that the National Conference leader has said that restoring statehood must not be viewed as a concession but as an essential course correction.

(With PTI inputs)

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