SC to hear pleas challenging abrogation of Article 370 after Dussehra break

The Supreme Court said on Friday that it would hear the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, after the court’s Dussehra break.

When the subject was brought before him, Chief Justice of India UU Lalit said, “We would definitely list that.”

From October 3 until October 10, the court will be closed in observance of Dussehra.

On August 5, 2019, the Union government, which is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and has a two-thirds majority in Parliament, scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and special status under Article 370. Two Union Territories were created out of the former state.

Article 35A, which guaranteed specific rights and privileges to anyone deemed to be “permanent residents” of Jammu and Kashmir, has also been revoked by the Centre. Since then, the region has been under central rule.

Over 20 petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 were subsequently submitted to the Supreme Court. Lawyers, activists, politicians, retired government employees, and non-governmental organisations were among the petitioners.

A Constitution bench made up of Justices NV Ramana, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant was given the petitions in 2019.

Senior counsel Dinesh Dwivedi, who participated in the case as an intervener, claimed during the initial hearings that two earlier rulings by the Supreme Court about the intent and scope of Article 370 were in conflict with one another.

He contended that because the rulings were made by a five-judge panel, a bench of seven or more justices ought to be assembled to consider the petitions.

The five-judge panel determined in March 2021 that it was unnecessary to refer the petitions to a larger bench.

Since then, the case has not been heard.

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