THE SUPREME COURT WILL HEAR on August 8 an application seeking directions to the Union government for the time-bound restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. The erstwhile state was stripped of its statehood following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to the region, and subsequently bifurcated into the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
During a brief mentioning before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan sought that the matter—already listed for August 8— not be deleted from the cause list.
CJI Gavai assured that the case would not be deleted from that day’s cause list.
The application states that despite assurances given by the Centre during the hearing on the abrogation of Article 370, no steps have yet been taken to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Petitioners Zahoor Ahmed Bhat, a college lecturer, and activist Khurshid Ahmad Mali have submitted that continued inaction violates the federal structure—which is part of the Constitution’s basic structure—and undermines the democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The application has been filed in the already adjudicated matter titled ‘In Re: Article 370’, in which a five-judge Constitution Bench on December 11, 2023, unanimously upheld the Centre’s August 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 and reorganise the state into two Union Territories.
