New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India Monday December 11, 2023 termed valid the right-wing Narendra Modi government’s decision to scrap Article 370 and special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
In its verdict, the Supreme Court's five-judge Constitution Bench said the government’s decision to scrap Jammu and Kashmir's special status in 2019 was valid.
The five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud in a unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 said the article was a temporary provision to ease Jammu and Kashmir's merger with India.
The bench gave three separate judgments - one authored by Chief Justice Chandrachud on behalf of Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kantand himself; another concurring judgment by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and a third judgment concurring with the other two by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Bull all the five judges were unanimous in upholding the presidential order to scrap Article 370.
The Narendra Modi government in a surprise move on August 05, 2019 announced to scrap the Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. On the same day, the government also introduced Jammu and Kashmir Re-Organisation Bill 2019 to bifurcate the state.
The bill also proposed to make Jammu and Kashmir a Union Territory with Assembly and Ladakh will be UT without assembly. The decisions were later ratified by the President of India.
While pronouncing its verdict today, the Supreme Court also asked the government to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024 and restore its statehood.
“The statehood of Jammu and Kashmir should be restored as soon as possible and the state elections should be held by September 30, 2024”, the Supreme Court of India said.
In its judgement, the Supreme Court said that every move by the Centre cannot be challenged. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) said that the court cannot rule on the validity of the government order and that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.
Reacting on the SC verdict, political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir expressed their disappointment, saying abrogation of Article 370 was a mistake that the apec court should have corrected.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir won’t be happy with the SC judgment. Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution represented the sentiments of our people. Both have ended today. This will impact the state’s economy, our land will become expensive", former Chief Minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
"Now, everyone from all over the country can come to J&K, we don’t have big industries to offer employments to everyone. Our biggest industry is tourism, which has limited jobs. There are anyway few government jobs, now everyone can apply for them, which will increase unemployment among our youth", he added.
“It was a mistake to abrogate Article 370. It was done in haste, and they should have consulted parties of Jammu and Kashmir", he said.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said that people of Jammu and Kashmir should not give up hope.
“The Supreme Court has said Article 370 is temporary, which is why it has been scrapped. This isn’t our loss, it’s the loss of the idea of India,” Mufti said.
Omar Abdullah, Vice-President of National Conference and former Chief Minister of J&K, said, “Disappointed but not disheartened.”
“The struggle will continue. It took the BJP decades to reach here. We are also prepared for the long haul", Omar Abdullah wrote on social media site X.
Sajad Lone, former MLA of Jammu and Kashmir and a member of People’s Conference, said that “justice yet again eludes the people of J&K”.
“Article 370 may have been legally obliterated but will always remain a part of our political aspirations. In the case of statehood the Supreme Court sidestepped even commenting on it, thus protecting the entire country from any future misuse, by citing precedence. Yet the same misuse was subtly endorsed in J&K. Let us hope at a future date Justice wakes up from its slumber of pretence,” Lone said.
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