The Supreme Court proceedings taking a call on the constitutional validity of the Centre's move to scrap 'Article 370', a special status granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir begins.
Supreme Court refused to rule on the validity of the Presidential rule imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in December 2018 since it was not specifically challenged by the petitioner, the Chief Justice of India said. Chief Justice of India said Article 370 was a temporary provision.
The Centre in 2019 scrapped the special status and split the state into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The verdict from a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud comes in response to a slew of petitions challenging the Centre's move four years ago. After a 16-day-long hearing, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment on September 5.
The petitioners argued that Article 370 cannot be scrapped unilaterally by the Centre, since the powers of the Constituent Assembly were vested in the Jammu and Kashmir legislature after it was dissolved in 1957.
The Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024. Supreme Court said this while delivering its verdict on the constitutionality of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which gives the special status to J&K.
"We direct that steps be taken by EC to conduct elections of J&K Assembly by September 30, 2024," said Chief Justice of India Chandrachud in its ruling.
The Supreme Court Constitutional bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant Court also directed the government to restore the statehood of J&K. "We direct that restoration of statehood in Union Territory of J&K shall be done at the earliest," said CJI. However, the court upheld the carving out of Ladakh as a Union Territory.
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