SC directs restoration of J&K statehood

Kashmiri Hindus celebrating after the Supreme Court upheld Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution. Pic/PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and directed restoration of statehood "at the earliest" as well as assembly elections by September 30, 2024.

Ending a decades-long debate, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, delivered three concurring judgments upholding abrogation of the Constitutional schemes that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir when it was annexed to the Union of India in 1947.

Writing the judgment for himself and Justice B R Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, the CJI said Article 370 was a temporary provision and the president was empowered to revoke it in the absence of the Constituent Assembly of the erstwhile state.

The Supreme Court verdict is a "resounding declaration of hope, progress, unity for our sisters and brothers in J&K, Ladakh", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna penned separate and concurring verdicts on the issue. The apex court also upheld the validity of the decision to carve out the union territory of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

On that day, the government abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two union territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Justice Chandrachud referred to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's statement that Jammu and Kashmir's statehood will be restored, except for the carving out of the Union Territory of Ladakh.

A death sentence: Mehbooba Mufti

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said the Supreme Court's decision to uphold Article 370 abrogation is "nothing less than a death sentence", adding that it marked the defeat of the idea of India with which the Muslim-majority state had acceded in 1947. "Today an unconstitutional and illegal act that took place in the Parliament was declared legal. It is nothing less than a death sentence not only for Jammu and Kashmir but for the idea of India," Mufti said in a message on X.

Struggle will continue: Omar

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Monday said he is disappointed but not disheartened by the verdict. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said it took the BJP decades to abrogate the provisions of Article 370. "We are also prepared for the long haul," he said in a post on X. "Disappointed but not disheartened. The struggle will continue," his post added.

SG Tushar Mehta defends SC verdict

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the Centre's key counsel in defending the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, said on Monday the Supreme Court verdict will go down in history as the one that corrected a "Himalayan constitutional blunder" of gigantic proportions. As the only lawyer involved in the process of abrogation and having led the arguments before the constitution bench of the Supreme Court, it is a historic day for him too, Mehta said.

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