11 December,2023 11:16 AM IST | Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Supreme Court/ File pic
The Supreme Court of India on Monday upheld the abrogation of Article 370 in a verdict delivered by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. The bench pronounced three separate yet concurring judgements with Justices Kaul and Khanna writing their judgments separately.
CJI Chandrachud, pronouncing the verdict for himself, Justices Gavai Surya Kant upholding the abrogation of the provision in the Constitution that bestowed special status to erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir, said that Article 370 was temporary and that the President still had the power to revoke it. He also pronounced that the constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was never intended to be a permanent body.
"We hold the exercise of presidential power to issue constitutional order abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution as valid," the CJI was quoted as saying in PTI report.
The court rejected the petitioners' arguments that the Union government could take no irreversible action during the President's rule. CJI also said SC need not adjudicate on the validity of the presidential proclamation in J&K as petitioners have not challenged it. The court also upheld the validity of the decision to carve out the union territory of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
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CJI Chandrachud said that Jammu and Kashmir became integral parts of India, and it is evident from Articles 1 and 370 of the Constitution and added J&K does not have internal sovereignty different from other states of the country.
We hold the president seeking concurrence of union and not state is valid, all provisions of the Indian constitution can be applied to J&K, the CJI further said while announcing the verdict.
The Supreme Court on September 5 had reserved its verdict in the matter after a 16-day hearing on a batch of petitions challenging abrogation of the provisions of Article 370.
Further details awaited
