New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed pleas seeking review of its judgement, which upheld the validity of the Union government’s 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
A five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and AS Bopanna dismissed the review petitions in chamber while noting that there was no apparent error in the verdict delivered by it on December 11 last year.
The apex court, in its order passed on May 1, stated, “Having perused the review petitions, there is no error apparent on the face of the record. There is no case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013. The review petitions are, therefore, dismissed.”
The apex court’s five-judge bench had in December unanimously upheld the validity of the Centre’s 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution while pointing out that Article 370 is a “temporary provision.
The apex court had said Article 370 was enacted due to wartime conditions in the State and was meant to serve a transitional purpose.
Further, it had taken into note Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s submission that the Statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored, except for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
“In view of the statement, we do not find it necessary to determine whether the reorganisation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir is permissible under Article 3. However. we uphold the validity of the decision to carve out the Union Territory of Ladakh in view of Article 3(a) read with explanation I which permits forming a Union Territory by separation of a territory from any State,” the bench had added.
It had directed that steps be taken by the Election Commission of India to conduct elections to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024. Restoration of Statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible, it has said. The Constitution bench judgement had come on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the constitution and bifurcating the state into two Union Territories.
A number of petitions were filed in the top court including those of private individuals, lawyers, activists and politicians and political parties challenging the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which splits Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. On August 5, 2019, the Central government announced the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under Article 370 and split the region into two Union territories.
