New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear from 2 August a batch of petitions that have challenged the abrogation of Article 370 and the division of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories following the notification of the new law – J&K Reorganisation Act.
The petitions were filed in August 2019, soon after the abrogation was made.
A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said the hearing shall proceed on a day-to-day basis, except for Mondays and Fridays.
It also allowed IAS officer Shah Faesal and human rights activist Shaila Rasheed to delete their names from the list of petitioners who had challenged the abrogation.
Two lawyers – Prasanna and Kanu Aggarwal – were appointed as nodal officers to prepare convenience compilation (filing of documents and case laws) on behalf of petitioners and respondents, including the central government, respectively.
Asking parties on both sides to complete the housekeeping requirements before 27 July, the bench said the hearing in the matter shall proceed on the basis of the status of record as it would stand on that date.
“We need to follow discipline in Constitution Bench matters. Submissions should complete at least a week before the court is set to begin the hearing,” the bench told Attorney General R. Venkataramani when he requested it not to foreclose any issue at present.
The bench said no permission shall be given to file written submissions after 27 July. The court even asked the lawyers on both sides to ration time for arguments.
In all, there are 23 petitions pending before the bench, which want the counsel to follow the methodology adopted during the hearing of marriage equality petitions. The bench advocated that both sides decide among themselves who would address which issue and accordingly finalise the sequence in which the arguments would be advanced by each side.
The court promised it would not “shut out anyone”, including interveners, but maintained that time division should be adhered to.
Finally, the court recorded solicitor general Tushar Mehta’s statement that the affidavit filed a day earlier in the case — setting out the government’s perspective with regard to the situation after abrogation — would have no bearing as far as the constitutional question raised in the petitions was concerned. Therefore, it shall not be relied upon for that purpose, the court added.
In a fresh affidavit filed before the court Monday, the Narendra Modi government asserted that abrogation of Article 370 led to “unprecedented development, progress, security and stability” in Jammu and Kashmir.
“It is submitted that after the said historic changes, the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has witnessed profound ameliorative, affirmative and progressive changes in the last four years encompassing its entire governance – including the developmental activities, public administration and security matters which has positively impacted every resident, irrespective of caste, creed and religion,” submitted the affidavit, filed by Prashant S Lokhande, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.
To buttress its claim, the ministry cited figures to highlight the drop in terrorist recruitments as well as stone-pelting incidents and hartals, which, according to the affidavit, were organised by secessionist groups.
The affidavit further said that work on transit accommodation for Kashmiri Pandits to help their safe return to the valley was in an advanced stage and is expected to be completed in the next one year.
The unprecedented development, a “testament of Parliamentary wisdom” has been “exercised prudently,” something which was missing during the old Article 370 regime, the affidavit claimed. These changes witnessed in the post-abrogation period have been described as “historic” in the government document.
Also read: Centre’s Article 370 affidavit in SC not based on facts, claim Left, PDP