Article 370 Back in SC After 3 Years, Pleas Challenging Abrogation To Be Heard Today

India’s Supreme Court’s Constitution Panel is set to hear a range of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and the division of the state into two union territories, on Tuesday.

According to the Supreme Court’s notice on its website, the five-judge Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court, chaired by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachod and including Justices SK Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, PR Gavai and Surya Kant will continue to function. Hearing of the matter and directions will be passed to complete the procedural process and to determine the modalities of the hearing.

During today’s hearing, it will also be decided if the petition filed by IAS officer Shah Faisal can be allowed to be withdrawn.

Earlier this year in February, when the case came before the Supreme Court, CJI Chandrachud said he would “take a call” about the list of petitions.

The batch of petitions challenging the 2019 Presidential Order taking away the special status granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and dividing it into two union territories has been pending in the Supreme Court for nearly four years.

In March 2020, when the case came before the Supreme Court for the last time, the five-judge Constitutional Bench refused to accept the petitioners’ claims to refer the case to a larger seven-judge bench.

The Constitutional Council of five judges chaired by CJI NV Ramana concluded that the previous rulings of the Supreme Court in the Prem Nath Kaul Case and the Sampat Prakash Case, dealing with the interpretation of Article 370, were not inconsistent with each other.

C.J.I. Chandrachod and Justice Khanna are the new members of the latest bench as Chief Justice Ramanna and Justice Subhash Reddy, who were part of the previous court, have retired.

(with IANS input)