Abrogation of Article 370: SC Reserves Verdict after 16-Days Hearing

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a bunch of pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir.

A constitution bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, concluded the hearing after a 16-day marathon session.

The bench listened to the rejoinder arguments put forth by senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subramanium, Rajeev Dhavan, Zaffar Shah, Dushyant Dave, and others on the final day of the proceedings.

The apex court stated that any lawyer representing the petitioners or respondents who wishes to file a written submission can do so within the next three days. However, these submissions should not exceed two pages.

Throughout the 16-day hearing process, the Supreme Court heard from Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Harish Salve, Rakesh Dwivedi, V Giri, and others representing the Central government and intervenors supporting the abrogation of Article 370.

The lawyers extensively discussed various issues, including the constitutional validity of the Central government’s decision on August 5, 2019, to revoke the provision, the legality of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which bifurcated the former state into two Union Territories, challenges to the imposition of Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir on June 20, 2018, and the imposition of President’s rule in the former state on December 19, 2018, along with its subsequent extension on July 3, 2019.

Several petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which divided the former state into two Union Territories, namely Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, were referred to a constitution bench back in 2019.