New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear from August 2 the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories following the notification of the new law – the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act.
Petitions were filed in August 2019, soon after the repeal.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said the hearing would proceed on a day-to-day basis, except on Monday and Friday.
It also allowed IAS officer Shah Faesal and human rights activist Shaila Rasheed to remove their names from the list of petitioners who challenged the annulment.
Two advocates – Prasanna and Kanu Agarwal – were appointed as nodal officers to prepare facilitation compilation (filing of documents and case laws) on behalf of the petitioners and the respondents, including the Central Government, respectively.
Asking both the parties to meet the housekeeping requirements before July 27, the bench said that the hearing in the matter would proceed on the basis of the position of the record as it stood on that date.
“We need to observe discipline in constitution bench matters. Arguments should be completed at least a week before the commencement of the hearing in the court,” the bench told Attorney General R.K. Venkataramani, when he requested not to hang on to any issue for the time being.
The bench said that no permission would be granted to file written arguments after July 27. The court also asked the lawyers of both the sides to allot time for arguments.
In all, there are 23 petitions pending before the bench, which want lawyers to follow the practice followed while hearing marriage equality petitions. The bench advocated that both the parties decide among themselves as to who would address which issue and accordingly finalize the sequence in which the arguments would be advanced by each side.
The court promised that it would “not lock up anyone”, including the intervenors, but maintained that the time division must be followed.
Lastly, the court recorded Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s statement that the affidavit filed a day earlier in the matter – setting out the government’s stand regarding the post-abortion position – in so far as the constitutional question raised in the petitions is concerned , it will have no effect. , Therefore, it should not be relied upon for that purpose, the court said.
In a fresh affidavit filed before the court on Monday, the Narendra Modi government said that the abrogation of Article 370 has brought “unprecedented development, progress, security and stability” in Jammu and Kashmir.
“It is submitted that after the aforesaid historical changes, the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have witnessed profound reformative, positive and progressive changes in the last four years covering their entire governance – including developmental activities, public administration and security matters are involved. Irrespective of caste, creed and religion, every resident was positively impacted, said the affidavit filed by Prashant S Lokhande, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.
To buttress its claim, the ministry cited figures to highlight the decline in terrorist recruitments as well as stone-pelting incidents and strikes which, according to the affidavit, were organized by separatist groups.
The affidavit further states that the work on transit accommodation to help Kashmiri Pandits return safely to the Valley is in advanced stage and is expected to be completed in the next one year.
The unprecedented development, the affidavit claimed, has been the “judicious use” of “evidence of parliamentary wisdom”, which was missing during the old Article 370 regime. These changes, seen in the period following repeal, are described in a government document as “historic”.
read this also, Centre’s affidavit in Supreme Court on Article 370 not based on facts, claims Left, PDP