The News Craving
Srinagar:
An application seeking the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood within a two-month timeframe was brought before the Supreme Court on Thursday for listing.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan mentioned the matter to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, requesting that the application be listed. “There is a Miscellaneous Application (MA) related to the Article 370 case regarding the implementation of conferring statehood… it needs to be time-bound,” Sankaranarayanan said. The Chief Justice agreed to consider the request.
The application was filed as an MA in the disposed case “In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution,” in which the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation of J&K’s special status. The Court, however, did not address the constitutionality of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019, which downgraded J&K to a Union Territory, as the Solicitor General had assured that statehood would be restored. The Court merely directed, “Restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible,” without specifying a timeline.
Applicants Zahoor Ahmed Bhat, a college teacher, and activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, argued that despite the Solicitor General’s assurance, the Union government has taken no steps to restore statehood in the eleven months since the Article 370 judgment.
They contended that the delay in restoring statehood violates the basic principle of federalism. “The non-restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood in a time-bound manner undermines the idea of federalism,” the applicants stated.
They further pointed out that Assembly elections in the region demonstrate that there are no security concerns preventing the restoration of statehood.
