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The Supreme Court of India will start hearing a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will conduct day-to-day hearings from today. The five-judge bench had said the hearing will be held on a day-to-day basis except on Mondays and Fridays, which are days for hearing miscellaneous matters in the apex court. Only fresh petitions are taken up on these days for admission hearings and regular matters are not heard. Several petitions challenging the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split the erstwhile state into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh- were referred to a Constitution bench in 2019.
Check all the latest updates on the SC hearing on Article 370 at Mint’s LIVE blog:
SC bench to conclude hearing tomorrow, says CJI DY Chandrachud
After hearing the arguments, the bench – headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud – said that it may conclude hearing on Thursday, reported LiveLaw . Hearing to resume tomorrow at 10:30 am.
Political act can’t be exercised by Parliament, says Kapil Sibal
Presenting the case ahead of the Supreme Court bench, senior advocate Kapil Sibal questioned if abrogation of Article 370 was not an exercise of political power. He said that since legialative body is controlled by the constitution, it cannot go beyond that.
He said, as Livelaw quoted, “The Parliament exercised the will of the people of J&K when they abrogated the Article. They took upon themselves the constitutional responsibility of saying that we’re now the legislature, we’re the constituent assembly and we’ll exercise the will of people of J&K.”
He asked, “Is that the possible constitutionally? Is that envisaged in 370? Is it not an exercise of political power? Can such a power be exercised in a manner in which it was exercised? That’s a matter of procedure.”
He then continued reading from the list of dates. (LiveLaw)
This is all about the Constitution, says NC leader Omar Abdullah
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah while commenting on SC hearing on abrogation of Article 370 said, as quoted by news agency ANI, “We tried explaining to the CJI & his associate judge, our perspective of what happened on 5th August 2019 & what we are expecting from the SC. The CJI & his associate judge also raised several questions…This is all about the Constitution. About the country’s and J&K’s consitution…Whatever happened on 5th August 2019, was against the constitution of the country and J&K. We hope that the SC sees this from our perspective…We are talking about the Constitution & not its politics…This is a big issue for J&K…”
Article 370: Here’s how much time each advocate will get to make arguments
A total of 18 counsel will be presenting arguments on behalf of various petitioners. Kapil Sibal and Gopal Subramanium likely to take 10 hours each to conclude their arguments. Advocates Shekhar Naphade and Zafar Shah are expected to speak for 8 hours each. Dushyant Dave and Chander Uday Singh are likely to present their arguments within 4 hours each.
Then, Dinesh Dwivedi, Prashanto Chandra Sen, and Gopal Sankaranarayanan are expected to require approximately 3 hours each for their respective arguments. Advocates Sanjay Parikh and Rajeev Dhavan may take about 2 hours each.
The remaining three hours will be allocated to intervention applicants, two of whom are represented by Senior Advocates Menaka Guruswamy and Nitya Ramakrishnan.
Article 370 hearing: Petitioners to argue for 60+ hours in total
The oral arguments of the petitioners are expected to require approximately 60 hours to conclude, according to a report by Bar&Bench.
SC only institution that can uphold supremacy of Constitution: Mehbooba Mufti
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said the Supreme Court was the only institution left in the country that can ensure that India is governed as per its Constitution.
“Entire world is watching Supreme Court proceedings in Article 370. Jammu and Kashmir, despite being a Muslim majority state, rejected the two-nation theory based on religion and joined hands with India. We were granted assurances under the Constitution. These guarantees were not given by China, Pakistan or any neighbouring country,” the former chief minister said.
“The Supreme Court will have to see how the institutions in the country have been subverted and the apex court remains the only institution that can save the Constitution. BJP is not only playing with the Constitution based on its brute majority in Parliament but ignoring everything including the SC rulings. They brought an ordinance after SC ruling on Delhi which is unconstitutional,” she added.
Mehbooba said the Supreme Court will have to take a bold stand for upholding the majesty of the Constitution.
Article 370 updates: 20 petitions pending
Over 20 petitions are pending before the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution. Last month, the SC bench decided to devote all Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to the case till the hearing is complete.
Article 370 Live updates: Judges hearing pleas today
A five-judge constitution Bench is hearing the clutch of petitions challenging the scrappage of Article 370 on Wednesday. The bench is headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, other judges include Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant.
What is Article 370?
After India’s independence in 1947 from Britishers, an Instrument of Accession (IoA) was introduced. This allowed the rulers of princely states under British paramountcy to choose between India and Pakistan. At that time J&K signed IoA with India. And when the renowned government officials were discussing on the preparation of the constitution, it was proposed that only those provisions of the Indian Constitution corresponding to the original IoA should apply to the state of J&K.
Consequently, Article 370 was incorporated into the Constitution. This article granted special status to J&K. This article limited the legislative power of the Parliament except for those related to defence, foreign affairs, and communications.
Besides, Article 370(3) prevented the Indian parliament from amending Article 370 without the concurrence of the J&K Constituent Assembly. In 1957, J&K’s state constituent assembly was dissolved.
And in August 2019, the PM Narendra Modi-led BJP government revocated J&K’s special status in two- steps. The government argued Article 370 needed to be scrapped to integrate Kashmir and put it on the same footing as the rest of India.
With the abrogation of Article 370, all Indian laws were automatically applicable to Kashmiris. It allowed people from outside the state to buy property there.
‘Hopeful of getting justice’: Omar Abdullah
Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah said he is hopeful of “getting justice” as Supreme Court is set to hear a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 shortly on Wednesday.
He further said, “We are here on behalf of the people of J&K with the hope that we can prove that what happened on August 5, 2019, was unconstitutional and illegal”.
Supreme Court to hear pleas challenging abrogation of Article 370 from today
The apex court will hear a batch of petitions on Article 370 of the Constitution that Union Government scrapped on 5 August 2019.
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