Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal on Wednesday submitted before the Supreme Court that integration of Jammu and Kashmir in India “is unquestionable, was unquestionable and will always remain unquestionable.” A five-judge Constitution Bench of the top court on Wednesday started the day-to-day hearing of 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.
Sibal, who is appearing on behalf of the petitioners challenging the 2019 Presidential Order taking away the special status accorded to the erstwhile state, described the proceedings as “historic” and questioned the validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 splitting the erstwhile state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Four years after the repealing of Article 370, the constitutional validity of the government’s move is been challenged by a slew of petitions in the Supreme Court.
“Before I start, I want to make one statement, we stand clear on the premise that the integration of Jammu & Kashmir in India is unquestionable, was unquestionable, and will always remain unquestionable…The state of Jammu & Kashmir continues to be a part of India. Nobody disputes it, nobody ever disputed it. Jammu & Kashmir is a unit of the Indian Union,” he said during the hearing.
What was Article 370?
Article 370 was the legal provision in the Constitution of India that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in terms of autonomy and its ability to formulate laws for the state’s permanent residents.
Drafted in Part XXI of the Indian constitution titled “Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions”, the article stated that the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir would have the power to decide the extent to which the Indian constitution would apply to the state.
Jammu and Kashmir became an Indian state on 17 November 1952, and Article 370 gave power Constituent Assembly for the former princely state to have a separate constitution, a state flag, and autonomy of internal administration.
Why Article 370 was Included in Constitution?
After independence, British India was divided into the independent dominions of India and Pakistan, and the Instrument of Accession (IoA) was introduced, which allowed the rulers of princely states, which were under British paramountcy, to choose between joining India or Pakistan.
Under IoA, J&K decided to seek India’s assistance in countering an invasion from Pakistan, according to a report by Live Law.
As per the report, the original accession covered three crucial matters– defense, foreign affairs, and communications– and when India drafted its 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 Indian Constitution.
What Does Abrogation Of Article 370 Means?
After winning the 2019 parliamentary election, the BJP government dissolved Article 370 in a two-step process through the promulgation of the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 2019 on August 5, 2019.
First, the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 2019, also known as the CO 272 order was passed, which superseded the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 and declared that all the provisions of the Constitution of India would apply to J&K. It also amended Article 367 of the Constitution, the Live Law report said.
After this, a Statutory Resolution recommending the abrogation of Article 370 was passed in Parliament.
Based on the statutory resolution passed by the Parliament, then President Ram Nath Kovind issued a notification (CO 273) stating that from August 6, 2019, all clauses of Article 370 would cease to be operative, effectively revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Centre’s Take on Abrogation of Article 370
In a fresh affidavit before the top court, the Central government has defended the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir saying that its decision to dilute Article 370 has brought unprecedented development, progress, security, and stability in the region.
The Union Home Ministry said that the street violence, engineered and orchestrated by terrorists and secessionist networks has now become a thing of the past and and the “organised stone pelting incidences connected with terrorism-separatist agenda, which were as high as 1,767 in 2018 has come down to zero in 2023 till date”.
The Centre stressed that it has adopted a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and after constitutional changes, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved significantly.
In the pending matter, intervention applications have also been filed by Kashmiri Pandits supporting Centre’s move stripping special status accorded to the erstwhile state of J&K.
(With Inputs from agencies)
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