Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Tuesday asked the Attorney General and the Solicitor General of India (SG) to get instructions from the government on whether there is a time frame in view of making Jammu and Kashmir a state again.
“Statement has been made in the floor of the House and efforts being made. It will happen once efforts are fruitful and the situation returns to normal,” the SG said.
Replying to this, the Supreme Court said, “Restoration of democracy is very important. We can’t have a situation where you have…”
The solicitor general then said, “In 2020, for the first time in decades, local body elections took place. No hartal, no stone-pelting, no curfew. I’m not only talking about elections and politics, but national integration.”
The CJI said, “Is there a roadmap? Get instructions from the government.”
Reacting to the SC order, People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone wrote on X, “Welcome the thrust on restoration of democracy. Let us hope that justice prevails.”
Jammu and Kashmir ceased to be a state and became two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh – on midnight of July 15, 2020, eighty-six days after the Parliament revoked the special status enjoyed by it under Article 370.
After the home ministry notification, the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and the Ranbir Penal Code ceased to exist. The notification also announced several measures including application of central laws in the erstwhile state.
“… there are references in the state laws that have been applied to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and the Union Territory of Ladakh to the expressions ‘permanent residents’ or ‘hereditary state subjects’…, wherever they occur, shall be omitted,” it said.
Both UTs are headed by lieutenant governors (L-G), under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
(details to follow)
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