The Delhi High Court today reserved its judgment on a plea challenging the constitutional validity of Article 370 of the Constitution that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
“File your written submissions. We will consider it and will pass an order,” said a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath said.
During the brief hearing, the counsel appearing for J&K told the bench that a similar issue was raised before the Supreme Court but it had refused to intervene in the matter. The counsel claimed that the PIL was “nothing but a politically motivated petition”. Countering the submissions, the lawyer appearing for petitioner Vijayalakshmi Jha argued that the issue raised by her before the high court was different from the matter which was put before the apex court.
“In none of these cases (referred to by the counsel for J&K) such issues were raised,” the lawyer said. The bench, after hearing the arguments, asked both parties to file their written submissions within a week.
In the plea, the petitioner has contended that Article 370 was a temporary provision that had lapsed with dissolution of the state’s Constituent Assembly in 1957. It said the question before the court for its consideration was whether the temporary provision lapsed automatically with the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly of J&K on January 26, 1957.
The petition has said the “continuance of temporary provision of Article 370, even after dissolution of the Constituent Assembly of J&K, continuance of J&K Constitution which has never got the assent/approval of President of India/Parliament/Government of India, regarding the matter like citizenship, which is in exclusive jurisdiction of Parliament, amounts to fraud on the basic structure of our Constitution,…(as it is) against the sovereignty, integrity, unity of the nation, sovereignty of Parliament etc.”
The Centre had earlier opposed the plea saying the issue has already been considered by the SC. In July 2014, the SC had dismissed a plea challenging the special status of J&K and asked the petitioner to move the high court.
Delhi High Court reserves order on Art 370
