Jammu & Kashmir cannot claim sovereignty independent of the Union of India after the erstwhile princely state acceded to the country, the Supreme Court observed on Thursday, adding it is a “very, very difficult proposition to accept” that Article 370 was a permanent feature wresting a vestige of sovereignty with the J&K legislative assembly. According to a Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, the integration of J&K with the country was “absolutely complete” as soon as Article 1 of the Indian Constitution came into…
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SC Cites Differences Between J&K Constitution and Indian Constitution During Article 370 Hearing
Article 370, which bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was not a repository of untrammelled power but a medium through which the Constitution would apply to the state, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was told by senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for petitioner Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, that the Jammu and Kashmir constituent assembly did not want to abrogate Article 370 and instead permitted its continuance. Mr Khan has challenged the two constitutional orders…
Read MoreSC Questions Whether Instrument of Accession Cease to Exist After J&K Accedes to India
Maharaja unconditionally recognises the sovereignty of India but he retains certain exceptions. He says I’m surrendering powers for three areas (defence, communication, foreign affairs). But what accession means is that J & K becomes an intrinsic part of India.” The Supreme Court on Wednesday said once the Instrument of Accession (IoA) signed by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1948 got subsumed in a post-Constitution document indicating transfer of power, the IoA can’t act as a fetter on Parliament’s powers. On the fourth day of hearing on petitions challenging nullification of Article…
Read MoreSC Rules Out Brexit-Style Referendum on Article 370
A referendum is out of question in a constitutional democracy like India to carry out the decision to abrogate Article 370 and the special status of Jammu & Kashmir, a Constitution bench in the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday, adding that the will of the people in a democracy can be expressed only through established institutions. On the third day of the arguments in a bundle of matters challenging the August 2019 nullification of Article 370, the bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, remained firm…
Read MoreSupreme Court asks petitioners who can recommend revocation of Article 370 when no constituent assembly exists in J&K
Who can recommend the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir when no constituent assembly exists there? The Supreme Court Wednesday put this question to the petitioners who have challenged the abrogation of the constitutional provision that bestowed special status on the erstwhile state. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud today commenced hearing a batch of pleas challenging the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370, a move that had come in for vicious attack by some major opposition parties but earned fulsome…
Read MoreBeijing think-tank links scrapping of Article 370 to LAC tensions
India’s move changing status of J&K ‘challenged sovereignty of Pakistan and China’ says report A report authored by a senior figure at an influential Chinese think-tank has linked the current tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to India’s move last year to abrogate Article 370 and change the status of Jammu and Kashmir, a decision that China had voiced opposition to. The article, for the first time, described the move as a joint challenge to China and Pakistan, saying the move had “posed a challenge to the sovereignty of Pakistan and…
Read MoreScrap Article 370, introduce National Register for Citizens across the country: BJP president Amit Shah
BJP president Amit Shah on Monday said his party will scrap Article 370 of the Constitution which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and introduce National Register for Citizens across the country after returning to power. Shah accused TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee of questioning the air strikes to “appease” her minority vote bank and wryly said she can do “Ilu Ilu” with Pakistan but if that country fire bullets on us we would respond with cannon balls. On the campaign trail in West Bengal’s Uluberia Lok Sabha seat in…
Read MoreALERT! For SC, ST quota cabinet clears amendment of Article 370 clause
The government Thursday gave its nod to the promulgation of an ordinance for giving reservation benefits to SCs and STs in Jammu and Kashmir by amending a clause of the contentious Article 370, which gives special status to the State. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.“It will serve the purpose of application of relevant provisions of the Constitution of India, as amended through the Constitution (Seventy Seventh Amendment) Act, 1995 and Constitution (One Hundred…
Read MoreYou can’t buy land in Himachal, Sikkim, so why target J&K? M Y Tarigami
‘The BJP wants to find an excuse to polarise people.’ ‘Whatever rights J&K has got from the Constitution of India, they want to snatch it.’ ‘By doing so, they are harming J&K as well as India.’ A Delhi-based NGO, We The Citizens, and a few individuals recently filed pleas in the Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of Article 35A of the Constitution, which gives special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, several interlocutory petitions have been filed in support of Article 35A by…
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