Jammu & Kashmir Statehood: Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Plea Seeking Restoration

The plea contended that the successful conduct of Assembly Elections shows that there is not an impediment of security concerns, violence or any other disturbances which would prevent restoration of the status of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear an application seeking a direction to the Centre to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan mentioned the application before the threejudge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud seeking a listing of the application.

"There is an MA in the Article 370 matter, the implementation for conferring statehood...it has to be time-bound," Sankaranarayanan mentioned the application and sought an urgent listing. The CJI DY Chandrachud then agreed to consider the request.

A Miscellaneous Application (MA) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir within two months.

The Supreme Court had upheld the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by the Centre. The judgment had directed the Election Commission of India to conduct polls to the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly by September 30, 2024, and asked the Centre to restore statehood to the region “as soon as possible” without setting any timeline.

However, the top court did not address the issue of the constitutionality of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, which converted the regions of Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories, taking note of Centre's submission that the Statehood will be restored.

The MA in top court has been filed by Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, stating that despite the assurance given by the Centre the statehood has not been restored and 11 months have passed since the December 2023 verdict of the top court.

The application states that non-restoration of statehood violates the basic feature of federalism, which is part of the "basic structure of the Constitution."

The plea contended that the successful conduct of Assembly Elections shows that there is not an impediment of security concerns, violence or any other disturbances which would prevent restoration of the status of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

The December 2023 verdict by the top court called the abrogation the “culmination of the process of integration” of the erstwhile state into the Union of India.

In May, 2024, the Supreme Court declined to review its December 2023 judgment, which unanimously endorsed Centre's August 2019, decision to abrogate Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir.

While considering a bunch of review petitions assailing the judgment, a five-judge bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud found no error apparent on the face of the record that could warrant a relook at the verdict.