The Supreme Court granted four weeks’ additional time to the Union government to respond to a batch of applications demanding the time-bound restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran passed the order after Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, the second-highest law officer of the Centre, sought more time to respond to the petitioners’ contention that the undertaking given before the Constitution Bench for restoring statehood in J&K should be implemented.
“There are circumstances, situations, and several angles. There are cross-border considerations,” submitted SG Mehta, flagging that a group of people seeks to portray a “grim picture” of J&K at the global platform.
“Jammu and Kashmir region has progressed and everyone is happy and 99.99 per cent of the people there treat the Government of India as their own government,” he said.
In its order, the CJI Gavai-led Bench noted SG Mehta’s submission that while substantial progress has taken place in J&K, incidents like the Pahalgam terror attack will have to be considered before making a final decision.
The apex court further noted that elections to the J&K Assembly were conducted peacefully, and that the Centre and state governments are in consultation regarding the restoration of statehood.
In an earlier hearing held on August 14, the CJI Gavai-led Bench pointed to the “ground realities” and the Pahalgam terror attack as it acceded to the Centre’s request to list the matter after eight weeks.
“You will also have to take into consideration the ground realities. You cannot ignore what has happened in Pahalgam,” the apex court told the applicants seeking an earlier hearing on pleas to restore J&K’s statehood in a time-bound manner.
The applicants argued that the continued delay in restoring statehood is “gravely affecting the rights of the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and also violating the idea of federalism”.
They added that the failure to restore statehood within a time-bound framework amounts to a violation of federalism, which forms part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
It may be recalled that the 5-judge Constitution Bench, headed by then CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, in ‘re: Article 370 of the Constitution’ verdict, had left open the question of whether the Parliament can extinguish the character of statehood by converting a state into one or more Union Territories, relying on an oral statement made on the Centre’s behalf that statehood would be restored to J&K.
In the course of the oral hearing, the Centre’s law officer had submitted that the Union Home Ministry cannot give any exact timeframe and it would take “some time” for the restoration of statehood in J&K.
The Constitution Bench had ordered the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take steps to conduct polls to the Legislative Assembly of J&K, constituted under Section 14 of the Reorganisation Act, by September 30, 2024, and said that “restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible”.
