Centre wants debate on J&K special status

NEW DELHI: The Union government has expressed its reservations in responding to a petition before the Supreme Court that calls for declaring as “unconstitutional” the Article 35A — which grants the Jammu and Kashmir legislature powers to define the state’s “permanent residents”.

Attorney general KK Venugopal told the bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar that the NDA government was not keen on filing an affidavit in the case, and wants a “larger debate” on the issue, which it said was a “very sensitive” matter.

The attorney general asked the chief justice of India to refer the matter to a larger bench as constitutional issues were involved in the case.

The court said a three-judge bench will hear the matter after six weeks.

The Article 35A of the Constitution provides special rights and privileges to the “permanent residents” of J&K — a provision which came into effect in 1954 when the the President used the powers conferred on him by Article 370 to introduce the ‘Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 1954’.