SC to start hearing in Art 370 pleas today

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday referred a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and related issues to its Constitution bench which would commence hearing in the matter on Tuesday.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi referred the pleas, which have also raised matters such as alleged restrictions imposed on the movement of journalists in Kashmir and illegal detention of minors in the Valley, to a 5-judge bench of the apex court.

The bench will be headed by justice NV Ramana and also comprise justices SK Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, BR Gavai and Surya Kant.

The Petitions have been filed by the National Conference, the Sajjad Lone-led JK Peoples Conference and several other individuals, including the first plea filed by advocate ML Sharma.

The NC plea was filed by Lok Sabha MPS Mohammad Akbar Lone and justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi. Lone is a former speaker of the J&K assembly and justice Masoodi a retired judge of the J&K high court. In 2015, he had ruled that Article 370 was a permanent feature of the Constitution.

Other pleas include the one filed by a group of former defence officers and bureaucrats. They have also sought directions declaring the presidential orders of August 5 “unconstitutional, void and inoperative”.

A petition has also been filed by bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal, along with his party colleague and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union leader Shehla Rashid.

While challenging the Centre’s decisions to scrap provisions of the Article 370 that accorded special status, and dividing it into two Union Territories, the two MPS have sought a direction to declare the Act and the Presidential Orders as “unconstitutional, void and inoperative”.

They submitted that the apex court now has t o examine whether the Union government can “unilaterally” unravel the unique federal scheme under the cover of President’s rule while undermining crucial elements of due process and rule of law. They have submitted that the new legislation unconstitutionally undermined the scheme of Article 370.