SC begins hearing pleas challenging Article 370

could have been done without the participation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, through their elected representatives, since the erstwhile state was split into two Union Territories.

“The second major head will be with particular reference to Jammu and Kashmir that is when Article 370 prescribes within itself the mechanism for alteration in that relationship, whether that mechanism can be disobeyed while making this irreversible change,” he said. A batch of petitions has been filed in the matter including that of private individuals, lawyers, activists and political parties like National Conference (NC), Sajjad Lone-led J&K Peoples Conference and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohd Yousuf Tarigami.

The court had on November 14 refused to pass any interim order on the pleas saying it might lead to delay in the matter and the apex court would settle all the issues at one go after hearing all the parties.

The court had also asked the parties to prepare a common compilation of all the documents so that hearing of the matter becomes easier.

The petition on behalf of NC was filed by Lok Sabha MPS Mohammad Akbar Lone and Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi. In 2015, former justice Masoodi had ruled that Article 370 was a permanent feature of the Constitution.

A plea was also f i l ed by a group of former defence officers and bureaucrats — professor Radha Kumar, ex-member of home ministry’s Group of Interl ocutors f or J& K ( 2010- 11), f o r mer J & K c a d r e I ndi a n Administrative Service (IAS) officer Hindal Haidar Tyabji, Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak, Major General ( r et d) Ashok Kumar Mehta, ex-punjab-cadre IAS officer Amitabha Pande and ex-kerala-cadre IAS officer Gopal Pillai.

The president added that he would cancel a planned trip to Argentina, where he had been expected to attend the Tuesday inauguration of incoming President Alberto Fernandez.

The region where the plane disappeared is a vast, largely untouched ocean wilderness of penguin-inhabited ice sheets off the edge of the South American continent.

The plane had been traveling to perform logistical support tasks for the maintenance of Chilean facilities at the Antarctic base, the air force said.