J&K SEEKS ADJOURNMENT OF HEARING ON ART 35-A IN SC

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday sought adjournment of hearing on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to natives of state, saying there was no “elected government” in the state. The apex court is scheduled to hear the petitions this week.

The application for adjournment was moved before the registrar general of the Supreme Court by the J&K government through its counsel M Shoeb Alam. In a letter, Alam said: “The present matter involves a sensitive issue regarding a challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution of India. A short reply has been filed by the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the lead matter ‘We the Citizens’ and notices have not been issued on the other petitions. It will therefore be requesting that the matter may kindly be heard when an elected government is in place.”

“The letter may kindly be circulated to the judges so as to avoid inconvenience to them,” the letter added.

Article 35A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of J&K and bars people from outside the state from acquiring any immovable property in the state.

It denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state.

The provision also applies to their heirs.