J&K govt seeks adjournment of hearing on Art 35A

NEWDELHI: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday sought adjournment of hearing on the contentious Article 35A case, which was expected to be taken up by the Supreme Court this week.

M Shoeb Alam, the standing counsel of the Jammu and Kashmir government in the Supreme Court, filed a note before the top court’s secretary general, requesting postponement of the hearing. The matter was listed for February 12.

In the letter, Alam submitted that the state “will be seeking adjournment in the matter because there is presently no elected government in Jammu and Kashmir and the State is under President’s Rule”.

“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 and notices have not been issued in the other petitions. It will therefore be requested that the matter may kindly be heard when an elected government is in place,” the letter reads.

Article 35A, incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of J&K and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state. The provision also applies to children of such women marrying non-state subjects.

If a woman from Jammu and Kashmir marries a non-permanent resident (in simple words a man from other states), her husband and children will not get permanent resident certificate, but if a man from J&K marries a woman from other states, she and her children automatically become citizens of the state and get all the privileges under Article 35A.

SHOEB ALAM, STANDING COUNSEL OF THE J&K GOVERNMENT, FILED A NOTE REQUESTING POSTPONEMENT OF THE HEARING