Landmark SC judgment upholds 370 abrogation

IF Article 370 that gave special powers to J&K died on August 5, 2019 after the Centre read it down, it was buried on Monday when the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court upheld the government’s decision.

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In a landmark verdict, a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud held that the abrogation of Article 370 was not malafide, adding the special status was a temporary and transitory provision.

It directed the Election Commission of India to hold J&K elections by September 30 next year and asked the government to restore J&K’s statehood at the earliest.

The court also upheld the decision to carve out Ladakh as a Union Territory (UT) from J&K but left the question of whether a state can be turned into a UT open. “The question whether Parliament can convert a State into a Union Territory is left open,” the court said.