J&K can't claim sovereignty after it acceded to India: SC in Art 370 case

Jammu & Kashmir cannot claim sovereignty independent of the Union of India after the erstwhile princely state acceded to the country, the Supreme Court observed on Thursday, adding it is a "very, very difficult proposition to accept" that Article 370 was a permanent feature wresting a vestige of sovereignty with the J&K legislative assembly.

- Utkarsh Anand

According to a Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, the integration of J&K with the country was "absolutely complete" as soon as Article 1 of the Indian Constitution came into force, declaring it to be a part of the Union of India and therefore, no questions could now be raised regarding the "complete merger" of J&K.

On the fifth day of the arguments in a batch of petitions that have challenged the August 2019 abrogation of Article 370 and the revocation of J&K's special status, the five-judge bench emphasised that distribution of legislative powers, or a restriction on the Centre to frame laws on certain subjects or in some states, does not affect the fact that sovereignty rests only with the Union of India.