SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS JUNKING OF ARTICLE 370

J&K became an integral part of India, evident in Articles 1 and 370 of the Constitution

- ASHISH SINHA

The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed that Article 370 of the Constitution was a temporary provision, and the President’s authority to revoke it remains intact. A constitutional bench of five judges, including CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, pronounced their verdict on a set of petitions contesting the abrogation of Article 370.

The apex court upheld the Modi government’s decision to revoke Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, emphasising the need to conduct assembly elections in the region by September 30 of the following year.

CJI Chandrachud remarked, “Article 370 was an interim arrangement during wartime conditions in the state. The Constituent Assembly of J&K was never meant to be a permanent body.”

He further called it a unanimous verdict by a five-judge bench on petitions challenging Centre’s 2019 decisions to scrap special status for Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370.

In delivering the verdict, the Chief Justice of India highlighted that Jammu and Kashmir did not retain sovereign elements after its integration into India. “J&K became an integral part of India, evident in Articles 1 and 370 of the Constitution,” he noted, mentioning the three judgments delivered by the 5-judge bench on the matter.