Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta has disallowed a resolution that wanted the House to recommend to the Centre that Articles 35A, 370 and other statutes relating to the state’s special status be kept out of judicial review, Greater Kashmir reported.
“In terms of the Rule 179 of the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the legislature, I am directed to inform you that the speaker has disallowed the resolution,” said a letter written by the legislative assembly secretariat to MLA from North Kashmir’s Langate constituency, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, alias Rashid Engineer.
Though the letter did not specify a reason, Gupta told the daily that the matters were pending in the Supreme Court. “You cannot bring a resolution on sub-judice matters,” he said.
Article 35A and Article 370
Article 35A, which is part of The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) order, gives the state legislature the power to define the “permanent residents” of the state and provide them with special rights and privileges. An NGO, We The Citizens, had challenged the article’s legality in the Supreme Court on the grounds that it was never presented before Parliament and was implemented on the president’s orders.
The Constitutional provision bars citizens from other parts of the country from acquiring immovable property in the state, taking up jobs with the state government, availing of state-sponsored scholarships, or settling permanently anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir.
The article was implement by former President Rajendra Prasad in 1954. Under the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 1954, the provision appears as an “appendix” in the Constitution and not an amendment.
Article 370 of the Indian Constitution grants Jammu and Kashmir special status. On August 8, the Supreme Court had admitted a plea challenging the legality of Article 370 of the Constitution and the special status it grants to Jammu and Kashmir. The court had issued a notice to the Central government and sought a response.
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