The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will begin hearing petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution from August 2, reported Live Law.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud was hearing over 20 petitions challenging the government’s decisions to cancel Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and split the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
The bench said that it will hear the arguments of the petitioners and the Centre on a day-to-day basis from August 2, except on Mondays and Fridays, reported Live Law.
The court directed the petitioners and respondents to file all written submissions by July 27.
On Monday, the Centre filed an affidavit stating that its decision to abrogate Article 370 on August 5, 2019 brought peace, progress and stability to Jammu and Kashmir that had been missing before.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union Government, told the bench on Tuesday that the affidavit merely reflects the present situation of the Union Territory, reported Live Law.
Chief Justice Chandrachud said that the Centre’s affidavit will not have any bearing on the merits of the matter relating to the constitutionality of the decisions.
SC allows removal of Shehla Rashid, Shah Faesal as petitioners
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed activist Shehla Rashid and bureaucrat Shah Faesal to remove their names from the list of petitioners, reported The Indian Express.
Faesal had sought to withdraw his plea in September, days after being reinstated as an Indian Administrative Service officer. He had quit the civil services in January 2019 in protest against the “unabated killings in Kashmir” and the alleged lack of initiative from the Centre. A couple of months later, he had launched his political party, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement.
However, he was reinstated into the civil services and appointed Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Culture in August.
Rashid was a member of Faesal’s party but quit electoral politics in October 2019.
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