New Delhi: A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking for a direction to the central government to restore statehood of Jammu and Kashmir in a time bound manner within a period of two months, against the backdrop of the assurance given by the government to the apex court.
Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, one of the intervenors in the matter titled 'In re: Article 370 of the Constitution', along with another person, has filed the application in the apex court. The plea said that if directions to restore the status of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir are not passed at the earliest by the court then it would lead to grave harm being caused to the federal structure of the country.
The plea said that the non-restoration of the status of statehood of Jammu & Kashmir will result in Jammu & Kashmir being given a lesser form of elected democratic government especially in light of the legislative assembly results being declared on October 8.
“Keeping in mind the intention of founding fathers of the Constitution which gave highest regard to the sovereignty of the states and federal structure of our Constitution, this court ought to have no hesitation in passing directions to the Union of India to restore the status of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir in a time bound manner”, said the plea.
The plea argued that Article 3 qualitatively differs from Article 2 which provides almost unfettered powers to Parliament to admit into the Union or establish new states.
It said that the rationale being Article 2 is intended to enhance federalism by admitting new territories into the Union of India. “Whereas the powers of the Parliament under Article 3 are considerably regulated as it directly impacts the federal structure of our polity. If such a state action is ratified by this court, India can be reduced to a ‘Union of Union Territories’ merely by parliamentary legislation, which neither the text nor the spirit of the Constitution permits”, said the plea.
The plea submitted that in Indian political history, there is no precedent of a state being converted into a Union Territory and a Union Territory with legislature being created without a constitutional amendment and added that the impugned state actions are not supported by any precedent either.
"It is of utmost importance that the status of statehood is restored so that the people can enjoy an autonomy in their individual identity and also play an important part in the overall development of the country," his plea said.
The apex court’s judgment delivered on December 11, 2023, recorded an assurance of the central government regarding restoration of statehood of J&K. The apex court had then rejected a challenge to the validity of dilution of Article 370 of the Constitution.
The plea submitted that the conversion of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories has resulted in Jammu and Kashmir being given a lesser form of elected democratic government, which will soon be formed once the results of the Legislative Assembly are declared.
The plea contended that if the status of statehood is not restored to Jammu and Kashmir in a time bound manner, grave prejudice would be caused to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir also leading to the violation of their fundamental rights and also gravely affecting the democratic structure of Jammu and Kashmir and its territorial integrity.
