J&K governor committed 'serious constitutional misconduct' by recommending abrogation of Article 370 to President, SC told

Senior advocate Zafar Shah appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association submitted that limitations were provided in Article 370 itself with regard to the powers of Parliament to make laws for J&K and, concurrence of the state government was required if the Centre were to make any law on a subject which was not covered under the Instrument of Accession. -- Reports ETV Bharat's Sumit Saxena.

New Delhi: Senior advocate Zafar Shah Thursday told the Supreme Court that the then governor of Jammu and Kashmir had committed a “serious constitutional misconduct” by recommending the abrogation of Article 370 to the President.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising justices S K Kaul, Sanjeev Khanna, B R Gavai, and Surya Kant, is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370, which bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah, appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, one of the petitioners that challenged the abrogation of Article 370, submitted that limitations were provided in Article 370 itself with regard to the powers of Parliament to make laws for J&K and, concurrence of the state government was required if the Centre were to make any law on a subject which was not covered under the Instrument of Accession (IoA). Shah said special status was accorded to J&K because there was no merger agreement and the autonomy of the state had to be maintained.

He said constitutionally speaking, no power is vested in either the Centre or the President to make any laws for the erstwhile state. Shah stressed that the then J&K governor had committed a “serious constitutional misconduct” in 2019 by recommending the abrogation of Article 370 to the President. Shah said for complete integration of J&K with India, one had to get rid of the IoA signed on October 26, 1947, as well as Article 370, and then execute a merger agreement.

At this juncture, Justice Khanna expressed reservations on the use of the term “completely integrates”, and said that integration had already taken place as per Article 1 of the Constitution. Shah said J&K people have been divided for a long time as one part went into Pakistan, the other is with China and the remaining part is here. He said, “We are being sandwiched by all forces being applied”.

Shah concluded his arguments after which senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference and others, commenced his arguments. The hearing in the matter will resume on August 16. The petitioners have emphasized that only the constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir could have recommended the abrogation of Article 370 and, since it ceased to exist after drafting the state Constitution in 1957, the provision acquired a permanent status.