Nearly four years after the Centre abrogated Article 370, a five-judge Constitution bench will on July 11 hear petitions challenging the government’s decision to cancel Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and special status.

The Union government had scrapped Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and Jammu and Kashmir was split into two Union Territories. The Centre had also repealed Article 35A, which ensured special rights and privileges to people defined as “permanent residents” of Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, the region has been under central rule.

More than 20 petitions have been filed in the matter. Amongst the petitioners are lawyers, activists, politicians, retired civil servants and non-governmental organisations.

The Supreme Court bench scheduled to hear the case is led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprises Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant.

When the case was last listed in March 2020, the court had refused to refer the matter to a seven-judge bench.

Senior counsel Dinesh Dwivedi, who appeared as an intervener in the case, had argued that two earlier judgements by the Supreme Court contradicted each other with regard to the scope and intent of Article 370. Since those judgements were delivered by a five-judge bench, a bench of seven or more judges should be constituted to hear the petitions, he had argued.

In September, the Supreme Court had said it will list the matter after the Dussehra break between October 3 and October 10. However, it was not taken up.

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J&K parties welcome SC decision

Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference, on Monday welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case.

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said she hopes that “justice is upheld and delivered” for the residents of the erstwhile state. “The SC ruling on Article 370 maintained that the provision can be abrogated only on the recommendation of the J&K constituent Assembly,” she tweeted.

Mufti was referring to the the Sampat Prakash judgement of 1968 in which the Supreme Court had held that Article 370 will cease to be operative only if the president of India issues a direction on a recommendation made by the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.

Peoples Democratic Party leader Naeem Akhtar told PTI that the court’s listing of the case was “better late than never”.

“We have been waiting for this day for the last four years now,” he told the news agency. “People of Jammu and Kashmir, who had acceded to this country, on the basis of democracy, Constitutional values were cheated and ultimately disempowered.”

Akhtar added that the judiciary is the last hope for the Jammu and Kashmir residents as it “has upheld the rights of individuals and the groups of individuals”.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Finally the bench is constituted. I look forward to the hearings beginning in right earnest now.”

Congress leader Salman Soz said that if the Supreme Court assesses the Centre’s 2019 decision, it will conclude that the government “engaged in blatant subversion of Constitutional provisions, unlawfully disempowered the people of J&K and dealt a blow to Indian democracy”.