Peoples Conference moves SC seeking urgent hearing of pleas challenging abrogation of Article 370
Citing the newly-formulated land laws in Jammu and Kashmir, the application said it is causing ‘irreparable damage’ to the rights of the people.
The Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Conference, headed by Sajad Lone on Monday, filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking early hearing of petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370.
The application, a copy of which has been accessed by Scroll.in, states that the petitions contesting last year’s decision “have made out a very strong prima facie case and the issues raised are being considered by a Constitution Bench of the court”.
Making its case for an early hearing, the application said that the pending final hearing in the pleas and the prevailing pandemic conditions notwithstanding, “sweeping changes are being brought about by the Centre that impact the rights of a large number of people, including dilution of the safeguards earlier available to the permanent residents of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Peoples Conference spokesperson Adnan Ashraf Mir, who presented the application on behalf of his party, argued that the changes undertaken by the Centre “would have an irreparable impact on the rights of the citizens of J&K, which included the creation of domicile rights and third-party rights in land ownership”.
Significantly, the Ministry of Home Affairs last month notified new land laws for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This makes it possible for any Indian citizen to buy land in the region.
“The very purpose of the present proceedings will be severely undermined if the present petitions are not heard and disposed of urgently,” the application said.
Following the filing of the application, Jammu Kashmir National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah tweeted saying that the decision was taken at a meeting of the People’s Alliance.
As decided in the recent meeting of the People’s Alliance we are seeking early hearings in this matter so that the petitions challenging 5th Aug 2019 move forward. https://t.co/JKKfPkwcuw
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) November 9, 2020
The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, a tie-up of six parties, held a meeting on Saturday where they decided to unitedly contest the elections to the 20 District Development Councils in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir has been under central rule since June 2018. The special status of the erstwhile state under Article 370 was revoked in August 2019 by the Parliament and it was bifurcated into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. A slew of petitions challenging the abrogation is pending before the Supreme Court.
