A Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud is set to pronounce its judgment on the challenge to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special privileges to Jammu and Kashmir.
The bench also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant reserved its decision on September 5 this year after hearing extensive arguments from the petitioners and the government spanning over 16 days.
The central government had defended its decision to abrogate Article 370, saying that there was no “constitutional fraud” in repealing the provision and that the Valley had prospered in the past four-and-a-half years after the repeal of Article 370 in August 2019. It also gave an undertaking that the Union Territory status of Jammu and Kashmir was only a “temporary phenomenon” and that it would be restored to full statehood.
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On the other hand, the petitioners submitted that the Union government used brute majority in the Parliament and issued a series of executive orders through the President to divide a full-fledged State into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. They called it an attack on federalism and a fraud played on the Constitution.
The bench has also raised several pertinent questions during the proceedings — whether the dissolution of the State Constituent Assembly could render Article 370 beyond abrogation, whether the provision forms a part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution, and whether the ambit of judicial review prevents the court from assessing the ‘wisdom’ behind the Union government’s decision to abrogate Article 370.
Also Read: Explained | What is the debate around Article 370?
The apex court took up this case for hearing after a delay of almost four years. In March 2020, when the Court last heard the matter, the question was about referring the case to a larger bench, which a five-judge bench presided by Justice N.V. Ramana refused. The case was referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench in 2019 by a three-judge bench led by former CJI Rajan Gogoi.
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