NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of pleas seeking directions to the Election Commission (EC) and the Central government for holding early assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The pleas will be heard on July 11.
Noting that a five-judge Constitution bench has listed for July 11 the hearing of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370, the bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, and Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Mishra, posted the pleas for the same day. “We will adjourn this. The 370 matter is listed for directions on July 11,” the bench said, refusing to issue a notice.
The pleas filed by the National Panthers Party leaders Manju Singh and Harsh Dev Singh had sought directions to the Election Commission of India to hold the elections in the Union Territory without further delay. It was argued in the plea that delaying elections has resulted in the people of Jammu and Kashmir being denied their right to have elected representatives.
“People of J&K, including the petitioners, have been deprived of their right to be represented by elected representatives in violation of the fundamental tenets of democracy, which the SC had held as part of the basic structure of the Constitution in ‘Keshavananda Bharti V/s Union of India & Ors. (1973) 4 SCC 225,” the plea said.