NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear, on Thursday, 14 August, an application filed by two residents of Jammu and Kashmir, college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, seeking directions to the Centre to restore the statehood of the Union Territory.
According to the cause list of the apex court, a two-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran is expected to hear the pleas filed by Bhat and Malik, who were also petitioners in the original Article 370 abrogation matter, seeking the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
The petitioners submitted that the failure to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir was gravely affecting the rights of its citizens.
Earlier, during a hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, contended that Jammu and Kashmir’s status as a Union Territory is temporary and that statehood will be restored to the region, except for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The application has urged the apex court to pass appropriate directions at the earliest and in a time-bound manner, as the Union had undertaken earlier to do so.
The petitioners pointed out that despite the assurance given by the Solicitor General that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood would be restored, the Union has not taken any steps in that regard in the years after the judgment in the Article 370 case.
The application was filed in the disposed of case concerning the abrogation of Article 370, in which the Supreme Court upheld the removal of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The applicants, being the conscious citizens of Jammu and Kashmir, are aggrieved that, even after the passing of 10 months since the order of 11 August 2023, till date no steps have been taken to restore the status of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir as a state, which is gravely affecting the rights of the inhabitants of Jammu and Kashmir,” the plea stated.
Seeking an immediate direction to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the petitioners also alleged that the delay was violating the basic structure of federalism, and it is for that reason that they have preferred the present application to seek appropriate directions to the Union of India for restoration of statehood in a time-bound manner, within a period of two months.
They further argued that if necessary directions to restore statehood are not passed at the earliest by the court, it would allegedly cause grave harm to the federal structure of the country.
The petitioners also cited that since the assembly elections were conducted peacefully, there would be no security concerns if the apex court directed the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory within a time-bound period.