Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court will conduct day‑to‑day hearings from August 2 on petitions against the scrapping of Article 370.
- The petitions also contest the Centre’s move to split the state into two Union Territories: J&K and Ladakh.
- Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud heads the five‑judge bench overseeing the constitutional challenges.
New Delhi: Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to hear on a day-to-day basis from August 2 a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s August 5, 2019, decision to scrap special status under Article 370 of Jammu & Kashmir.
The hearings will also include the petitions challenging the Centre’s decision taken on the same day to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories – J&K and Ladakh.
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, scheduled day-to-day hearings from August 2 on 23 writ petitions.
“The hearing of the petitions before the constitution bench shall commence on August 2, 10:30 am and then proceed on day-to=day basis barring miscellaneous days, ie, on Monday and Friday.,” the CJI said in the order.
The apex court also said that the written submissions should be filed on or before July 27 and no more submissions would be allowed thereafter.
The Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, senior law officer of the Union of India, submitted that though the Centre has filed an additional affidavit setting out the Central government’s view on post-notification development, it would have no bearing on the constitutional question and it would not be relied upon.
Mehta also said the Centre’s Monday affidavit was to inform the SC about post-August 2019 developments in the UTs/
The issues before the SC relates to the constitutional validity of the scrapping of Article 370 conferring special status on J&K.
