SC refuses urgent hearing on plea against Article 370 move

PTI, Aug 8, 2019, 12:53 PM IST

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to accord urgent hearing to a plea challenging the Presidential Order on Article 370 which revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana and the court said that the plea would be heard in the due course. Advocate M L Sharma, who has filed the petition, urged the bench that his plea be listed for hearing either on August 12 or 13.

The bench asked Sharma as to whether he has cured the defects in his petition. Responding to the query, Sharma said that he has cured the objections and his petition has been numbered by the registry.

While requesting the court to list the matter for hearing, the petitioner said that the Pakistan government and some Kashmiri people have said that they will move the United Nations against the Presidential order on Article 370.

“If they go to the United Nations, can the UN stay the constitutional amendment of the union of India,” the bench told Sharma, adding,”you reserve your energy for arguing the matter”.

Sharma in his plea has claimed that the Presidential order on Article 370 was illegal since it was passed without the consent of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

President Ram Nath Kovind has declared abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The move came after both houses of Parliament passed a resolution in this regard.

The BJP-led government’s move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the border state into two Union territories secured Parliament’s approval on Tuesday with the Lok Sabha passing the new measures with an over two-thirds majority. The Rajya Sabha gave its approval to the resolution on Monday.

The government had announced on Monday the removal of some provisions of Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and proposed bifurcation of the state into two Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — a far-reaching decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of a region at the centre of protracted militancy.