Informist, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Thursday sought the government's response on an application seeking to direct the Centre to restore Jammu and Kashmir's statehood. The application was filed in a case where the apex court had on Dec. 11, 2023, upheld the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which conferred special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Appearing for the government, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said the application was not maintainable. "We assured statehood after elections. There is a peculiar position in this part of our country. I don't know why this issue is agitated now. This particular state is not the correct one to muddy the water. I'll still seek instructions (from the government), eight weeks may be given," said Mehta. The bench led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai observed that one also has to take into consideration the ground realities of Jammu and Kashmir and cannot ignore what has happened in the Pahalgam terror attack. The top court placed the case for hearing after eight weeks.

The application - filed by a college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and an activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik in 2024 - states that the failure to restore Jammu and Kashmir's statehood was gravely affecting the rights of the citizens of the valley.

Bhat and Malik said that since the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were conducted peacefully, there would be no security concerns if the apex court passed an order to restore the valley's statehood in a time-bound manner. The conversion of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories resulted in the valley being given a lesser form of elected government, said the petitioners.

The petitioners said that Jammu and Kashmir always had a federal relationship with the Union of India. Thus, it is of utmost importance that its statehood is restored so that Jammu and Kashmir can enjoy autonomy in their individual identity and also play an important part in the overall development of the country, the petitioners further said.

On Aug. 5, 2019, the Centre issued a presidential order scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and making all provisions of the Indian Constitution applicable to the state. According to the government, this was done to correct a "historical blunder" and truly integrate Jammu & Kashmir with the Indian Union. Article 370 granted special powers to Jammu & Kashmir to decide the extent to which the Indian Constitution would be applicable to the state. Through another order, the government bifurcated the state into two Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. On Aug. 6, 2019, Parliament approved the presidential orders, superseding the 1954 order.

In its 2023 judgment, the apex court dismissed petitions against abrogation of Article 370 and also rejected review petitions in the case in May 2024. In 2023, the top court also directed that statehood be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest and steps be taken by the Election Commission of India to conduct elections for its legislative Assembly by Sept. 30, 2023.

The elections of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly were held in three phases in 2024. The alliance of the National Conference, the Congress, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) secured a majority in the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly, winning 49 seats. However, the Congress party declined to be part of the government. Thereafter, National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah took oath as the first chief minister of the Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. End

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Nishant Maher

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