SC Decision on Article 370: J&K’s destiny inextricably linked to the Republic of India 

The five-member bench directed the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir “as soon as possible”.

The Supreme Court today put its unambiguous imprimatur on the Centre’s four-year-old (August 5, 2019) historic decision to scrap Article 370 and thus made it absolutely clear that Jammu and Kashmir’s destiny is inextricably intertwined with that of the Republic of India.

The five-member bench, led by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, however, directed the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir “as soon as possible”. It also asked the Election Commission of India to hold elections in the state before September 30, 2024. The bench also comprised Justices SK Kaul, Sanjeev Khanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant.

Reading out the verdict that the apex court had reserved after 16 days of hearings on September 5 this year while considering as many as 23 petitions, the Chief Justice said Jammu and Kashmir held no internal sovereignty after accession to India and that there was no prima facie case that the President’s orders were mala fide or an extraneous exercise of power.

The petitioners argued that Jammu and Kashmir historically had a unique relationship with the Union. They also said there was no example to show that Article 370 imposition "failed", and it is therefore unfathomable why its removal was done overnight.

The Centre contended  that the erstwhile state of J&K had fully surrendered its sovereignty to the Union of India upon accession.

But the bench led by CJI Chandrachud rejected the contention of the petitioners on a “unique relationship”, which was cited by them as the reason for having Article 370. CJI Chandrachud said: ‘The fact that J&K is an integral part of India is evidenced in Section 3 of the J&K Constitution itself, apart from Articles 1 and 370 of the Indian Constitution.”

Interestingly, Article 3 of the J&K Constitution reads: "The State of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India." The state's Constitution also provides that this provision cannot be amended.

In one of the most pertinent observations in the verdict, the CJI made it clear that the President and Parliament are not impeded to take over as Governor/State Legislature after the proclamation of President’s rule under Article 356.

On August 5, 2019 the Centre issued an order amending The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954, and superseding it with The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019.

Article 370 is in Part XXI of the Constitution, titled “Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions”. Article 370 is titled “Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Included in the Constitution on October 17, 1949, Article 370 exempted J&K from the Indian Constitution (except Article 1 and Article 370 itself) and permitted the state to draft its own Constitution.

Now that the SC has pronounced its verdict, two key questions remain: When will statehood be restored? Will elections be held while J&K is still a union territory?