SC to start hearing challenges to abrogation of Article 370 from August 2

Supreme Court Article 370

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on July 11 indicated that it will commence the hearing of a bunch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 on a daily basis from August 2.

The case will not be heard on Mondays and Fridays as they are reserved for the hearing of fresh cases.

The court also mentioned that the affidavit filed by the central government on July 10, which claimed that the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir has experienced a significant period of peace, progress, and prosperity, with street violence orchestrated by terrorists and separatist networks being a thing of the past, should not be considered as it does not relate to the constitutional matters.

The court directed all the parties to file their documents and case laws by July 27. The court permitted the removal of former IAS officer Shah Faesal and activist Shehela Rashid from the list of parties. The court also changed the cause title of the case to 'In Re: Article 370' (In the case of Article 370) to avoid any confusion going forward.

On August 5, 2019, the Centre decided to strip the erstwhile state of J and K of special status and bifurcate it into two Union Territories.

Several petitions challenging the Centre's decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split J-K into two Union Territories--Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh--were referred to a Constitution bench in 2019.

The Centre contended that the "historic constitutional step" being challenged has brought unprecedented development, progress, security and stability to the region, which was often missing during the old Article 370 regime. It is submitted that the same has been possible due to the policy of the Union of India of ensuring peace, prosperity and progress in the region, the affidavit said.