SC gave judicial burial to Art 370, resolved long-standing constitutional matters
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, December 28
The year 2023 would be remembered in the history of the Supreme Court of India for giving a judicial burial to Article 370 of the Constitution as it upheld the abrogation of the controversial provision that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of J&K.
In a unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud on December 11 said “restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest” and directed the Election Commission to hold elections in the J&K by September 30, 2024, without waiting for restoration. It also upheld the creation of Ladakh as a UT in view of its strategic location and security concerns even as it chose not to rule on the legality of the reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs of Ladakh and J&K in view of the Centre’s assurance that statehood would be restored to J&K.
On August 4, the SC gave a major relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as it stayed his conviction in a criminal defamation case related to his 2019 ‘Modi’ surname remark, leading to restoration of his Lok Sabha membership and saving him from electoral disqualification.
During the year, the top court decided several disputes of constitutional importance, including those relating to same-sex marriage, legality of demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, appointment of the CEC and ECs, tussle between the Delhi Government and the Lt Governor for control over bureaucracy in the national capital, and Governor’s sitting over Bills passed by assemblies of Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Holding that there’s no fundamental right to marry, the Supreme Court on October 17 refused to allow same-sex marriages in India even as it directed the Centre to set up a high-powered committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary to decide the rights and entitlements of persons in queer unions. A five-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI Chandrachud unanimously turned down petitions seeking to allow same-sex marriages under the Special Marriage Act, saying it’s for Parliament to effect changes in the law for validating such unions.
Another five-judge Constitution Bench led by Justice KM Joseph (since retired) on March 2 unanimously ruled that the appointment of the CEC and ECs shall be made by the President on the advice of a committee consisting of the PM, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI. The ruling has since been replaced by a new law in which the CJI is not on the panel to select CEC and ECs. More than six years after the Centre demonetised the currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination, the SC on January 2 upheld the Centre’s decision to be valid and legal, saying merely because some citizens suffered hardships was not a ground to hold it bad in law.
