SC to take up on August 8 plea seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir

The Supreme Court is likely to take up on August 8 a petition seeking directions to the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

“The date (on the top court website) shows as August 8. Let it not be deleted,” senior counsel Gopal Sankaranarayanan told a bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran on Tuesday while mentioning a petition filed by college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshid Ahmad Malik.

CJI Gavai agreed not to delete the case from the top court’s August 8 cause list.

“The delay in restoration of statehood would cause serious reduction of democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir causing grave violation of the idea of federalism which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India,” the petitioners contended.

Contending that assembly election results in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir would be meaningless without restoration of statehood, Bhat and Malik had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in October 2024 seeking restoration of its statehood in two months.

Referring to the assembly poll in Jammu and Kashmir, they submitted that formation of the legislative assembly before the restoration of statehood violated the idea of federalism — a part of basic structure of the Constitution.

The BJP-led government at the Centre has already said it would restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

In its December 11, 2023 historic verdict, the Supreme Court upheld the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and said “restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest”.

A five-judge Constitution bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud (since retired) had unanimously directed the Election Commission to hold election in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024 without waiting for restoration of statehood. The election was conducted in September-October 2024.

While upholding creation of Ladakh as a separate union territory in view of security reasons, the top court had left open the legal question as to whether Parliament can completely convert a state into a union territory as opposed to carving out a union territory from a state in view of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s statement that the Centre would restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Supreme Court had in May 2024 dismissed petitions seeking review of its December 11, 2023 verdict.