The Supreme Court has adjourned a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the validity of the Article 35-A today. The court said a three-judge bench would decide whether the pleas challenging Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, should be referred to a five-judge Constitution bench for examining the larger issue of alleged violation of the doctrine of basic structure of the Constitution.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A Khanwilkar adjourned the crucial hearing on as many as five petitions "to the week commencing from August 27" on the grounds that they pertained to the challenge to a Constitutional scheme and could not be heard as the third judge, Justice D Y Chandrachud, was not present today.
The Valley has been under shutdown since Sunday in support of Article 35A that guarantees special privileges to the state.
The top court is hearing a batch of petitions in the matter, including the one filed by an NGO 'We the Citizens', which has links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), seeking revoking of the article.
Amarnath Yatra has been suspended as a precautionary measure. Hundreds of pilgrims camping in Jammu to join the yatra to the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir were not allowed from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp Sunday morning, the officials said.
On Sunday, the Valley saw peaceful protests in support of Article 35-A that bars people from outside Jammu and Kashmir to acquire any immovable property in the state.
