The Supreme Court has granted four weeks' time to the central government to respond to a petition on the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. The interim order was passed today by a bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the central government is in consultation with the J&K government on statehood restoration, calling it the correct approach. But incidents like the Pahalgam attack must also be considered before restoring the statehood, the top law officer stated.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for petitioners, said the Pahalgam attack occurred "under the watch of the central government."
The two advocates also said that the centre had given an undertaking to the court that the statehood will be restored. "What is to be done if that undertaking is not honoured?" asked a petitioner.
Citing the country's federal structure, another senior advocate said that if the centre is allowed to turn a state into union territory, then it can occur to any state. "Tomorrow, they can convert Uttar Pradesh into a UT since it shares a border with Nepal or convert Tamil Nadu into a UT," the advocate said.
The petitioners are seeking immediate restoration of statehood and implementation of the directions passed by a Constitutional bench in December 2023.
On August 14, the top court had given two months' time to the centre to file its response in the petition. So far, no response has been filed.
On December 11, 2023, a Constitution Bench had upheld the abrogation of Article 370 but directed the central government to restore the statehood "at the earliest, as soon as possible." The government had also submitted before the court that the "status of J&K as a Union territory is temporary and its statehood will be restored."
Following the central government's assurance, the court said it will not determine if turning a state into union territory was permissible under Article 3 of the constitution.
"In view of the submission made by the Solicitor General that statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir, we do not find it necessary to determine whether the reorganisation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir is permissible under Article 3," the five-judge bench had said.
The plea now terms the delay in restoration a violation of the federal structure of India. "The non-restoration of the status of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir in a time-bound manner violates the idea of federalism, which forms a part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India," the petitioners said.
Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of statehood and special status under Article 370 in August 2019. Since then, the centre has repeatedly assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that statehood will be restored "at an appropriate time."
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