Supreme Court Grants Centre Four Weeks to Address Jammu and Kashmir Statehood Restoration Petition

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court has allocated four weeks for the central government to address a petition regarding Jammu and Kashmir's statehood restoration. This interim ruling was issued today by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the central government is discussing statehood restoration with the J&K government, describing it as the appropriate approach. However, he emphasized that incidents such as the Pahalgam attack must be considered before proceeding with statehood restoration.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioners, countered by noting that the Pahalgam attack occurred "under the watch of the central government."

Both advocates highlighted that the centre had previously given the court an undertaking regarding statehood restoration. One petitioner questioned, "What is to be done if that undertaking is not honored?"

Referencing India's federal structure, another senior advocate warned that if the centre is permitted to convert a state into a union territory, this could potentially happen to any state. "Tomorrow, they could convert Uttar Pradesh into a UT because it borders Nepal, or convert Tamil Nadu into a UT," the advocate cautioned.

The petitioners are requesting immediate statehood restoration and implementation of directives issued by a Constitutional bench in December 2023.

On August 14, the Supreme Court had given the centre two months to respond to the petition. No response has been filed to date.

On December 11, 2023, a Constitution Bench upheld the abrogation of Article 370 but instructed the central government to restore statehood "at the earliest, as soon as possible." The government had also assured 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 decided not to determine whether converting a state into a 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," stated the five-judge bench.

The current plea characterizes the delay in restoration as a violation of India's federal structure. "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 argued.

Jammu and Kashmir lost its statehood and special status under Article 370 in August 2019. Since then, the centre has consistently assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that statehood will be restored "at an appropriate time."