Verdict today on Article 370 abrogation

NEW DELHI: Was the decision taken by the Centre on August 5, 2019, to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestowed a special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, constitutionally valid?

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Monday on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation. The other members of the bench are Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant.

During the hearing that went on for 16 days, the lawyers representing both sides dwelt on various issues, including the constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision, the validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which split the erstwhile state into two Union territories, challenges to the imposition of the Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir on June 20, 2018, and the imposition of the President’s rule on December 19, 2018, and its extension on July 3, 2019.

The bench, too, raised pertinent questions like who could recommend the revocation in the absence of the Constituent Assembly, and how the provision, specifically mentioned as temporary in the Constitution, became permanent after the tenure of the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly came to an end in 1957.

The apex court had reserved its verdict in the matter on September 5.