The Supreme Court on Thursday, while hearing a plea on the restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir, said that the ground situation in the union territory needs to be taken into account, and incidents
like the Pahalgam attack cannot be ignored.
“You also have to take into consideration the ground realities; you cannot ignore what has happened in Pahalgam,” said the Supreme Court.
The remark by Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR
Gavai came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central government, said, “We assured statehood after elections. There is a peculiar position of this part of our country. I don’t know why this issue is this agitated now. This particular State is not the correct State to muddy the water. I will still seek instructions. 8 weeks may be given.”A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was hearing a plea filed by college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshid Ahmad Malik, who argued that the ongoing denial of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir was negatively affecting citizens’ rights.
The petitioners argued that conducting Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir before restoring its statehood would violate the principle of federalism, which is a core element of the Constitution’s basic structure. The application was submitted during the Assembly elections held in the union territory last year.
On August 5, 2019, the Union government split the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir with a legislative assembly and Ladakh without one. The government and top ministers have said J&K statehood will be restored when the time is right.
The Supreme Court, too, had asked the government to restore J&K’s statehood at the earliest.
It had earlier upheld the Centre’s August 5 decision to nullify Article 370, which gave special status to the region. The restoration of statehood and special status is an emotive issue, and several political parties and activists in the Valley have been vocal in their demand to roll back the Centre’s milestone move that made international headlines and sparked protests.
Last year, in an election held after a decade, the National Conference-Congress alliance came to power in J&K. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of the NC has called for the early restoration of statehood.
The Court adjourned the matter for eight weeks to allow the Solicitor General time to seek instructions.
