Article 370 not repository of untrammelled power but medium through which Constitution applied to JK: SC told

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Supreme Court was told on Wednesday. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was told by senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for petitioner Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, that the Jammu and Kashmir constituent assembly did not want to abrogate Article 370 and instead permitted its continuance.

Khan has challenged the two constitutional orders of the Centre issued on August 5, 2019 and August 6, 2019, by which Article 370 was abrogated. «Even though the word 'temporary' appears in the marginal notes of Article 370 of the Constitution, the resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir constituent assembly said that the Constitution of India must apply with these modifications.

The constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and Indian Constitution were speaking to each other through Article 370,» Subramanium said. He told the bench also comprising justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant that Article 370 was not a repository of untrammelled power but a medium through which the Constitution would apply to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Subramanium, who commenced his arguments on the fourth day of hearing on a batch of petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370, said, «It is respectfully submitted that Article 370 ought not to be read or interpreted as an expression of power politics or a bargaining chip. Rather, it should be interpreted as a principled compact between the people of India (acting in their constituent capacity through the Indian Constituent Assembly) and the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir».