Supreme Court to begin final hearing on Article 370 from August 2
Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will commence final hearing of a clutch of petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution — which granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir — on a daily basis from August 2. A Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also allowed bureaucrat Shah Faesal and activist Shehla Rashid to withdraw their petitions challenging the 2019 government decision.
The bench, also comprising justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, recorded a statement by the Centre that its latest affidavit in the case shall not be relied upon to argue on the aspect of constitutionality. The statement was made by solicitor general Tushar Mehta who submitted that the latest affidavit filed by the Centre (on Monday) would have «no bearing on the constitutional question and it would not be relied upon».
The bench had said it disapproved of the «business» of filing «additional affidavits, compilations». «I am at a loss to understand why there is a need to file additional documents,» justice Kaul remarked while CJI Chandrachud referred to the same practice (of filing additional documents) in the same-sex marriage petitions.
The fresh affidavit filed by the Centre (on Monday) does not have any bearing on the Constitutional question that the Court would be deciding upon, the CJI remarked orally. The bench said it will hold hearings on a day-to-day basis except on Mondays and Fridays, which are days for hearing miscellaneous matters.
More than 20 pleas challenging the Centre's August 2019 decision to abrogate the Article 370 and bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories will come up for final hearing. The pleas have been filed by
. Read more on economictimes.indiatimes.com
