Surrender of sovereignty of J&K to India was "absolutely complete" with accession: SC
Supreme Court said on Thursday the surrender of Jammu and Kashmir's sovereignty to India was «absolutely complete» with the accession of the former princely state in October 1947, and it was «really difficult» to say that Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state, was permanent in nature. Observing that once Article 1 of the Constitution says India shall be a Union of States, including Jammu and Kashmir, the transfer of sovereignty was complete in all respects, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said.
Schedule 1 of the Indian Constitution contains the list of states and union territories and their extent and territorial jurisdiction, and Jammu and Kashmir figures there in the list. The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, observed it cannot be said that some elements of sovereignty in Jammu and Kashmir were retained post Article 370.
«One thing is very clear that there was no conditional surrender of sovereignty of Jammu and Kashmir with India. The surrender of sovereignty was absolutely complete.
Once sovereignty was absolutely vested in India, the only restraint was on the power of Parliament to enact laws (in respect of the state),» the CJI said. «We cannot read the post Article 370 Constitution as a document which retains some element of sovereignty in Jammu and Kashmir,» he said.
The argument of the petitioners, who have challenged the abrogation of Article 370 is that under the Instrument of Accession, the government of India was empowered to look after only defence, communication and external affairs. Senior advocate Zaffar Shah, appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar
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