New Delhi/Jammu: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will consider listing a plea seeking time-bound restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for applicants, urged a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the plea needed an urgent hearing.
“There is an MA (Miscellaneous Application) for conferring statehood. It was noted (in last year’s judgement) that it has to be time-bound,” the senior lawyer said.
“I will deal with it,” the CJI said.
The fresh application was filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academician, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist, in Jammu and Kashmir.
On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, in 2019 and ordered that assembly elections be held there by September 2024. The court had also said that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood should be restored “at the earliest”.
Meanwhile, a special division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court will hear next week a plea challenging the power vested in the J&K lieutenant governor to nominate five members to the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory.
Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan agreed to constitute a special division bench on Monday to hear the public interest litigation (PIL) with regard to nomination of the five MLAs, petitioner Ravinder Sharma said.
On October 14, the Supreme Court refused to entertain the plea and asked the petitioner to approach the high court.
As Sharma’s counsel D K Khajuria moved the high court and sought early listing of the petition, Chief Justice Rabstan agreed to constitute a special bench for Monday to hear the matter.
Sharma, a former member of legislative council and senior vice president of Pradesh Congress Committee, was also present in the court.
The petition challenged the provisions of J&K Reorganisation Act, empowering the LG to make nominations of five MLAs.
The petition contended that the LG is supposed to seek the aid and advice of council of ministers before making nominations, otherwise the provisions are ultra-vires to the basic spirit and structure of the Constitution, Sharma said.
In the recently concluded J&K elections, the National Conference-Congress alliance got a majority with 48 seats in the 90-member assembly.
