Supreme Court directs Center to respond within six weeks to petition seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir

The Supreme Court on Friday, October 10, directed the Center to respond within six weeks to a petition seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

A bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was hearing several petitions filed by academician Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and socio-political activist Ahmed Malik, seeking implementation of the Centre’s assurance of restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir “at the earliest”.

The petitioners said the undertaking by the Center to restore statehood was recorded in the apex court’s judgment in the Article 370 case.

The petitioners also said that the statehood was snatched away in 2019 and now six years have passed. In August 2019, statehood and special status were taken away from Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370. Since then, the Center has repeatedly assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that statehood will be restored “in due course”.

The petitioners argued that the logic of security and border states in snatching statehood from Jammu and Kashmir could also be applied to Uttar Pradesh bordering Nepal or Tamil Nadu bordering Sri Lanka.

On August 14, the apex court had given two months time to the Center to file its reply. No reply has been filed yet.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the central government, told the bench that last year elections were held in a peaceful manner in the region. However, the government needed more time to assess the issue of restoration of statehood amid security concerns and the Pahalgam terror attack.

Mehta said, “The elections were held peacefully and an elected government has been formed. In the last six years, there has been substantial progress in Jammu and Kashmir. However, some recent incidents like the Pahalgam attack need to be taken into consideration before taking a final decision.”

“This is a unique problem and involves wide-ranging concerns. It was, of course, a serious undertaking but many factors need to be considered,” he said.