New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday hinted at referring petitions against Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution — which give special provisions to Jammu and Kashmir — to a constitution bench.
The top court said all petitions that demand scrapping of the articles should be heard together. The SC is now likely to hear all cases on August 29.
Article 370 provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir, while Article 35A gives powers to the state legislature to define permanent residents of the state and their privileges.
The Supreme Court last month had asked the Centre to file a reply within three weeks to a writ petition filed by NGO 'We the Citizens' seeking that Article 35A be struck down.
The PIL said the state government, under the guise of Article 35A and Article 370, has been discriminating against non-residents who are debarred from buying properties, getting a government job or voting in the local elections.
Last month, Supreme Court lawyer Charu Wali Khanna also challenged Article 35A on the grounds that it was discriminatory towards women. “Article 14 of the Constitution gives a fundamental right to equality before law. But 35A is heavily loaded in favour of males because even after marriage to women from outside, they will not lose the right of being permanent residents,” she had told the court.
Speaking in favour of the articles, National Conference leader and former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said the two provisions can’t be scrapped. “The central government should file counter-affidavits,” he told reporters on Monday.
The legal challenge to Article 35A had led to yet another separatists-sponsored strike in the Valley on Sunday, with schools, colleges, shops, business establishments and private offices remaining closed.
The separatist camp, including the hardline and moderate factions of the Hurriyat Conference and the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), allege that the challenge is an attempt to change the demographic of the state.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week and said he had given “100% assurance” that he would back the PDP-BJP government's Agenda of Alliance, which says that the status of Article 370 can't be "fiddled with".
The meeting had come a day after BJP spokesperson Virendra Gupta said time had come to bid farewell to Articles 370 and 35A as they created a "separatist psyche".
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