Supreme Court to hear plea to restore statehood of Jammu and Kashmir on August 8

The Supreme Court to hear a plea on August 8 for restoring statehood to J&K, following the abrogation of its special status in 2019.

The Supreme Court will hear on Friday, August 8, an application seeking directions to the central government to restore the statehood of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Live Law reported. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and said it is shown as listed on August 8.

A group of Kashmiri men fish on Dal Lake in Srinagar. (AP file)

Gopal Sankaranarayanan requested that the matter not be deleted from the list for that day. Justice Gavai accepted the request, the report added.

Incidentally, on August 5, 2019, the Centre scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated the state into two Union territories.

According to the report, the plea was as a Miscellaneous Application in the disposed of matter "In Re : Article 370 of the Constitution" in which the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

However, in that landmark verdict delivered in December 2023, the Constitution Bench had refrained from ruling on the constitutionality of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which bifurcated the state into two Union Territories, in light of the Solicitor General’s assurance that statehood would be restored “at the earliest”.

The court had then observed: “Restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible,” but did not prescribe a timeline.

The latest plea was moved by Zahoor Ahmed Bhat, a college teacher, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a social activist. Represented by Advocate-on-Record Ejaz Maqbool, the applicants argue that the Centre has failed to take any steps toward restoring statehood in the eleven months since the judgment, despite the peaceful conduct of assembly election in the region.

The Congress will observe August 5 as a "black day" against the downgrading of J&K from a state to a Union territory six years ago and will sit on a dharna to press for the restoration of statehood.

Meanwhile, high-level meetings set off speculation on Monday that the Centre may start the process of restoring the region’s statehood.

Adding fuel to this was a meeting of NDA members of Parliament called for Tuesday morning and the separate Sunday meetings between President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.

Government officials and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries remained tight-lipped about the bunch of meetings, including the one Union home minister Amit Shah held with national security advisor Ajit Doval, Intelligence Bureau chief Tapan Kumar Deka, and home secretary Govind Mohan on Monday.

No details of this meeting, which was held in Parliament precincts, were shared.