The Supreme Court of India will shortly begin hearing pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370.
A 5-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, will hear the pleas four years after the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian Constitution.
The bench will also consist of Justices S.K. Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, and Surya Kant.
The court will issue directions to complete procedural formalities and determine the modalities of the hearing. Additionally, the court will decide whether the petition filed by IAS officer Shah Faesal can be allowed for withdrawal, reported IANS news agency.
In February, Chief Justice Chandrachud had mentioned that he would make a decision on listing the pleas. These petitions challenge the 2019 Presidential Order that revoked the special status of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir and its subsequent bifurcation into two Union Territories. The petitions have been pending before the Supreme Court for nearly four years.
In March 2020, a five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by then Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, declined the petitioners’ request to refer the issue to a larger bench of seven judges. The bench concluded that the previous judgments in the Prem Nath Kaul case and the Sampat Prakash case, which dealt with the interpretation of Article 370, were not in conflict with each other.
Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justice Khanna have joined the latest bench, replacing Chief Justice Ramana and Justice Subhash Reddy, who were part of the earlier bench but have since retired.
