Article 370 on status of J&K not a temporary provision: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday saidthe issue of Article 370 had already been settled and did not need any consideration, however, it gave the government three weeks to challenge the validity of Article 370.

Article 370 in the Indian constitution gives "autonomous status" to Jammu and Kashmir which is "temporary and transitional" in nature.

However, justices AK Goel and Rohinton Nariman said that a 2017 judgement had held that Article 370 wasn't temporary, implying it cannot be abrogated.

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The apex court said that in its earlier verdict of 2017 in the SARFESI case, it has been already held that Article 370 was "not a temporary provision".

"The issue concerned is covered by the judgement of this court in the 2017 SARFAESI matter, where we have held that despite the headnote of Article 370, it is not a temporary provision," a bench of justices A K Goel and R F Nariman said.

“The issue is already decided in our judgment where we have said that despite the fact the head note says it’s a temporary provision, it’s not,” Justice Nariman told the petitioner.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre said that the matter be heard after some time as similar matters are pending before the court and are to be listed shortly.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan and advocate Shoeb Alam appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir government clarified that other matters which are pending before the apex court relates to Article 35 A of the Constitution and not Article 370 as submitted by the ASG.

“Despite the fact that it is, therefore, stated to be temporary in nature, sub- clause (3) of Article 370 makes it clear that this article shall cease to be operative only from such date as the President may by public notification declare. And this cannot be done under the proviso to Article 370 (3) unless there is a recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State so to do,” the Bench declared.

The petitioner Kumari Vijayalakshmi Jha had sought a declaration that Article 370 was temporary in nature due to the dissolution of the J&K Assembly in January 1957.

Article 370 has acquired political colour with the BJP in favour of scrapping the Article although the NDA alliance is in no hurry to go ahead.

The Centre said it would study the 2017 judgment in State Bank of India vs Santosh Gupta case and respond to the Supreme Court's view on the matter.