SC upholds abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, calls for elections by September 2024

The Supreme Court on Monday (December 11) upheld the government's decision to abrogate Article 370 and said steps should be taken to conduct elections in the assembly by September 30, 2024.

Article 370 had bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The article that was abrogated on August 5, 2019, was an interim arrangement due to war conditions in the erstwhile state, Justice Chandrachud said.

The five-judge constitutional bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud was hearing 23 clubbed petitions against the Central government’s 2019 move to strike down Article 370.

What did the court say?

• The Supreme Court said Jammu and Kashmir did not hold internal sovereignty after it acceded to India.

• The top court noted that Article 370 was a temporary provision and the President of India has the "power" to scrap it.
• The Court also asked the Center to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024 and directed that the statehood should be restored as soon as possible.

Context

• In August 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in the Rajya Sabha, the end of the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir through the modification of Article 370.
• The Rajya Sabha also passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill (which later became an act) on the same day, leading to the bifurcation of the state.
• A Presidential Order signed by then-President Ram Nath Kovind on August 5, 2019, led to the final abrogation of Article 370.
• The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 also divided the state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, without assemblies.
• The genesis of Article 370 dates back to 1947 during the Partition, when Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, chose to accede to India under certain conditions.
• This Article 370, granted the state some autonomy, its own Constitution, a separate flag and limited powers to the Indian Parliament.

Security beefed up in Kashmir

• Security measures have been increased in Kashmir, especially Srinagar on Monday, December 11 in anticipation of the Supreme Court's verdict.
• Checkpoints have been put in and around Srinagar, with random frisking and vehicle checks being conducted, reported the Press Trust of India.
• Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, on Monday, December 11 took to X to inform that they have been put into house arrest in their respective homes.

• However, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha clarified that nobody has been put under house arrest. “It is an attempt to spread rumours,” he added.

• The Cyber Police in Kashmir has issued an advisory urging social media users to use platforms responsibly.
• As a precautionary measure, no convoy movement is allowed today.
• A police advisory recommends avoiding the movement of vehicles escorting or carrying VIPs and protected persons in troublesome areas.