Supreme Court Faces Multiple Review Petitions Challenging Article 370 Verdict Upholding Revocation
Political and Legal Ramifications as Supreme Court Confronts Pleas Seeking Reassessment of Article 370 Abrogation
New Delhi, 10-01-2024 : Numerous pleas were lodged with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking a review of its December 11th ruling that affirmed the abrogation of Article 370, granting special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Among the petitioners are the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Awami National Conference, Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement. Muzaffar Shah, representing the Awami National Conference, filed a review petition citing errors in the verdict, which classified Article 370 as a temporary provision in the Constitution.
The review petition filed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, through advocate Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, argued that the judgment contains errors and provides ample grounds for a review. The petition contended that the verdict erroneously concluded that the former state of Jammu and Kashmir lost its sovereignty after Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession (IOA) in 1947. It argued that the mere execution of the IOA, without additional factors, does not result in a loss of total sovereignty.
The plea, highlighting various other alleged “erroneous conclusions,” contested that Article 370 was not a concession but rather the outcome of an act of the State. The petition challenged the court’s view that Article 370 was declared temporary due to specific conditions in the state, asserting that this finding is unsustainable and qualifies as an error apparent on the face of the record.
On December 11th, following a marathon 16-day hearing that settled the longstanding debate over Article 370, a five-judge bench delivered three concurring judgments upholding the abrogation of Article 370, which provided a unique status to Jammu and Kashmir when it acceded to the Union of India in 1947. The judgment clarified that the President of India was empowered to revoke the measure in the absence of the Constituent Assembly of the erstwhile state, whose term expired in 1957. The scrapping of Article 370 had been a core issue in the BJP’s agenda and was consistently included in its election manifestos. The Supreme Court’s verdict was seen as a significant political boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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