Two residents of Jammu & Kashmir have moved the Supreme Court asking the Centre to restore the statehood of the region without further delay. The case will be heard Today (14 August) by a bench led by the CJI Gavai.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India Today will hear an important application by two residents of Jammu & Kashmir — college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik — requesting the court to order the Central Government to restore the statehood of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
As per the cause list of the Supreme Court, a two-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran will take up the petitions filed by Bhat and Malik.
Both of them were also petitioners in the earlier case on the abrogation of Article 370. This time, they are asking the court to direct the Union Government to bring back Jammu & Kashmir’s status as a state.
The petitioners have told the court that not restoring statehood is seriously harming the rights of the people living in Jammu & Kashmir.
Earlier, during a previous hearing in the same matter, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, had told the court that Jammu and Kashmir’s status as a Union Territory is temporary and that statehood will be restored to the region, except for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
In their latest application, Bhat and Malik have urged the top court to give a clear order “at the earliest and in a time-bound manner”, reminding that the Union Government had earlier promised to do so.
They pointed out that, despite the assurance given by the Solicitor General that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood would be restored, there has been no step taken by the Union Government in the years after the judgment in the Article 370 case.
This new application has been filed in the already disposed-of case related to the removal of Article 370, where the Supreme Court had upheld the Centre’s decision to take away Jammu & Kashmir’s special status.
Quoting from the plea, the petitioners said:
“The applicants, being the conscious citizens of Jammu and Kashmir, are aggrieved that, even after the passing of 10 months since the order of 11 August 2023, till date no steps have been taken to restore the status of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir as a state, which is gravely affecting the rights of the inhabitants of Jammu and Kashmir.”
They have requested the court to pass an immediate order to restore statehood, arguing that the delay is violating the basic structure of federalism. For this reason, they have approached the court
“to seek appropriate directions to the Union of India for restoration of statehood in a time-bound manner, within a period of two months.”
The petitioners have further warned that if the court does not give such an order soon, it could cause serious harm to the federal structure of the country.
They have also added that since assembly elections were held peacefully, there is no security concern in restoring statehood to Jammu & Kashmir within a fixed time frame if the Supreme Court directs so.
PREVIOUSLY IN APEX COURT
The Supreme Court of India on Aug 5 said it will hear a fresh application on August 8, 2025 (which was not taken up), asking the Central Government to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir within a fixed time frame.
This plea has been submitted as part of the writ petition titled “In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution”, which was earlier decided by the Supreme Court in December 2023, when the Court had upheld the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution.
The new application was mentioned before the bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who requested that the matter not be removed from the case list. The CJI accepted this request, and the hearing was scheduled for August 8.
Earlier, while upholding the removal of Article 370, the Court had clearly ordered,
“Restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible.”
This earlier observation was made on the basis of a statement by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who had told the Court that the Centre intends to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood (except for the carved-out Union Territory of Ladakh).
Because of this assurance, the Supreme Court had then decided it was not necessary to rule on whether dividing the former state into two Union Territories was valid under Article 3 of the Constitution.
Now, the new application has pointed out that despite the Court’s direction, 10 months have passed since the December 11, 2023 judgment, but Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood has not been restored.
This delay, the application argues, is seriously affecting the rights of citizens in the region and violates the principle of federalism.
The plea clearly states:
“Even after passing of 10 months of the order dated 11.12.2023, till date the status of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been restored which is gravely affecting the rights of the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and also violating the idea of federalism”.
It also draws the Court’s attention to the recent Legislative Assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of ten years, conducted in three phases to elect 90 members.
The plea warns that announcing the results on October 8, 2024, and forming a government before restoring full statehood would undermine democracy in the region.
The application explains:
“The results of the said elections are to be pronounced on 08.10.2024. It is submitted that the formation of the Legislative Assembly before the restoration of Statehood would cause serious reduction of democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir causing grave violation of the idea of federalism which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India….”
The plea was filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, one of the original petitioners in the Article 370 case. It asserts that failure to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood promptly goes against the basic structure of the Constitution, especially the federal principle.
It further adds:
“Jammu and Kashmir being an individual state having gone through many struggles and hardships require a strong federal structure to help in developing the area and also celebrating its unique culture”.
The 2023 Supreme Court judgment had marked a turning point in the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir. The top court had ruled that Article 370 was a temporary provision meant for transitional purposes due to war-like conditions when it was introduced.
The 476-page verdict by the five-judge Constitution Bench also upheld the validity of carving out Ladakh as a separate Union Territory under Article 3(a) and Explanation I, which allows such reorganisation.
In this regard, the Constitution Bench noted:
“This Court is alive to the security concerns in the territory. Direct elections to the Legislative Assemblies which is one of the paramount features of representative democracy in India cannot be put on hold until statehood is restored”.
Interestingly, the Court left open the question of whether Parliament can permanently remove the statehood of a state by converting it into one or more Union Territories under Article 3.
The Court said that it may examine this issue in a suitable future case, considering the historical context and its impact on federalism and democracy.
The bench observed:
“This Court… would construe the scope of powers under Article 3 in light of the historical context for the creation of federating units, and its impact on the principles of federalism and representative democracy.”
In a significant move, the Supreme Court had also recommended a commission to study and report on human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir since the 1980s.
Case Title:
IN RE ARTICLE 370 OF THE CONSTITUTION AND IN THE MATTER OF (APPLICATION): ZAHOOR AHMAD BHAT AND ANR. vs. UNION OF INDIA
MA 2259/2024 And Connected Matter.
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