The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of Centre’s August 2019 decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 and bifurcate the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution of India were temporary and that there was no maladies in exercise of power under Article 370(3) by President to issue August 2019 order.
“Thus, we hold the exercise of Presidential power to be valid,” the Supreme Court said. While reading out the judgment, the five-judge Constitution Bench said that “concurrence of the State government was not required to apply all provisions of the Constitution using Article 370(1)(d). So, the President of India taking the concurrence of the Union government was not malafide.”
The Supreme Court said that Jammu and Kashmir became an integral part of India “as evident from Articles 1 and 370 of the Constitution of India.”
“The proclamation of Maharaja stated that the Constitution of India will supersede. With this, the para of Instrument of Accession ceases to exist….Article 370 was an interim arrangement due to war conditions in the State. Textual reading also indicates that Article 370 is a temporary provision,” the Court said.
It further added that Article 370 was meant for the constitutional integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union and it was not for disintegration, and the President can declare that Article 370 ceases to exist.
During the pronouncement of the judgment, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also observed that every decision of the Centre can’t be challenged as it will lead to chaos and uncertainty.
“Every decision taken by Union on behalf of State is not subject to challenge …this will lead to chaos and uncertainty and would bring the administration of the State to a standstill…,” the CJI said.
On August 5, 2019, the Union Government had revoked provisions of Article 370 that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and split the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court and after a marathon hearing for 16 days, the top court had reserved its verdict on September 5.
