A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India is set to hear a batch of pleas challenging abrogation of the Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and the state’s bifurcation into two Union territories, on Tuesday.
As per the notice issued by the apex court on its website, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, and Surya Kant will continue to hear the matter and will pass directions to complete procedural formalities and fix modalities of the hearing.
During the hearing today, it will also be decided whether the petition filed by IAS officer Shah Faesal can be allowed for withdrawal.
Earlier this year in February, when the case was mentioned before the top court, CJI Chandrachud said that he will “take a call” on the listing of the pleas.
The cutch of petitions challenging the 2019 Presidential Order taking away the special status accorded to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into two Union Territories has been pending in the top court for nearly four years.
In March 2020, when the matter was last listed before the Supreme Court, a five-judge Constitution Bench declined to accept the contentions of the petitioners to refer the issue to a larger bench of seven judges.
The five-judge Constitution Bench headed by then CJI NV Ramana reasoned that the earlier judgments rendered by the top court in the Prem Nath Kaul case and the Sampat Prakash case, dealing with the interpretation of Article 370, were not in conflict with each other.
CJI Chandrachud and Justice Khanna are the new members of the latest bench as Chief Justice Ramana and Justice Subhash Reddy, who were part of the earlier bench, had retired.