NEW DELHI, India—On August 10, the National Conference moved a petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging the scrapping of Article 370 by the BJP led Indian government. The National Conference has said in the petition that the rights of J&K citizens have been snatched without their mandate.
Two former parliamentarians of NC namely Mohammad Akbar Lone and Justice (retired) Hasnain Masoodi have argued in the petition that the legislation approved by Parliament and the orders issued by the President subsequently were unconstitutional. They have requested the Supreme Court declare the move as void and inoperative.
It is pertinent to note here that Mohammad Akbar Lone is a former Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and Masoodi is a retired judge of Jammu and Kashmir High Court who ruled in 2015 that the Article 370 was a permanent feature of the Constitution.
They have challenged the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 and the Presidential Orders that have followed.
The duo petitioners have said that the legislation and the Presidential Orders are illegal and violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The two MPs submitted that the apex court now has to examine whether the Union government can unilaterally unravel the unique federal scheme under the cover of President’s rule while undermining crucial elements of due process and rule of law.
“This case, therefore, goes to the heart of Indian federalism, democratic processes and the rule of apex court as the guardian of the federal structure,” the petition said.
They submitted that Article 370 was extensively considered as carefully drafted in order to ensure the peaceful and democratic accession of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian Union.
The two parliamentarians from Jammu and Kashmir contended that the Presidential Orders and the new legislation unconstitutionally undermine the scheme of Article 370.
“The first Presidential Order uses Article 370 (1)(d) — this was meant to apply other provisions of the Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir — to alter Article 370 itself and thereby the terms of federal relationship between the J-K and Union of India,” they submitted.
