Supreme Court has linked demands for restoring Jammu and Kashmir's statehood to Pahalgam terror attack and regional security, telling the Centre to respond within eight weeks to a plea seeking immediate implementation of its December 2023 directive.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said that any demand for restoring Jammu and Kashmir's statehood must consider the recent Pahalgam terror attack and its wider security impact on the region. A bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, along with Justice K Vinod Chandran, made the observation while hearing a petition seeking the immediate implementation of its December 2023 order directing that statehood be restored “at the earliest opportunity” after Assembly elections. The petition, filed by academician Zahoor Ahmad Bhat and socio-political activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, has sought that J&K be returned to full statehood within two months.
Centre told to respond in eight weeks
During the hearing, the court issued a notice to the Centre and asked it to file a reply within eight weeks. The bench said that 'ground realities' including the security situation, must be part of any decision on restoring statehood. The petition argues that any further delay will seriously weaken democratic governance in J&K and violate the principles of federalism, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The plea points out that both the recent Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir were held peacefully, without any violence or disturbances. It states that there is 'no impediment of security concerns' to granting statehood, as promised earlier by the Union government. The petition also says that J&K has been run as a Union Territory for almost five years, which has slowed development and harmed the democratic rights of its citizens.
Article 370 abrogation
Jammu and Kashmir lost its special status under Article 370 in August 2019 and was split into two Union Territories, J&K and Ladakh. Since then, the government has said statehood will be restored 'at an appropriate time' but has not given a fixed date. In its December 11, 2023 verdict, the Supreme Court upheld the removal of Article 370, calling it a temporary provision. It said the President of India had the authority to revoke it after the Constituent Assembly of the erstwhile state ceased to exist in 1957. The same judgment ordered Assembly elections by September 2024 and restoration of statehood 'at the earliest'.
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Political voices on statehood
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently urged political leaders to bring a bill in Parliament for the restoration of statehood. In a letter, he warned that reducing a state to a Union Territory set a dangerous precedent that should never be repeated. He stressed that the return of statehood was not a political favour but an essential correction to safeguard the constitutional rights of states and protect India’s federal structure.
(With agency inputs)
