Article 35A: SC adjourns hearing for two weeks

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the validity of the Article 35A today.

The Apex Court will now hear the matter on August 27.

The Top Court was scheduled to hear a batch of petitions today, which challenge the validity of Article 35A of the Constitution that grants special privileges to the residents of the state.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had on Friday moved an application before the top court and sought to defer the hearing of the case, citing upcoming panchayat and urban local body elections.

Article 370 of the Constitution grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, while Article 35A disallows people from residing in Jammu and Kashmir, buying or owning immovable property in the state, settle permanently, or get state government jobs.

A non-governmental organisation, We the Citizens, filed a petitioned in the Apex Court in 2014 to abolish the law on the grounds that it was "unconstitutional".

There are apprehensions, amongst sections of Kashmiris, that if the law is repealed or diluted, outsiders would settle in Jammu and Kashmir.