Article 370 was a temporary provision, says SC as it upholds its abrogation

Article 370 case verdict: The apex court directed the Election Commission (EC) to hold polls in J&K by September 30, 2024

The Supreme Court (SC) of Monday unanimously upheld the Centre's abrogation of Article 370, stating that the article was a temporary provision and the state of Jammu & Kashmir did not retain any element of sovereignty after its accession to India in 1948. It said that Article 370 was a feature of asymmetric federalism.

However, the court said that the Centre has amended the laws in J&K beyond its power. It directed the Election Commission (EC) to hold polls in J&K by September 30, 2024. "The restoration of the state should take place as soon as possible," it said.

The apex court also upheld the reorganisation of Ladakh as the Union Territory, as Article 3 allows it.

While pronouncing the judgement, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said the bench has held that Article 370 was a temporary provision due to the war conditions in the state. He also said that the J&K Constituent Assembly was intended to be a temporary body.

Chandrachud also said that the exercise of Article 370 (1) shows that the state has undergone gradual integration with the Union since 1948.

"We hold that the effect of the Presidential Power to issue a notification abrogating Article 370 subsists," he said.

The bench comprised CJI Chandrachud, Justices S K Kaul, Sanjeev Khanna, B R Gavai, and Surya Kant. At the start of the judgement, CJI Chandrachud said that there were three separate but concurrent judgments by the five-judge bench.

The bench also upheld that J&K does not have internal sovereignty that is different from other states of the country. The bench added that the argument of the petitioners that the Union cannot take actions of irreversible consequences in the state during Presidential rule was not accepted.

"Every decision taken by the Union on behalf of the state during the Presidential rule is not open to challenge. This will lead to the administration of the state to a standstill," CJI Chandrachud said. 

The provisions of Article 370 were abrogated by the Centre on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The Supreme Court was to examine whether the changes Parliament passed on August 5 could only have been done on the recommendations of the Constituent Assembly.

The apex court reserved its verdict on the matter on September 5 after a 16-day hearing.

Currently, the Centre-appointed Lieutenant Governors run the two UTs. While J&K has a legislative assembly, Ladakh is a UT without one. No Assembly elections have taken place in J&K since 2014.