A plea seeking a time-bound restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir was mentioned in the Supreme Court on Thursday for urgent hearing and the apex court has agreed to hear the matter.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the applicants, requested an urgent hearing before a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
“There is an MA (Miscellaneous Application) for conferring statehood. It was noted (in last year’s judgement) that it has to be time-bound,” the senior lawyer said.
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud responded by saying, “I will deal with it.”
The fresh application was filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academician, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist in Jammu and Kashmir.
On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
The court had also directed that assembly elections be held by September 2024 and emphasised that the state’s status should be restored “at the earliest.”
Elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly were held in three phases, from September 18 to October 1, resulting in the formation of a government by the National Conference-Congress alliance.
National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, along with five cabinet members.
Before taking the oath, Omar Abdullah said that the first task of his government would be to become the voice of the people. He expressed optimism that Jammu and Kashmir would not remain a Union territory for long and would soon regain full statehood.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who was present along with Rahul Gandhi at the oath ceremony in Srinagar also reaffirmed his party’s commitment to restoring statehood in Jammu and Kashmir.