People expect a lot from SC: Cong's Ravinder Sharma on Article 370 verdict

With just a few hours before the Supreme Court announces its verdict on Article 370, Congress leader Ravinder Sharma has said that people expect a lot from the Apex Court.

Speaking to ANI, Ravinder Sharma said, “People expect a lot from the Supreme Court and we believe that the SC will rightly uphold the Constitution and the sentiments of the people. All the rights of the Jammu Kashmir people that were earlier protected with regard to land and jobs have been taken over. The state was divided into two UTs. No elections have been held in the past five and a half years. People are demanding early elections and restoration of the state. We cannot comment until the verdict has been delivered. We respect the rule of law.'

The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will hear a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.

The five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant will deliver the verdict.

On September 5, the Supreme Court reserved the verdict after hearing arguments for 16 days.

The central government had defended its decision to revoke Article 370, saying there was no “constitutional fraud” in revoking the provision that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for Centre.

The Center had told the court that Jammu and Kashmir was not the only state whose accession to India was through instruments of accession, but many other princely states had also joined India after independence in 1947, with conditions and their sovereignty retained after their merger. was subsumed under the sovereignty of India.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, had opened the arguments and said that Article 370 was no longer a “temporary provision” and had become of permanent value after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.

He had argued that Parliament could not have declared itself the legislature of JK to facilitate the abrogation of Article 370 as Article 354 of the Constitution does not permit such exercise of power.

The central government had defended its decision to abolish Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that after the changes, street violence, which was plotted and orchestrated by terrorists and secessionist networks, is now a thing of the past.

On August 5, 2019, the central government announced the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under Article 370 and bifurcated the region into two union territories.