Attorney General KK Venugopal in the Supreme Court on Thursday said that the government will not withdraw the decision to abolish Article 370. He said this in a hearing on the petitions filed by the central government against the removal of Article 370. During the debate, the Attorney General gave full details of its removal in court. He said during this time 'it cannot be changed. I would like to state that the sovereignty of Jammu and Kashmir was indeed temporary. We are a union of states. '
Significantly, on 5 August last year, the central government decided to divide Jammu Kashmir into two parts and remove Article 370. There are petitions against this decision, which are being heard. Earlier, advocate Dr. Rajeev Dhawan, appearing on behalf of one of the petitioners, said, "For the first time, using Article 3 of the Constitution of India, a state was given the status of a union territory. If they (center) do so for a state. They can do it for any state. '
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it would refer the issue of Article 370 to a larger 7-judge bench only when there were contradictions between the two earlier decisions of the Supreme Court. The court said that the petitioners show a direct contradiction between the two decisions – Prem Nath Kaul vs Jammu and Kashmir in 1959 and Sampat Prakash vs Jammu and Kashmir in 1970 only when the matter would be referred to a larger bench. Both decisions were delivered by a 5-judge bench.
A 5-judges constitution bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana was told by the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association that the Center's decision to repeal Article 370 was invalid on August 5 last year.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya, headed by Justice NV Ramana, is hearing the case. During the hearing on Wednesday, the bench said that you have to show that there is direct opposition to the two decisions of the top court. Only then will we send it to the big bench. You have to show us that he had a direct contradiction.
