The Supreme Court of India is set to announce its verdict tomorrow (Monday) on petitions that challenged the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and the division of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) into two union territories, BBC Urdu reported.
A constitutional bench of the apex court will deliver its judgment on a number of petitions filed by former officials of Indian Army, Air Force and social workers among others.
The Narendra Modi-led government on August 5, 2019, revoked Article 370 and the state was divided into two separate union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The revocation of the Article stripped Kashmiris of the special autonomy they had for seven decades in the Indian Constitution through a rushed presidential, prompting condemnations from Pakistan and political leaders in India.
A state-wide curfew was imposed two days before the abrogation of the Article which prolong for months.
Article 370 gave a special status to IIOJK in the Indian Union and restricted the Centre’s legislative powers with respect to the state. It gave the state legislature special powers to draft its own Constitution.
Article 35-A, introduced through Article 370, empowered the IIOJK legislature to define the permanent residents of the state and their special rights and privileges, collect taxes while Indians from other regions were restricted from buying land in the state.
On July 4, the Indian apex court formed a five-member bench to hear petitions against the abrogation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
“Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, and Justice Surya Kant will take up following matters on July 11, 2023 (Tuesday) at 10:30am,” said a notification.
More than 20 petitions were filed questioning the constitutional validity of the Indian government’s August 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370.
