NEW DELHI: On a number of petitions contesting the repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted the former state of Jammu and Kashmir special status, the Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred decision. After a lengthy 16-day hearing, a five-judge panel led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud reserved the decision. On the final day of the hearing, the bench, which also included Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, heard the response arguments of prominent solicitors Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subramanium, Rajeev Dhavan, Zaffar Shah, Dushyant Dave, and others.The highest court ruled that any attorney representing the petitioners or respondents who desires to submit a written argument may do so within the next three days. It stated that the contribution should not be longer than two pages. The top court heard arguments from senior solicitors Harish Salve, Rakesh Dwivedi, V Giri, and others on behalf of the Centre and the intervenors in favour of repealing Article 370 over the course of the hearing, which lasted 16 days. The attorneys discussed a range of topics, including the constitutionality of the Center’s August 5, 2019, decision to repeal the provision, the constitutionality of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which divided the former state into two Union Territories, challenges to the imposition of the governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir on June 20, 2018, and the imposition of the president’s rule in the former state on December 19, 2018, as well as its extension on July 3, 2019. A Constitution bench received several petitions in 2019 that contested the repeal of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which split the former state into the two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
