Article 370 revoked: SC adjourns hearing for 'defective' plea challenging decision on J&K; matter likely to be listed next week

The Supreme Court special bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Friday adjourned the hearing of the petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370 due to the pleas being “defective” on technical aspects. The petitions are likely to be listed for next week, and the petitioners have been asked to “fix” the technical mistakes in their petitions. [caption id=“attachment_6604251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] A special bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde and SA Nazeer was hearing two petitions relating to the crisis in Kashmir that began over 10 days ago. One petition, filed by advocate ML Sharma, challenges Centre’s decision to scrap provisions of Article 370. The other was by Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of Kashmir Times, who sought the removal of restrictions on the media in Jammu and Kashmir. Gogoi, during the hearing of advocate ML Sharma’s petition challenging the abrogation of Article 370, berated the lawyer’s petition for being “poorly drafted”. “What is this petition? This is simply not maintainable. What kind of petition is this?” Gogoi questioned Sharma. “I read your petition for half an hour but could not understand what is this petition about,” he added. Responding to the plea by Anuradha Bhasin on media restrictions in the Valley, Justice SA Bobde said, " Landlines are working, I spoke to the chief justice this morning."

#JammuAndKashmir: Court now hearing petition by Kashmir Times seeking lifting of restrictions on communication shutdown.

CJI remarks "we would like to give it some time"

— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) August 16, 2019

Launching a sharp attack for “defective” petitions challenging the abrogation of the Article 370, the CJI said that of six petitions filed on the issue, four had “defects that are yet to be cured”. Demanding an answer on why defective petitions were being filed in a politically and socially sensitive issue, Gogoi said, “We accommodate you in between Ayodhya hearing and this is what we get in return.” _Follow LIVE updates on Kashmir here_ After the apex court adjourned the hearing on Kashmir saying, the matter on media restrictions along with other connected issues will be taken up on a later date, senior advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the journalist was quoted by NDTV as saying, “Communication blackout in Kashmir has hampered reporting from the state. Freedom of movement for media has been hampered. We have asked the Supreme Court to help restore minimum restoration of communication at least for media personnel.”

The chief justice also said that the bench was inclined to give the Narendra Modi government “some time” to bring stability to the restive region which is under numerous restrictions since last week. The unprecedented lock down in Kashmir, on Friday, entered 12th day after the government imposed curfew and a communications blackout to stave off violence since the Narendra Modi-led government stripped Kashmir off its autonomous status. Earlier on Tuesday, the apex court had refused to interfere with the restrictions, including the communication clampdown in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that reasonable time should be given for bringing normalcy in the sensitive situation and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks. The National Conference, the main political party of Jammu and Kashmir, has also filed a petition posing legal challenges in the apex court to the changes made in the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, contending that these have taken away rights of its citizens without their mandate. Arguing that the legislation approved by Parliament and the orders issued by the President subsequently were “unconstitutional”, the petition prayed for these to be declared as “void and inoperative”. The petition has been filed by Mohammad Akbar Lone and Justice (retired) Hasnain Masoodi, both Lok Sabha members belonging to the National Conference. Lone is a former speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and Masoodi a retired judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, who ruled in 2015 that Article 370 was a permanent feature of the Constitution. Some other individuals have also filed a petition in the Supreme Court but they are not listed for hearing on Friday. With inputs from PTI