SC upholds govt's decision to abrogate Article 370 in J&K: A timeline of developments

The Supreme Court Monday upheld the government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and said steps should be taken to conduct elections in the assembly by 30 September, 2024. The apex court also directed that statehood to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir be restored at the earliest. Following is the timeline of events in a case in which the Supreme Court upheld the Central government’s decision to abrogate Article 370.

• 20 December, 2018: President’s Rule imposed while exercising powers under Article 356 of the Constitution in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequently extended on 3 July, 2019
• 05 August, 2019: Centre abrogates the provisions of Article 370, bestowing a special status upon the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir
• 06 August, 2019: First petition challenging the presidential order scrapping Article 370 filed by advocate M L Sharma, who was later joined by another lawyer from Jammu and Kashmir, Shakir Shabir
• 10 August, 2019: National Conference (NC), a prominent political party from Jammu and Kashmir, files a petition contending that the changes brought in the status of the state had taken away the rights of its citizens without their mandate
• 24 August, 2019: Press Council of India moves the Supreme Court supporting the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir administration’s decision to impose restrictions on communications
• 28 August, 2019: The Supreme Court issues notices to the Centre, Jammu and Kashmir administration on a plea moved by Kashmir Times editor for the removal of the restrictions imposed on journalists
• 28 August, 2019: A bench headed by the then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi refers matter to five-judge Constitution bench
• 19 September, 2019: The Supreme Court sets up five-judge Constitution bench to hear pleas challenging abrogation of Article 370
• 02 March, 2020: The Supreme Court declines to refer to larger seven-judge bench batch of petitions challenging constitutional validity of Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370
• 25 April, 2022: The Supreme Court agrees to consider listing after summer vacation pleas challenging Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 after one of the petitioners seeks urgent hearing in view of delimitation exercise being carried out in Jammu and Kashmir
• 11 July, 2023: The Supreme Court says it will commence day-to-day hearing from August 2 on petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370
• 02 August, 2023: The Supreme Court commences hearing on petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370
• 05 September, 2023: The apex court reserves verdict on 23 petitions in the matter after hearing those for 16 days
• 11 December, 2023: The Supreme Court upholds government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, says steps should be taken to conduct election to Assembly in Union Territory by September 30 next year.

With inputs from PTI