Srinagar: The Centre has filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court ahead of the Article 370 coming up in the Supreme Court. Through the affidavit, the Union Home Ministry has defended the scrapping of Article 370 and cited the improved law and order situation in Kashmir to justify its decision of August 2019.
In the affidavit, the Centre said there is ‘unprecedented stability and progress’ in Kashmir and stone pelting protests have become a thing of the past. ‘It is submitted that since 2019, the entire region has witnessed an unprecedented era of peace, progress and prosperity’, the affidavit read. ‘Life has returned to normal in the region after three decades of turmoil. Schools, colleges and other public institutions have been functioning efficiently over the last three years’, the ministry has said.
In the affidavit, the Centre has also invoked Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir as part of strengthening grassroots democracy following the revocation of Article 370. ‘It is submitted that after the constitutional changes, democratically made, major steps were taken to strengthen grassroots democracy. For the first time in its history, a duly elected 3-tier Panchayati Raj System has been established in Jammu and Kashmir. Elections for the members of the District Development Councils were held in Jammu and Kashmir in November-December 2020’, reads the affidavit.
Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in 2018 after a delay of two years due to law and order situation and the inability of the PDP-BJP coalition government to hold local elections on time. The DDC polls, the third tier of the panchayat system, were held in 2020. Omar Abdullah, the former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state, has dismissed the Centre’s affidavit as political arguments and not legal ones. ‘These are definitely political arguments the BJP/Union Govt can make to sell their decision to the voter but they are not legal arguments. The entire case in the SC is about the illegality & unconstitutionality of what was done on 5th Aug 2019, not whether the Govt has a strong enough political case’, Abdullah tweeted.
Around 20 petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of reading down of the Article 370 by the Centre and stripping J&K of its statehood on August 5, 2019. The case will be heard tomorrow by a five-judge constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. Under Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed a special constitutional position with a separate state constitution. With the revocation, the Centre also bifurcated and downgraded the erstwhile state into two Union territories. The petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of the decision. The role of the Governor in the absence of an elected government is at the heart of the matter. The petitioners have contended that the Governor and the Centre can’t revoke Article 370 and cited previous Supreme Court judgments in the matter. They have also termed the downgrading of a state into a Union Territory a violation and threat to the federal character of the country.
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