The Supreme Court has agreed to consider listing a plea seeking the timely restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir for a hearing. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioners, urged the three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, to expedite the case due to its sensitive nature. The plea argues that the statehood restoration should be time-bound, as emphasized in last year’s court judgment. Although the court did not set a date, it assured that the matter would be heard soon.
The petition, filed by college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, contends that the Union of India has not provided any timeline for restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, despite the Supreme Court’s previous directions to do so. The plea highlights that the failure to restore statehood is infringing on the democratic rights of citizens in the region, especially given that the recent peaceful assembly elections indicated no security concerns.
The petitioners also argue that forming a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir before restoring statehood would violate India’s federal structure. They stress the region’s historical federal relationship with the Union and assert that statehood is crucial for Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy and development. The plea points out that other elections, including the upcoming Panchayat elections, have occurred without security issues, further emphasizing that there is no legitimate reason to delay restoring statehood.
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