'Kashmiris bypassed by Centre in altering J&K's status'

The Supreme Court on Tuesday began considering petitions challenging the validity of the decision to take away special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divide it into two Union Territories, as IAS topper-turned-politician Shah Faesal contended that the "temporary cover" of President's rule was used to make an "irreversible change in a federal relationship between a state of the Union and the Union".

The people of Jammu and Kashmir were "bypassed", senior advocate Raju Ramachandran submitted before a five-judge bench presided over by Justice N V Ramana.

He said that the Centre's decision was violative of the Constitution, as orders were passed in "disregard of consent" of people of J&K.

The provisions of Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was removed by the Centre on August 5.

Private individuals, lawyers, activists and political parties challenged the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, which splits J&K into two union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Ramachandran said that Jammu and Kashmir was under President's Rule from December 19, 2018 till October 31 this year and "will of the people" was not there in the concurrence given by state for abrogation of provisions of Article 370.

"The record indicates that neither the President nor the Governor held any consultations on the issue either with the public at large or with members of the legislative council," he said.

"The haste and the perfunctory nature of the proceedings in Parliament of a change of this nature clearly violate the principle of deliberative democracy," he added.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, told the court that Ramachandran has made an "incorrect statement" by saying that the reorganisation Bill was not shown to any member of the Lok Sabha and was circulated only after its introduction.

To this, Ramachandran said he would clarify on this on Wednesday when the bench would resume hearing.