Omkar Dattatray
At last the wait was over today as the people were anxiously and eagerly waiting for the decision on the abrogation of article 370 and the wait has now ended as the Supreme Court has given a historical and important decision and held the constitutional amendment regarding the abrogation as constitutionally valid and held the 5 August decision as it relates to the annulling of the controversial article 370 as valid ,legal and constitutional .The verdict of the apex court will result in the national harmony and national integration and the PM Modi has rightly commented that the decision of the supreme court is in the national interest .Earlier in September this year the supreme court five judge constitutional bench headed by D.Y.Chandrachud ,had reserved its verdict in the matter .The supreme court gave an important and crucial verdict today on December 11 on the union governments 2019 move to amend article 370 of the constitution .The abrogation ended the special status conferred to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir .The apex court held the constitutional order that abrogated article 370 as valid and lawful and so decided the constitutionality of the article 370 and held it legal and constitutional and disposed a bench of writ petitions challenging the August 2019 order .It is pertinent to mention here that a five judge constitutional bench presided by the chief justice had reserved its verdict on as many as 23 petitions in the matter on September 5 this year ,after 16 days of hearing .The bench also comprised Justices S.K.Kaul,Sanjeev Khanna ,BR Gavai and Surya Kant.CIJ DY Chandrachud said that Jammu and Kashmir held no internal sovereignty after accession to India .He said there was no prima facie case that the President’s 2029 orders were mala-fide or extraneous exercise of the power .While the court said the reorganization of the erstwhile state into union territories in 2019 was a temporary move ,it directed the centre for the restoration of statehood and for the legislative assembly elections to be held up to September 2024.The supreme court said that the article 370 and 35 A are temporary and transitory article and thus there is no wrong in annulling of the article 370 of the constitution .It also said that the decision to abrogate article 370 is the legal integration of the country .The supreme court said that the abrogation of article 370 is fully valid and hence constitutional .The supreme court answered three key questions in government’s favor .The apex court said there was no sovereignty for Jammu and Kashmir after its accession to the Indian union ,and the article 370 was a temporary and transitional provision .The supreme court in a 5-0 unanimous ruling upheld the centre’s abrogation of article 370 on Monday December 11.Chief justice D Y Chandrachud and justice S.K.Kaul wrote two separate but concurring opinions .The court said that although Maharaja Hari Singh the erstwhile ruler of the princely state ,issued a proclamation that he retain his sovereignty ,his successor Karan Singh issued another proclamation that Indian constitution would prevail over all other laws in the state .This in essence ,had the effect of a merger like every other princely state that joined India ,the court ruled. The court emphatically concluded that Jammu and Kashmir has always been an integral part of India.CJI Chandrachud cited section 3 of the J&K constitution itself ,apart from article 1 and 370 of the Indian constitution .Article 3 of the J&K constitution reads-”The state of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the union of India. ”The state’s constitution also provided that this provision cannot be amended .Justice Kaul said that being the only state with its own constitution also does not define a special status. ”The purpose of the J&K Constitution was to ensure everyday governance in the state and the purpose of article 370 was to integrate the state with India. Secondly the supreme court held that article 370 is temporary ,transitional provision.CJI Chandrachud took a textual approach and cited evidence of the historical context for the inclusion of article 370 and placement of the article 370 in part XX1 of the constitution dealing with temporary provisions .He said that the temporary provision served a purpose in the warlike situation prevailing in the state in 1947.Thirdly,the supreme court upheld both the presidential proclamations of August 2019.Thus the supreme court has today affixed its stamp of approval on the Modi governments decision of august 5,2019 and held that the abrogation of article 370 is lawful ,constitutional and valid and thus has upheld that decision of the government .The supreme court has said that the August 5,2019 order of the government is legally correct and it ensures the full integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India .The 2019 decision of the centre government of abrogating the article 370 is because of the fact that it was a temporary and transitional provision of the constitution and thus the court upheld it .Thus there was no wrong in annulling the controversial article 370.The court also held the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as valid and constitutional .The court has directed the centre government to restore the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest .The court also asked the centre government to hold the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir upto 30th September 2024.So the verdict of the supreme court is balanced and it is a ray of hope as per the PM Narendra Modi apart from being an epoch making legal decision .All the uncertainty about the abrogation of article 370 has come to an end and the people have got a feeling of relief over the crucial decision of the supreme court .In fact the decision of the supreme court which upheld the centre governments order of august 5,2019 is historical and it has further given strength to the unity and integrity of India and so the verdict will ensure national integration and it has given its approval to the full integration of the Jammu and Kashmir with India and the judgment has fructified the dream of Dr Shayma Prasad Mookerji of integration Jammu and Kashmir with India. The BJP and other nationalist political parties have welcome the supreme court verdict .But as expected the regional parties of NC ,PDP ,Apni party ,DPAP have felt disappointed on the verdict of the supreme court .However people by and large have welcomed the historical verdict. `
(The author is a columnist,social and KP activist).