New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Election Commission of India to take steps to hold Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections by September 30 next year.
CJI D.Y. Chandrachud said, “This court is conscious of the security concerns in the area. Direct elections to the Legislative Assemblies, which is one of the paramount features of representative democracy in India, cannot be stopped until statehood is restored.
He further said, “We direct that steps be taken by the Election Commission of India to hold elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly constituted under Section 14 of the Reorganization Act by 30 September 2024 and the status of statehood be restored as soon as possible.”
Delivering the verdict on petitions challenging the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories (UTs)—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh—following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, CJI Chandrachud struck down the Union Territory due to Article 3(A) retaining the status of Ladakh as a state. ,
He said, “Given the submission of the Solicitor General that the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored, we do not find it necessary to decide whether the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be reorganized into two Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu or not. ”
CJI Chandrachud clarified that the question of whether Parliament can, in the exercise of power under Article 3, abolish the character of a state by converting a state into one or more Union Territories has been left open.
It may be recalled that the apex court had earlier emphasized that the erstwhile state could not be a “permanent Union Territory” and said restoration of democracy was very important.
During the hearing, the Central government had told the Supreme Court that it could not give any exact timeline and that it would take “some time” to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir while reiterating that the Union Territory status Is “temporary”.
Regarding Ladakh, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said that it will remain a Union Territory.
