“Hopeful of getting justice,” says Omar Abdullah as SC begins hearing pleas against Article 370 abrogation

New Delhi [India]: As a five-judge Constitution bench of Supreme Court began hearing a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said that he is “hopeful of getting justice.”

“We are hopeful of getting justice. We are here on behalf of the people of J&K with the hope that we can prove that what happened on August 5, 2019 was unconstitutional and illegal,” National Conference leader Omar Abdullah who is in Delhi said today.

A five-judge constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud began day-to-day hearings from today a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that bestowed special status on the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah termed the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories in 2019 as “unconstitutional and illegal.”

The Constitution bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant will proceed to hear the case on a day-to-day basis except on miscellaneous days — Mondays and Fridays.

The court had asked all parties to file all documents, compilations and written submissions by July 27.

The apex court also allowed two petitioners, IAS Shah Faesal and rights activist Shehla Rashid to get their names deleted from the court’s records as petitioners. It said now the title of the case will be “In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution”.

The earlier lead petitioner was Shah Faesal. The bench also noted the Centre’s statement that the latest affidavit filed by the government shall not be relied upon to argue on the aspect of Constitutionality.

On August 5 2019, the Central government announced its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under Article 370 and split the region into two Union territories.

A five-judge Constitution bench in March 2020 had declined to refer to a larger 7-judge bench a batch of petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 on August 5, saying there were no reasons to refer the matter to a larger bench.

A number of petitions have been filed in the top court including those of private individuals, lawyers, activists and politicians and political parties challenging the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which splits Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.