Srinagar:
The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict in the long-pending case challenging the amendment of Article 370, in December 2023, Live Law reported.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud heard extensive arguments by both the petitioners and the government over sixteen days.
The petitioners in the matter challenged the abrogation of 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and also the JK Reorganization Act which bifurcated the State into Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh on the ground that they are unconstitutional.
With Justice SK Kaul retiring from the Supreme Court on December 25, 2023, and December 15, 2023, being the last working day for the Supreme Court before winter vacations, the judgment would likely come out soon.
The petitioners had argued that the abrogation was an attack on federalism and a fraud played on the Constitution. They also pointed out that the 2019 Act is unconstitutional since Article 3 does not give the Parliament powers to downgrade federal democratic States into a less representative form such as a Union Territory.