SC refuses to advance date of hearing on J&K statehood restoration pleas.
Bench led by CJI Gavai confirms matter listed for 10 October.
Case stems from Article 370 abrogation, with polls ordered by Sept 2024.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to prepone the hearing of petitions seeking the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, saying the matter is already listed for 10 October.
A bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai, with Justice N V Anjaria, was urged by a lawyer for an early listing of a contempt petition linked to the abrogation of Article 370. “I am seeking early listing of a contempt petition relating to abrogation of Article 370. Statehood was to be granted to Jammu and Kashmir,” the lawyer told the bench.
“It is listed already on October 10,” the Chief Justice said, according to PTI. Justice Gavai added, “We are in the midst of a constitutional bench hearing (the bench is hearing a presidential reference on fixing timelines for governors and the president).”
On 14 August, the same bench had directed the Centre to respond within eight weeks to a separate plea pressing for restoration of statehood to the Union Territory, PTI reported. During that hearing, the judges told counsel, “You also have to take into consideration the ground realities… you cannot ignore what has happened in Pahalgam,” after a request for urgency was raised.
The issue follows the court’s 11 December 2023 ruling that upheld the revocation of Article 370, which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The court had also directed that assembly elections be held in the region by September 2024 and that statehood be restored “at the earliest”, reported PTI.
Article 370, added to the Constitution in 1949, was described by the court as a temporary provision in that verdict. Last year, another petition sought directions requiring the Centre to complete the process of restoring statehood within two months, according to PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
