Restoration of J&K’s statehood: Supreme Court likely to hear plea on August 14

Srinagar, Aug 7: A plea seeking the restoration of Jammu & Kashmir’s statehood is likely to be listed for hearing in the Supreme Court on August 14.
Advocate Soayib Qureshi, said the case is likely to be listed for hearing on August 14. “We have prayed for a time-bound direction for restoration of J&K’s statehood,” he said, adding that the matter has not been listed for hearing tomorrow.
The case was mentioned on August 5 by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran. Sankaranarayanan informed the court that the hearing was listed for August 8 on the Supreme Court website and requested that it not be removed from the cause list. The CJI had agreed to the request.
The petition has been filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, a lawyer and academician and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist.
The petition argues that the continued delay in restoring statehood violates the principle of federalism, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
The petitioners have submitted that no steps have been taken to lay out a clear timeline or implement the Supreme Court’s December 2023 directive that ‘restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible’.
The plea is listed for hearing at a time when political momentum around the issue is building.
The Congress party has launched a full-fledged campaign for restoration of statehood. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has written to all political parties, including BJP, to bring a bill in the Parliament during the ongoing monsoon session to restore J&K’s statehood. (KNO)