Background Matrix 

The Indian Constitution’s Articles 370 and 35-A were repealed by the Central Government on May 8. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, was approved by the Parliament, reorganising the State of Jammu and Kashmir and dividing it into two Union Territories: Ladakh, which lacks a legislature, and Jammu and Kashmir, which does. On the recommendation of the Parliament, the President declared that Article 370 would no longer be in effect in its entirety, with the exception of the clause stating that all provisions of the Constitution, as amended, would apply to the State of Jammu and Kashmir despite any conflicting language in Article 152, Article 308, or any other Constitutional provision. A number of writ petitions were submitted in opposition to the repeal of Article 370 and the restructuring of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Center’s decision to abrogate Article 370 was challenged in petitions, which the Court earlier declined to send to a bigger court. After more than two years, the Court has finally heard the case.

Analysis of Court Decision 

The Supreme Court Constitution Bench, which is comprised of Chief Justices DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, and Surya Kant, discussed the completion of pre-hearing procedures for a group of petitions contesting the repeal of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and announced.

The names of Shehla Rashid and Dr Shah Faesal were requested to be taken from the list of parties, and the Court was advised of these requests. Shehla Rashid, the general secretary of the Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh People’s Movement Party, resigned from her position because she didn’t think she was equipped to express an educated view on the broad ramifications of the constitutional change that would benefit Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh, Article 370, and Shehla Rashid thought that she wasn’t. It was revealed as a result that the cause title needed to be changed. The Court granted the requested relief, ordered that the petitioners’ names be struck from the list of parties, and, with the support of all present counsel, changed the cause’s title to In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution for ease of reference that the matter will be heard beginning on August 2, 2023.