The Supreme Court on Monday said that Article 370 was a temporary provision after the five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud ruled unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas challenging its abrogation.
Pronouncing its ruling on the issue of the validity of the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, the CJI says – ‘The Solicitor General submitted that the statehood of J&K will be restored and the status of Union Territory was temporary. In view of the submission made by the Solicitor General, we don’t find it necessary to determine whether the reorganisation of J&K into a Union Territory is valid.’
The court elaborates that the interpretation clause (Article 367 of the Constitution) cannot be modified to amend Article 370 bypassing the amendment process.
‘Interpretative clause cannot be used to bypass the specific route for a constitutional amendment. Permitting such amendments by such a surreptitious method would be disastrous’, the CJI asserts.
