Abrogation of Article 370: Supreme Court reserves verdict

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution which bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud reserved the verdict after a marathon 16-day hearing. The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, heard the rejoinder arguments of senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subramanium, Rajeev Dhavan, Zaffar Shah, Dushyant Dave and others on the concluding day of the hearing. The top court said if any lawyer appearing for the petitioners or respondents wishes to file a written submission can do so in the next three days.

The submission should not extend beyond two pages, it said. In the course of the hearing over the past 16 days, the top court heard Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Harish Salve, Rakesh Dwivedi, V Giri and others on behalf of the Centre and the intervenors defending the abrogation of Article 370.