Article 370 not scrapped, only its provisions: Harish Salve

Former Solicitor General Harish Salve said the government has not scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution but its provisions which include Article 35A.

"Article 370 states the provisions under it will be introduced through Presidential order. Article 35A was inserted through the Presidential order in 1954.

Today, the same order has been superseded." According to it, no outsider can own a property in Jammu And Kashmir and get a state job.

This Article also deprived female citizens of the state claiming any property right if they marry an outsider. This provision was also extended to children born of any such female citizen.

This contention has also been challenged in the Supreme Court through a petition. A total of six petitions challenging Article 35A were filed in the top court.

Jaiveer Shergill, Supreme Court lawyer and Congress national spokesperson, said in a tweet, "Legally, as per proviso to Article 370 (3) of the Constitution, it cannot be scrapped by the President without the Assembly''s recommendation.

Currently, there is no valid Assembly and the BJP has been avoiding elections. Scrapping Article 370 in current manner is unconstitutional".

Shergill also cited a Supreme Court judgement to buttress his interpretation of the Constitution. Legal experts have a contrary view.

Speaking to , Rakesh Dwivedi, an expert on the Constitution, said, "Article 370 is operationally dead, though not scrapped yet, after this notification by the government.

This article will continue to remain in the Constitution, but it''s redundant. To pull it out, the government will have to amend the Constitution. But it''s not required any more. After this notification, J&K has been formally integrated into the Constitution."

The government has also proposed to change the definition of the state and make it a Union Territory with the Assembly. The Bill, introduced in Parliament by Home Minister Amit Shah, would go through the due parliamentary process, Dwivedi said.

Dwivedi''s perspective was validated by former Secretary General Subhash Kashyap. He said the government had exceptionally fine-tuned its strategy to make Article 370 defunct despite keeping it in the Constitution.

"The proviso to Article 370(3) of the Constitution can be interpreted to look at Parliament as a legislative head of the state, as it was under the Centre''s rule. Therefore, no concurrence is required from the state government." said Kashyap.