SC declines urgent hearing on PIL against making Article 370 redundant

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to give urgent hearing to a mentioning by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, challenging the scrapping of provisions of Article 370.

A bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana, declining the request to hear the matter urgently, said: "The matter would be placed before the appropriate bench, that is the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, for listing the matter."

The PIL contends that the gazette notification regarding Article 370 and Article 35A was against the basic spirit of the Constitution and that the government acted in an arbitrary and unconstitutional manner.

The petition claims that the President's order is unconstitutional and the Centre must take the parliamentary route.

Sharma mentioned his petition on Wednesday in the top court for urgent hearing. "Issue a mandamus to the Union of India for quashing of the impugned notification dated August 5th for amending Art 367 of the constitution being illegal unconstitutional and void ab-initio and ultra vires of the constitution," said the petition.

The plea claimed that his challenge is in interest of justice and fair play, and also for the protection of the life and liberty of the citizens of the country.

The Centre, through a Gazette notification on August 5, technically read down the Article 370 in the Constitution. Article 35A has been scrapped by suspension of the 1954 presidential order and all the provisions of the Constitution are now applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. After the erosion of its distinct identity, Article 370 has been set on a new path to begin a formal association with the law of the country through various articles in the Constitution and its identity as a Union Territory.