SC to hear plea seeking omission of Article 35 A

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will today hear a petition seeking the scrapping of Article 35 A in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, three weeks after the court was adjourned.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had moved an application and sought to defer the hearing of the case, citing upcoming panchayat and urban local body elections.

Article 370 of the Constitution grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, while Article 35A disallows people from residing in Jammu and Kashmir, buying or owning immovable property in the state, settle permanently, or get state government jobs.

A non-governmental organisation, We the Citizens, filed a petitioned in the Apex Court in 2014 to abolish the law on the grounds that it was "unconstitutional".

There are apprehensions, amongst sections of Kashmiris, that if the law is repealed or diluted, outsiders would settle in Jammu and Kashmir.