Article 370 : CJI DY Chandrachud Agrees To List Petitions Challenging Abrogation Of J&K Special Status

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday agreed to list the petitions challenging the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. The matter was mentioned before a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha. 

"We will examine and give a date", CJI said.

Earlier, former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit had said that the pleas would "certainly" be listed after the Dusshera breaks. However, the petitions did not get listed.

It may be noted that in 2019 the petitions were referred to a Constitution Bench comprising Justices N V Ramana, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant. Justice Subhash Reddy, one of the members of the bench, retired in January this year.

The hearings on the Article 370 cases commenced before the 5-judge bench in December 2019, almost 4 months after the notifications issued by the Centre in August 2019. A preliminary issue arose in the case as to whether a reference to 7-judge bench was necessary in light of alleged divergence in the opinions expressed by two coordinate benches of the Supreme Court in the cases of Prem Nath Kaul and Sampath Prakash. By a judgment dated 2nd March, 2020, the Constitution Bench held that there was no need to refer the matter regarding the challenging to the Presidential Orders issued under Article 370 to a larger Bench.

The petitions have not been listed after March 2, 2020.