Article 370 Case : Live Updates From Supreme Court [Day 15]

The bench rises for the day.

Sibal: You never dissolve the assembly immediately because then you have to hold elections. Democratic process can't be stultified.

Sibal: Correct, so then he would have had to make a recommendation that they're not functioning in accordance with provisions of the constitution - because the governor was ruling for 6 months.

CJI: So taking your argument to its logical conclusion that the dissolution was wrong and governor had to restore the legislative assembly, in which case, can the GOI not have exercised power under 356

CJI: Suppose the dissolution is incorrect, the consequence would be that at the end of 6 months, legislative assembly had to be restored? Council of ministers has to be formed.

CJI: According to you the dissolution of the assembly on 25th Nov is wrong because there was no aid and advice

Sibal: Apart from that, where was the occassion for 356 at all because he was running the administration. There cannot be a constitutional failure.

Sibal: The process under 356 is that you keep the assembly in a suspended animation, if you find that there is no possibility, after imposing 356, you dissolve and hold elections.

Sibal: They have substituted constituent assembly to legislative assembly. Then they have imposed 356 and parliament has become legislative assembly and given consent to itself.

Sibal: A political process must have a political solution.

CJI: So according to you, there is no solution to Kashmir within the constitution. Ultimately that's the argument - that the solution has to be political.

CJI: The sequitur of your submission on proviso to clause (3) is that once the constituent assembly has formulated the constitution of J&K, the proviso ceases to have an existence. In which case, 370 assumes a permanent character.