'J&K Governor Had No Idea' : Petitioners Cite Satya Pal Malik's Interview Before Supreme Court In Article 370 Case

On the 9th day of hearing in the Article 370 case, the revelations made by former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik were cited in the Supreme Court.

Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for one of the petitioners challenging the Centre's decision to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, referred to Malik's interview given to Karan Thapar of 'The Wire' in April this year.

To highlight that the Governor had no prior knowledge about the Centre's decisions on August 4, 2019, Ramakrishnan read out the following portion from Malik's interview:

"I did not know anything. I was merely called by the home minister one day prior saying, Satyapal I'm sending a letter tomorrow morning please get it passed by a committee before 11 tomorrow and send it to me".

"He had no idea on the night of August 4 of what was coming. And he has given concurrence like this?", Ramakrishnan asked.

As per Constitutional Order 272, the "Government of J&K" is construed to mean the "Governor of J&K".  To abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, the concurrence of the Government of J&K is needed. Since there was no elected Government in place on the relevant date (as the State assembly was dissolved and it was placed under the Presidential rule), the concurrence of the Governor was taken as the concurrence of the Government to issue the Presidential Order which effectively abrogated Article 370. The petitioners rely upon Satya Pal Malik's interview to argue that there was no effective concurrence given by the Governor to abrogate Article 370.

While citing Malik's interview, Ramakrishnan admitted that newspaper report is not an evidence by itself without corroboration. "But this is a video interview given by the Governor who dissolved the public assembly...The whole world was aware of this. We cannot sit in an ivory tower and behave that it never happened", she said.

Justice Kaul then said that the interview is a "post-facto statement".

"Yes, only on that level you may consider it", Ramakrishnan said.

The hearing is underway. Live updates from the hearing can be followed here.