On day one of the hearings of the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, Advocate Kapil Sibal representing MP north Kashmir, Mohammed Akbar Lone argued that the abrogation was completely illegal.
Government of India abrogated the Articles 380 and 35a on August 05, 2019 and the erstwhile state was demoted into a union territory. Kashmir was out under months’ long lockdown and an internet ban was put in place.
Several petitions were filed in the Supreme court, however, the court recently agreed to hear the petitions on day-to-day basis starting August 02.
Kapil Sibal argued that only the constituent assembly of the state of Jammu Kashmir that ceased to exist in 1956 had the power to repeal the article that provided special status to Jammu Kashmir.
The five bench judge headed by Chief Justice of India questioned Sibal and said they were trying to understand the arguments Sibal was raising.
On Day 1, Sibal argued that the parliament can by now law convert itself into the constituent assembly and exercise the “will of people of Jammu Kashmir.” He argued that it was a political decision, but does not stand at par with the constitution.
The bench read from various articles, after which Sibal read the instrument of accession stating that Jammu Kashmir’s merger with India was unique, unlike other parts of India.
The first day concluded with the arguments of Sibal who has been provided ten hours by the court.
Along with others who reached the Supreme court to challenge and defend the decision was the former Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir, Omar Abdullah who said, “I have high hopes from the court, we have come here on the behalf of Jammu Kashmir’s people. This is a matter of our identity.”
The Kashmiriyat has been providing you constant updates from the court. We also accessed the list of the petitions that will be heard tomorrow and the time each petitioner has been granted by the court.
Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. – 10 hours .
Mr. Gopal Subramanium, Sr. Adv – 10 hours.
Dr. Rajeev Dhavan, Sr. Adv – 2 hours.
Mr. Dushyant Dave, Sr. Adv – 4 hours.
Mr. Shekhar Naphade, Sr. Adv – 8 hours .
Mr. Dinesh Dwivedi, Sr. Adv – 3 hours.
Mr.Zafar Shah, Sr. Adv – 8 hours.
Mr. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv – 4 hours.
Mr. Prashanto Chandra Sen, Sr. Adv – 3 hours.
Mr. Sanjay Parikh, Sr. Adv – 2 hours
Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv 3 hrs 20 min.
Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv – 30 minutes.
Ms. Nitya Ramakrishnan, Sr. Adv – 30 minutes.
Mr. Manish Tewari, Adv. – 15 minutes.
Mr. Irfan Hafiz Lone (P-in-P) – 10 minutes.
Mr. Zahoor Ahmad Bhat- (P-in-P) – 10 minutes.
Mr. P.V. Surendranath, Sr. Adv – 30 minutes.
WP(C) 1099/2019 – 20 minutes.