The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict in the Article 370 case on December 11.
The arguments that began on August 02 on a day-to-day basis were being heard by a five-bench constitutional bench of the Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandarchud.
During the arguments, several renowned lawyers including Gopal Subramaniam, Dr. Dhawan, Adv. Dave, Advocate Kapil Sibal among others argued that the Government of India’s abrogation of Article 370 was unconstitutional, while the government argued that the Article abrogation was must to bring Jammu Kashmir at par with the rest of India. Kashmiri Lawyers Zafar Shah, Zahoor Wani and Irfan Hafiz Lone also argued for the restoration of Article 370.
The petitioners claimed that the abrogation infringed upon federalism and violated the Constitution, emphasizing that the 2019 Act contradicts Article 3 by granting Parliament powers to diminish federal democratic States into a less representative entity like a Union Territory.
Justice SK Kaul’s retirement on December 25, 2023, and the approaching winter break on December 15, 2023, perhaps hurried the decision of the court in the case.