The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict in the prolonged case challenging the amendment of Article 370, with a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud conducting extensive hearings over sixteen days.
The petitioners contested the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu Kashmir, along with the JK Reorganization Act that divided the region into Union Territories, arguing that these actions are unconstitutional.
Justice SK Kaul’s retirement on December 25, 2023, and the approaching winter break on December 15, 2023, suggest the judgment may be imminent.
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.