Article 35A: Adjourned till 27th August

The Supreme Court on Monday began hearing a bunch of petitions challenging Article 365A of the Constitution. Article 35A has been categorised as a three-judge bench case but Justice DY Chandrachud isn’t available on the bench. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said a two-judge bench can hear the matter. “Only a three judge bench can consider this case. We can’t hear it in one day,” he said. The petitions have sought to quash the Article 35A, which confers special status to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. The matter is listed for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud. Article 35A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state. The provision, which leads such women from the state to forfeit their right over property, also applies to their heirs. Political parties including the National Conference and the CPI-M, have moved the Supreme Court in support of the Article 35A that empowers the state assembly to define “permanent residents” for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.

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