A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking early hearing of a batch of petitions, challenging Centre’s last year’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 saying that people of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir are suffering as repeated internet shutdown and restrictions were continually damaging the economy.The application said that mere passage of time and pendency of the present issues along with continuous enactments by the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir administration gives permanency to the August 5, 2019, decisions which has been challenged before the court by a batch of petitions.
“That it is further submitted that while the purported intent of the impugned order has continually been portrayed to have been for the betterment of the populace of the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir, the truth remains that it is the very people who are presently suffering in the midst”, it said.Shakir Shabir sought direction for listing of his petition along with others challenging the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir before the duly constituted constitution bench for further hearing.
On August 28, 2019, the top court had said that its five-judge Constitution bench will be examining a batch of pleas challenging the Centre’s decision to change the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir.Several political parties including the National Conference (NC), the Sajjad Lone-led J&K Peoples Conference and CPI (M) leader Mohd Yousuf Tarigami have filed pleas challenging Centre’s August 5 decision to abrogate Article 370. A petition has also been filed by a group of former defence officers and bureaucrats — professor Radha Kumar, ex-member of Home Ministry’s Group of Interlocutors for J&K (2010-11), former J&K cadre IAS officer Hindal Haidar Tyabji, Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak, Major Gen. (retd) Ashok Kumar Mehta, ex-Punjab-cadre IAS officer Amitabha Pande and ex-Kerala-cadre IAS officer Gopal Pillai.
