The Supreme Court on Monday will deliver its verdict on petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.
The five-member constitutional bench, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and including Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, is set to deliver its verdict today.
The central government had defended its decision to abrogate Article 370, saying there was no "constitutional fraud" in repealing the provision that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for Centre.
The government informed the court that Jammu and Kashmir was not the sole state to accede to India. After gaining independence in 1947, numerous other princely states also joined India under specific terms. Upon integration, their autonomy became a part of India's sovereignty.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association informed the Supreme Court that when Jammu and Kashmir joined India, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir retained sovereignty over the state's territory but did not retain sovereign power to rule and govern the state.
