No Question Of Brexit-Like Referendum On Article 370 Scrapping: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that there is no question of a Brexit-like referendum on the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Brexit refers to the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union, which was driven by a surge in nationalism, immigration concerns, and an ailing economy.

During a hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued that the revocation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was a political act similar to Brexit, where the British citizens' opinion was sought through a referendum.

This was not the case when Article 370 was repealed on August 5, 2019, he said.

Representing National Conference leader Mohd Akbar Lone, who challenged the scrapping of Article 370, Sibal argued, "Parliament accorded its approval to the executive act... this court has to decide whether the Union of India could do it".

Sibal has consistently raised doubts about Parliament's power to scrap Article 370 without the presence of the constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.

He has contended that only the constituent assembly, which expired in 1957, had the authority to recommend the repeal or modification of Article 370.

Since the assembly no longer existed, the constitutional provision granting special status to J&K became permanent, according to Sibal.

In his argument, Sibal pointed out the lack of representation for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"You cannot divide Madhya Pradesh or Bihar into two union territories. This is a representative form of democracy. In this case, where are the voices of people of Jammu and Kashmir? Where is the voice of representative democracy? Five years have passed...have you had any form of representative democracy? This way the whole of India can be converted into Union Territories," Sibal said.

During the third day of the hearing on the pleas contesting the Centre's decision, Sibal reiterated his stance before the CJI D Y Chandrachud led SC bench, which included Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, and Surya Kant.

However, Chief Justice of India Chandrachud remained unconvinced.

"In a constitutional democracy, seeking the opinion of people has to be done through established institutions. So long as a democracy exists as it does, in terms of constitutional democracy, any recourse to the will of the people has to be expressed and sought through established institutions. You cannot therefore envisage a situation like Brexit type referendum," CJI told Sibal.

The CJI agreed with Sibal's view that Brexit was a political decision but said, "Within a Constitution like us there is no question of referendum".