Ready For J&K Elections At Anytime Now: Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Centre on Thursday (31 August) told the Supreme Court that it is ready for elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

The statement came during the hearing of a bunch of petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370.

The Centre had earlier argued that Jammu and Kashmir was one of a kind and the bifurcation was needed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehtra, representing the Centre, told the CJI D Y Chandrachud led five-judge Constitutional bench that the Centre is ready for polls in the Union Territory of J&K.

"The Central Government is ready for elections at any time now. Till date updating of the voters list was going on- which is substantially over. Some part is remaining- that the Election Commission is doing," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Bench, Livelaw reported.

He added that the decision to hold elections lies with the Election Commission and the state poll panel.

"There are three elections which are due. For the first time, the three tier panchayat raj system is introduced. First elections would be for panchayats. District development council elections have already taken place," he added.

"Then there would be municipality elections and then there would be legislative assembly elections. It is a UT with legislature- except law and order," the Solicitor General said.