Article 370 Scrapping: Constitution Bench Headed By CJI DY Chandrachud To Begin Day-To-Day Hearing On Challenges Today

The Supreme Court is set to hear a series of petitions challenging the removal of Article 370, which granted special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The hearing is scheduled to begin today (2 August).

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will lead a five-judge constitution bench that will conduct the day-to-day hearings.

The bench, consisting of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, had previously set a deadline of 27 July for the submission of written arguments and compilations by the parties involved.

The hearing will take place on a daily basis, except for Mondays and Fridays, which are reserved for miscellaneous matters in the Supreme Court.

On these days, only new petitions are considered for admission hearings, while regular matters are not heard.

Two lawyers, one from the petitioners' side and one from the government's side, were appointed to prepare a convenience compilation and submit it before 27 July. It was made clear that no documents would be accepted after this date.

A convenience note would provide the court with a summary of the entire case to help it quickly understand the facts.

The Centre's affidavit regarding the conditions in Jammu and Kashmir after the repeal of Article 370 on 5 August, 2019, was stated to have no impact on the constitutional issue to be decided by the five-judge bench.

On that particular day, the Centre revoked the special status of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two union territories.

Numerous petitions were referred to a Constitution bench in 2019, challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Act, 2019, which resulted in the division of the former state into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.