Solicitor general Tushar Mehta stated On Thursday that the Central government is prepared for elections in Jammu and Kashmir at any moment.
Centre’s remarks came two days after Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked the Attorney General and the Solicitor General of India (SG) to get instructions from the government on whether there is a time frame in view of making Jammu and Kashmir a state again.
During the hearing on pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 on Thursday, SG Mehta, on behalf of Centre, said the updating of voter list was going on, adding that it’s substantially complete and just a little is left.
“There are three elections which are due. The three tier Panchayat Raj System has been introduced post 2019…Law and order events- stone pelting etc., have been reduced by 97.2 per cent. These figures are all relevant for purpose of when to hold the elections. Security person casualty is reduced by 65.9%. These are factors agencies would take into consideration,” SG Mehta said.
SG Mehta, during the hearing on Wednesday, said that “exact timeline of returning the statehood is something that we can’t surely tell”.
“Peace doesn’t only come with police action” and added that schemes have been brought in, various projects have been launched…Though UT status is temporary for J&K, the exact timeline of returning the statehood is something that we can’t surely tell,” SG Mehta said.
Also Read: ‘Is There Roadmap? Get Instructions from Centre’: SC Seeks Timeframe to Make J&K a State Again
SG Tushar Mehta said that this way we are “moving towards making J&K full-fledged state”.
On this, CJI Chandrachud said, “This reply of the Center has no effect in deciding the constitutionality of the matter. We will determine the constitutionality of this case”.
SG Mehta said that 1.8 crore tourists visited the erstwhile state only in January 2022, adding that 1 crore tourists went to J&K in 2023. “These are the steps which are being taken by the centre. Centre can only take these steps till it is a Union Territory,” SG Tushar Mehta said.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal opposed the figures given by SG Mehta of developmental projects being shown by Centre.
Sibal said, “If 5,000 people are put under house arrest and Section 144 is imposed, no bandh can happen. There is enormous unemployment in the Union Territory. All these facts are being telecast as work of government and same creates problems”.
The Supreme Court on Monday prima facie agreed with the Centre’s submission on pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is “subordinate” to the Indian Constitution, which is on a higher pedestal.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, however, did not seem to be in agreement with the plea that the Constituent Assembly of the erstwhile state, which was disbanded in 1957, was in reality a legislative assembly.
Without naming the two mainstream political parties of the erstwhile state, the Centre said citizens have been misguided that the special provisions for Jammu and Kashmir were “not discrimination but a privilege”.
“Even today two political parties are before this court defending Article 370 and 35A,” the solicitor general told the top court on the 11th day of hearing the litany of pleas challenging the abrogation of the constitutional provision which bestowed special status to the erstwhile state of J-K.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said there is enough material to show that the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is subordinate to the Constitution of India and the constituent assembly of J-K was in reality a legislative assembly making laws.
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