In a landmark ruling on December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court has directed the Union Government to fast-track the reinstatement of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, excluding the Union Territory of Ladakh. The Constitution Bench, presided over by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, affirmed the legitimacy of the Union Government’s 2019 decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.
The court underscored that the State of J&K lacked internal sovereignty, emphasizing that Article 370 was a temporary provision. While deliberating on the validity of the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, which divided the state into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, the Court refrained from issuing a ruling on this matter. This decision was influenced by the assurance from the Solicitor General of India that J&K’s statehood would be promptly reinstated. However, the Court upheld the establishment of Ladakh UT as constitutionally sound, asserting that Article 3 of the Constitution granted Parliament the authority to create a Union Territory from a State.
The question of whether an entire State could be transformed into a Union Territory under Article 3 remained unanswered.
In addition to these directives, the Court mandated the Election Commission of India to organize elections for the J&K assembly by September 30, 2024. The judgment, as articulated by CJI DY Chandrachud, stated, “We direct that steps shall be taken by the Election Commission of India to conduct elections to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir constituted under Section 14 of the Reorganisation Act by 30 September 2024. Restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible.”
This pivotal ruling marks a significant step towards the reconfiguration of the region’s administrative and political landscape.
