The restoration of statehood to the union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) by the Center in the future will not affect the status of the new legislative assembly, legal experts said on Wednesday.
Answering a question about the impact on the newly elected J&K assembly if the Center decides to restore statehood, senior lawyer and constitutional scholar Rakesh Dwivedi said that it would not have to be dissolved.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan expressed similar sentiments and said that restoration of the state would not make a difference as the Legislature has been constituted.
Their comments came amid growing agitation for the restoration of J&K state, which was one of the main planks of the Jammu and Kashmir National Congress, which won a majority of seats in the 90-member assembly on October 9.
The National Conference-Congress has delivered a complete victory in the J&K girls’ elections following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
“There will be no need to dissolve the Legislative Assembly. It will continue to function as the National Assembly. An Act of Parliament amending the one that has already been repealed after the repeal of Article 370 will be sufficient. Even if the two states of Jammu and Kashmir are created, the process would be the State Reorganization Act under Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution, Dwivedi added.
On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as it ordered assembly elections there in September 2024 and the restoration of the state “at first”.
Writing the judgment, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had noted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s suggestion that the Center would restore the status and the UT status is temporary.
The apex court had said that the restoration of the state would be done quickly and at the earliest.
Earlier this week, a petition was filed in the high court seeking directions to the Center for State Restoration in Jammu and Kashmir within two months.