Kochi:Non Residents of Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of some key constitutional rights through Article 35A, the Supreme Court has said, media reports said.
The article snatched away equality of opportunity, employment in the state government and right to buy land, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud has said while hearing petitions against scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, the reports said.
The Chief Justice said that the country’s constitution is a document that is “on a higher platform than the J&K Constitution”, the reports said.
His observations came during the hearing of a bunch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 by the BJP-led government in August 2019. The main arguments of the centre to abrogation of the special status in Jammu and Kashmir was providing a level playing field.
Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the scrapping of the Article 370 has put the people of Jammu and Kashmir on par with the rest of the country. Article 370 was drafted in the Indian constitution titled “Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions”. Article 35A of the Indian Constitution was added to the country’s Constitution through a presidential order, under Article 370. These articles deprived non-permanent residents of the state, and Indian citizens, their right to purchase land and immovable property, vote and contest elections, seeking government employment and higher education and health care.
J&K:SC observations a boost to centre
