As the Supreme Court prepares to hear cases on the constitutional legitimacy of the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, retired Supreme Court Justice Krishna Murari said that although the constitutional question is crucial, one cannot overlook the practical considerations.
Justice Murari said, “The fundamental thing would be the Constitutional validity because the courts are supposed to test the legality of a statute or Constitutional amendment on the legal principles, but it’s a fact that the court cannot also shut its eyes to the practical aspect of it.”
The Supreme Court said on July 11 that it would begin hearing a group of petitions on August 2 that contest the repeal of Article 370 and the division of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories.
However, the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India, which is chaired by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and also includes Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, made it clear that the Centre’s latest affidavit, filed on July 10, stating that Jammu and Kashmir is experiencing a “unprecedented era of peace, progress, and prosperity”
The Center defended its “historic” decision by claiming that street violence that was planned and carried out by terrorist and separatist networks is now a thing of the past.