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.