The Supreme Court of India (SCI) refused to take a call on the constitutional validity of the Centremove to scrap Article 370 a special status granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. As per NDTV, the Indian Supreme Court refused to rule on the validity of the Presidential rule imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in December 2018 since it was not specifically challenged by the petitioner, the Chief Justice of India said. The Centre in 2019 scrapped the special status and split the state into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The verdict from a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud comes in response to a slew of petitions challenging the Centre move four years ago. After a 16-day-long hearing, the Supreme Court reserved it judgment on September 5. The petitioners have argued that Article 370 cannot be scrapped unilaterally by the Centre, since the powers of the Constituent Assembly were vested in the Jammu and Kashmir legislature after it was dissolved in 1957.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)