India's Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will hear petitions challenging the central government's decision to revoke the special status of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir four years ago.
The constitutional bench, led by Chief Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, has scheduled the day-to-day hearing of the petitions to commence on Aug. 2.
The court has directed all parties to submit their documents, compilations, and written submissions by July 27.
During the hearing, the court was also informed that two petitioners – Shah Faesal, a bureaucrat, and Shehla Rashid, a former student leader – have withdrawn their pleas.
In a related development, the Indian government submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court a day earlier, defending its decision on Aug. 5, 2019, and describing it as a "historic constitutional step" that has brought "unprecedented development, progress, security, and stability to the region, which was lacking under the old Article 370 regime."
However, the chief justice emphasized that the contents of the government's affidavit have "no bearing" on the "constitutional issues which are raised in the petitions."
Former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, criticized the affidavit, asserting that the decision taken in 2019 was unconstitutional.
On Aug. 5, 2019, New Delhi revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which granted Jammu and Kashmir the ability to have its own constitution, flag, and a two-house legislature with the authority to enact its own laws.
Another legislation passed on the same day scrapped Article 35A, which granted Jammu and Kashmir the authority to define its residents and implemented restrictions on outsiders from acquiring properties or obtaining government jobs in the region.
As a result of these changes, Jammu and Kashmir was reorganized from a state into two centrally governed Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The decision received strong reactions from Pakistan, which claims the entire region, and China, which claims parts of Ladakh and previously controlled a significant portion of undivided Jammu and Kashmir prior to India and Pakistan's formation in 1947.
In response to the government's decision, several individuals, groups, and political parties filed nearly 20 petitions in the apex court, calling the decision illegal and unconstitutional.
Earlier this month, the Indian Supreme Court formed a bench to hear these petitions and address the challenges to the government's decision.
