Supreme Court bench to hear petitions against revocation of Art 370

The Supreme Court is slated to begin hearing on Tuesday on a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the revocation of the provisions of Article 370. The Article granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices S K Kaul, R. Subhash Reddy, B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant will begin the hearing on the plea filed by National Conference, Sajjad Lone-led J&K Peoples Conference and CPI (M) leader Mohd Yousuf Tarigami.

In November, the court said it would hear all the issues of all parties concerned at length, and refused to pass any interim order. on Monday, Justice Ramana asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Raju Ramachandaran to come prepared on the issues.

The court asked for a common compilation to streamline the process of hearing.

Earlier, the apex court had put restrictions on fresh plea challenging the revocation of Article 370, and also said it would hear only two pleas, which have raised important issues.

Besides, these two petitions, other petitions are also pending before the court. A plea was filed by Shah Faesal, bureaucrat-turned-politician, along with Shehla Rashid, and there was another plea filed by a group of former bureaucrats and defence officers challenging the Centre's decision.