The Supreme Court on 14 August, Thursday, asked the Centre to respond to a plea demanding the reinstatement of full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, while also emphasising that the current ground realities, including the recent terror attacks in Pahalgam and the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, cannot be overlooked.
“You also have to take into consideration the ground realities… You cannot ignore what has happened in Pahalgam,” chief justice of India B.R. Gavai stated when senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and others sought an expedited hearing.
The bench also included Justice K. Vinod Chandran.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, requested the court to dismiss the plea, noting that in the past, the court had levied costs on similar petitions.
“Elections are conducted, and my lords are aware of the unique circumstances in this region. Several considerations influence decision-making,” Mehta explained.
The court scheduled the case for the next hearing after eight weeks. The plea was filed by academician Zahoor Ahmad Bhat and socio-political activist Ahmad Malik.
Sankaranarayanan, appearing on behalf of Bhat, pointed out that it has been 21 months since the judgement of the Constitution bench on various issues including the abrogation of Article 370.
Referring to the judgement, he observed that the court did not address the issue of restoring statehood because of the solicitor general’s assurance that it would happen.
“There has been little progress partly because the Union had assured the court that statehood would be restored,” Sankaranarayanan said.