ABROGATION OF ARTICLE 370 NOT LEGALLY FEASIBLE IT SEEMS
The Indian Parliament is impotent to legislate largely on Jammu and Kashmir as it is bound by the strictures of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which limits its legislative powers vis-a-vis the said state. This has created for J&K the unique privilege of being a state within a state and, hence, all the secessionist trouble there.
There are legal compulsions that prevent abrogation of Article 370 even with President's Proclamation. This is because of the fact that the Constituent Assembly of J&K, which had been invested with the power to recommend the President of India to issue, if need be, the order of repeal of this Article that had been given temporary status at its inception, did not do so before its own dissolution in 1957. Hence, as per the ruling of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in October, 2015 and the Supreme Court ruling to the same tune on 3 April, 2018, the Article has assumed permanent status and cannot be ''abrogated, repealed or amended.'' And herein lies the governmental handicap in dealing with the State of J&K which is in the throes of secessionist insurgency ever. The Article 370 protects J&K from the Government of India's total control which in turn helps the separatist forces to proceed with their agenda of insurrection with relative ease.
In a recent debate where Dr. Subramanian Swamy faced the redoubtable lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, the former raised the issue of abrogation of Article 370 with Presidential decree but was silenced by the latter who quoted from Article 147 of the Constitution of J&K to set the matter to rest along the legal line mentioned above. Hence, one wonders what is in store for us over Jammu and Kashmir in the long run, segregated as it is somewhat constitutionally from the rest of India and refusing to integrate totally like the remaining provinces of our Union under a common penal code and a common constitution.
Written by Sugata Bose
The Indian Parliament is impotent to legislate largely on Jammu and Kashmir as it is bound by the strictures of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which limits its legislative powers vis-a-vis the said state. This has created for J&K the unique privilege of being a state within a state and, hence, all the secessionist trouble there.
There are legal compulsions that prevent abrogation of Article 370 even with President's Proclamation. This is because of the fact that the Constituent Assembly of J&K, which had been invested with the power to recommend the President of India to issue, if need be, the order of repeal of this Article that had been given temporary status at its inception, did not do so before its own dissolution in 1957. Hence, as per the ruling of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in October, 2015 and the Supreme Court ruling to the same tune on 3 April, 2018, the Article has assumed permanent status and cannot be ''abrogated, repealed or amended.'' And herein lies the governmental handicap in dealing with the State of J&K which is in the throes of secessionist insurgency ever. The Article 370 protects J&K from the Government of India's total control which in turn helps the separatist forces to proceed with their agenda of insurrection with relative ease.
In a recent debate where Dr. Subramanian Swamy faced the redoubtable lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, the former raised the issue of abrogation of Article 370 with Presidential decree but was silenced by the latter who quoted from Article 147 of the Constitution of J&K to set the matter to rest along the legal line mentioned above. Hence, one wonders what is in store for us over Jammu and Kashmir in the long run, segregated as it is somewhat constitutionally from the rest of India and refusing to integrate totally like the remaining provinces of our Union under a common penal code and a common constitution.
Written by Sugata Bose
No comments:
Post a Comment