SC’s Constitution Bench reserves verdict in pleas challenging abrogation of Article 370

A 5-judge Constitution Bench, headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud, on Tuesday reserved its judgment in the batch of petitions challenging the 2019 Presidential Order taking away the special status accorded to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into two Union Territories.

“We must end it with a vote of thanks to all the members of the bar. Thank you very much,” said the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, and Surya Kant.

The Constitution Bench, which included the five senior most judges of the Supreme Court, commenced hearing the matter from August 2.

It will deliver its judgment soon after it has reserved the verdict on hearing oral arguments from both sides.

In March 2020, a five-judge Constitution Bench declined to accept the contentions of the petitioners to refer the issue to a larger bench of seven judges.

The five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by then CJI N V Ramana, reasoned that the earlier judgments rendered by the top court in the Prem Nath Kaul case and the Sampat Prakash case, dealing with the interpretation of Article 370, were not in conflict with each other.

CJI Chandrachud and Justice Khanna are the new members of the latest bench as Chief Justice Ramana and Justice Subhash Reddy, who were part of the earlier bench, had retired.