New Delhi
A 5-judge Constitution Bench, presided over by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, has reserved its judgment in a series of petitions challenging the 2019 Presidential Order, which revoked the special status granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union Territories. The Constitution Bench, composed of the five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, commenced hearing the case on August 2, 2023. Following the conclusion of oral arguments from both sides, it is expected to deliver its judgment in the near future. In March 2020, a separate five-judge Constitution Bench, led by then CJI N.V. Ramana, declined to refer the matter to a larger bench of seven judges. The bench argued that previous Supreme Court judgments, particularly those in the Prem Nath Kaul case and the Sampat Prakash case, which dealt with the interpretation of Article 370, were not in conflict with each other. Notably, Chief Justice Ramana and Justice Subhash Reddy, who were part of the previous bench, have since retired, with CJI Chandrachud and Justice Khanna taking their places on the current bench. The pending judgment is highly anticipated as it pertains to a significant constitutional and political issue in India.
