SC verdict on abrogation of Art 370 approves correction of historic blunder: Sr lawyer Dwivedi

New Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI) The Supreme Court verdict upholding the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370, which bestowed a special status upon the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, approved the correction of a “historic” blunder of the Jawahar Lal Nehru-led Congress government, senior lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi said on Monday.

Dwivedi, a constitutional law expert, had appeared for an intervenor and defended the Centre’s decision during the marathon 16-day hearing on a batch of pleas before a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.

The top court on Monday unanimously upheld the Centre’s action and directed restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir “at the earliest” and set a September 30, 2024 deadline for holding assembly elections there.

“The judgement upholds abrogation of Article 370, and thereby approves the correction of a historic blunder of the Nehru-led Congress in 1947 of appointing Lord Mountbatten as the governor general and chairman of the defence committee, and referring the dispute to the UNO. The Article 370 was a sequence of that blunder,” Dwivedi said while haling the verdict.

“It required the political will of the Modi government and Home Minister Amit Shah to undo the Article 370. The Supreme Court has by upholding the decision declared that the provision was temporary and the dissolution of JK Constituent Assembly in 1957 did not result in demise of Article 370(3) and consequently, the President could de-operationalise Article 370,” he added.

The senior lawyer said the verdict held that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India after the accession and did not retain any sovereignty of its own.
“The Jammu and Kashmir Constitution was subservient and as a consequence of abrogation of Article 370, it automatically ceases and does not survive,” he said elaborating on the findings of the apex court.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the Centre’s key counsel in defending the abrogation of Article 370, said on Monday the Supreme Court verdict will go down in history as the one that corrected a “Himalayan constitutional blunder” of gigantic proportions.