The Supreme
Court on Friday said it would take a call on listing for hearing a batch
of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and
bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two
Union territories.
"I will take a call on it," said a bench
headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud as senior advocate Raju
Ramachandran mentioned the matter for urgent listing of the case.
The matter was mentioned before many times for urgent
listing but it could not be taken up.
The petitions which are pending since 2019 have not
been taken up for hearing since March 2020.
Various petitions are pending before the top court
challenging the validity of the law scrapping Article 370 of the
Constitution of India and special status to Jammu and Kashmir and
bifurcating the state into two Union Territories.
On August 5 2019, the Central government announced its
decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under Article
370 and split the region into two Union territories.
A five-judge Constitution bench in March 2020 had
declined to refer to a larger 7-judge bench a batch of petitions challenging
the Constitutional validity of the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of
Article 370 on August 5, saying there were no reasons to refer the matter to a
larger bench.
A number of petitions have been filed in the top court
including those of private individuals, lawyers, activists and politicians and
political parties challenging the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019,
which splits Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir,
and Ladakh.