The petition has been filed by advocate Gopal Shankarnarayan, requesting the court to restore the region’s statehood.
A plea seeking a time-bound restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir was mentioned in the Supreme Court on Thursday for urgent hearing and the apex court has agreed to hear the matter.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the applicants, requested an urgent hearing before a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
“There is an MA (Miscellaneous Application) for conferring statehood. It was noted (in last year’s judgement) that it has to be time-bound,” the senior lawyer said.
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud responded by saying, “I will deal with it.”
The fresh application was filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academician, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist in Jammu and Kashmir.
On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
The court had also directed that assembly elections be held by September 2024 and emphasised that the state’s status should be restored “at the earliest.”
Elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly were held in three phases, from September 18 to October 1, resulting in the formation of a government by the National Conference-Congress alliance.