Jammu & Kashmir will not remain Union Territory forever: Central government tells Supreme Court

The Central government on Tuesday submitted that Jammu & Kashmir is a Union Territory only as a temporary measure and that its statehood would be restored, although Ladakh would remain a Union Territory. [In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution].A Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant asked the Central government for an official statement to indicate the roadmap and timeframe for restoring the statehood of Jammu & Kashmir."We need a statement from the Central government on this, that if there is a time frame in view? The restoration of democracy is a vital component of our nation. Please tell us what is the roadmap for this," CJI Chandrachud said.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Court that a positive statement would be made soon. "I have taken instructions and the instructions are that the UT is not a permanent feature and I will make a positive statement the day after tomorrow. Ladakh would remain a UT...but here we are only on Jammu & Kashmir," he said. .The submission was made during the hearing in the Article 370 case.CJI Chandrachud today questioned whether Parliament was empowered to convert a state into a union territory.When the SG referred to the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act in this regard, the CJI asked if the Union Territory status of the region was permanent."No, no milord. The question was asked even on the floor of the house," the SG replied.SG Mehta added that he would eventually show how the Central government's intention is to restore statehood and conduct elections..Justice Kaul then asked a hypothetical question as to whether a portion of Assam could also be carved out and be declared a union territory.The SG replied that this was too extreme an example. States cannot be made union territories under Article 3, for there needs to be a separation, he added.The CJI then took the example of how Chandigarh was formed."On the creation of union territories post-independence, look at Chandigarh, how it was carved out to become a Union Territory to govern the two sister states as per the Punjab Reorganisation Act. So you make them as Union Territory now, but at a later point of time when it stabilises, it is made into a state. Can the Union not have control over a stipulated period to bring stability? Whether it is a state or UT, if all of us survive, then the nation survives. Then should we not give that much leeway to Parliament that for some period a state is made into a UT and then after a period it becomes a state?" he mused..However, the CJI added that it was crucial for the Central government to clarify when statehood would be restored and when elections would be conducted in Jammu & Kashmir..Today marks the twelfth day of the hearing in the petitions challenging the Central government's move in August 2019 that resulted in the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The erstwhile State was bifurcated into two Union Territories.Follow live updates from today's hearing, here.Read more of our coverage of the case, here.