Supreme Court verdict on Article 370 did not answer issue of federalism: Retired Justice Ravindra Bhat

The Supreme Court's judgment upholding the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution did not address the key issue concerning federalism, retired Supreme Court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat on Saturday..Justice Bhat made the observation while summarising important judgments delivered by the top court in the recent times. "The other important judgment which has long-term implications is the Article 370 of the Constitution judgment. The Court spoke in unison through three judgments. It left unanswered an important issue on federalism," he said.The retired judge was speaking at the introductory session of 'Courts and the Constitution Conference' organised by the NALSAR University of Law at Hyderabad..In December 2023, the Supreme Court had upheld the Central government's 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which had conferred a special status on Jammu and Kashmir.The Supreme Court, however, refused to decide on the validity of a 2019 law which had bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories (Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh).Instead, the Court accepted an assurance by Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta that Jammu and Kashmir's status as a Union Territory is temporary and that statehood would soon be restored.Review petitions filed against this judgment are presently pending before the Supreme Court..Article 370 judgment explained: Supreme Court says President could have struck down provision unilaterally.The other important verdicts referred to by Justice Bhat in his address today included the judgments in the demonetisation case, the electoral bonds case and the guidelines issued earlier by the top court on the appointment of election commissioners. "This trend of examining and revisiting our norms, which were long held to be dearly held values, is not necessarily disheartening but is to be seen as the court probing and considering the changes which are necessary to be made, to make the Constitution responsive, efficient and relevant in the 21st century," Justice Bhat observed. .The retired judge added that similar instances could be seen in other courts of neighbouring countries as well, which are often called to examine laws against Constitutional norms to see if they measure up against the standards of the present times. .The case of Supriya Chakraborty and anr v. Union of India, in which the Indian Supreme Court refused to recognize any right for same-sex couples to enter into marriages, was also among the judgments mentioned by Justice Bhat today. However, he clarified that he would not comment on this verdict since he was part of the bench of judges who decided the matter."As a member of that bench, I would desist from commenting on it," he said..Certain observations by CJI Chandrachud in Section 377 judgment were unnecessary: Justice Ravindra Bhat in same-sex verdict.As he concluded his address, Justice Bhat called for society to reflect on the changes generative Artificial Intelligence could herald. "Now, we live in an age of technology and machine learning where AI enabled and generative AI products have crept into our lives. This challenges several traditional notions about personhood, creativity, data-based policy making, privacy and public opinion. It is time that we all put on our thinking hats to collectively refashion norms to meet these challenges, which are profoundly dictating social change.".Supreme Court judge, Justice BV Nagarathna; Telangana High Court Chief Justice, Alok Aradhe; Supreme Court of Nepal judge, Sapana Malla, and Pakistani Supreme Court judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah also spoke during the event..Governors must act as per the Constitution: Supreme Court's Justice BV Nagarathna