Five judges led by Chief Justice Dy Chandrachud will review the petitions challenging the annulment made by the Bharatiya Janata Party five years ago to the provisions of said section of the Constitution, which granted special status to Muslim-majority Kashmir.
They will also examine the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act of 2019, passed by Parliament to divide the state into two regions: Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Back in 1949, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and his counterpart from Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, agreed on a special status for Kashmir, as reflected in Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
According to experts, the decision gave the former state autonomy over most matters except foreign relations, defense and communications, while remaining an Indian territory.
However, after the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 elections, the new Indian Government repealed Article 370 by presidential order and instituted the Reorganization Act.
jg/llp/oda/lrd