Lone swears by Indian Constitution
NEW DELHI, Sept 5: The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution which bestowed special status on the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud reserved the verdict after a marathon 16-day hearing.
The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, heard the rejoinder arguments of senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subramanium, Rajeev Dhavan, Zaffar Shah, Dushyant Dave and others on the concluding day of the hearing.
The top court said if any lawyer appearing for the petitioners or respondents wishes to file a written submission can do so in the next three days. The submission should not extend beyond two pages, it said.
In the course of the hearing over the past 16 days, the top court heard Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Harish Salve, Rakesh Dwivedi, V Giri and others on behalf of the Centre and the intervenors defending the abrogation of Article 370.
The lawyers dwelt on various issues including the constitutional validity of the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate the provision, the validity of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which split the erstwhile State into two Union Territories, challenges to imposition of Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir on June 20, 2018 and imposition of President’s rule in the erstwhile State on December 19, 2018 and its extension on July 3, 2019.
Several petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 that divided the erstwhile State into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh – were referred to a Constitution bench in 2019.
Meanwhile, National Conference leader Mohd Akbar Lone today filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, asserting he reiterates the oath taken while being sworn in as an MP to preserve and uphold the provisions of the Constitution of India and to protect the country’s territorial integrity.
The apex court had on Monday directed Lone to file an affidavit swearing allegiance to the Constitution of India and accepting the country’s sovereignty unconditionally, after the ‘Pakistan zindabad’ slogan that he allegedly raised in the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly in 2018 kicked up a massive row during the Constitution bench hearing on abrogation of Article 370.
At the fag end of the proceedings, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Lone, submitted the affidavit to the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, which said it will examine it.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, objected to the content of the affidavit which said, “That I am a responsible and dutiful citizen of the Union of India. I have exercised my right to approach this court through Article 32 of the Constitution.
“That I reiterate the oath taken while being sworn in as Member of Parliament to preserve and uphold the provisions of the Constitution of India and to protect the territorial integrity of India.”
Mehta urged the top court to read what was not written in the affidavit and said Lone had expressed no remorse in the affidavit for his alleged conduct.
Lone is the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that accorded special status to the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI)
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