Article 370 abrogation: No need to refer pleas to larger Constitution bench, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court's five-judge Constitution bench on Monday (March 2) said that there is no need to refer pleas challenging government's abrogation of Article 370 to a larger bench. The apex court was hearing the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's move to remove the said Article.

Earlier on January 23, the top court had reserved the decision in the matter of whether or not to deliver before the big constitution bench of seven or nine judges. 

The five-member constitution bench headed by Justice NV Ramana had reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments of the petitioners as well as the Centre. The petitioners were represented by Dinesh Dwivedi, Rajeev Dhawan, and Sanjay Parikh, while Attorney General KK Venugopal argued on behalf of the central government.

NGO People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, and an intervenor had sought the matter to be referred to a larger bench, submitting that two judgments of apex court -- Prem Nath Kaul versus Jammu and Kashmir in 1959 and Sampat Prakash versus Jammu and Kashmir in 1970 -- which dealt with the issue of Article 370 are in direct conflict with each other, therefore, the five judges bench could not hear the matter.

In August 2019, the central government abrogated Article 370, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the region into two Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.