False narrative built that J&K not part of India: Dushyant Dave to SC

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) Senior advocate Dushyant Dave on Thursday argued before the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court that a false narrative has been built that Jammu and Kashmir is not part of India due to Article 370 of the Constitution, adding that it has always been an integral part of India.

He argued that Article 370 cannot be abrogated by the President in exercise of power conferred under clause (3) and could have only been done through a constitutional amendment.

He reiterated that the procedure adhered by the Centre to nullify Article 370 amounted to "fraud". In this regard, he said that Parliament made a colourable exercise of power when it had assumed the role of state Legislature Assembly of J&K as the President’s Rule was in force in the state.

“Today’s House (Parliament) has no moral or constitutional authority to undo this just because it has a majority. For the people of J&K, this (Article 370) was the essential feature,” Dave argued.

On Wednesday, Dave argued that the exercise of powers in nullifying Article 370 was nothing but "fraud" on the Constitution.

Dave argued that constitutional powers cannot be exercised to achieve political ends. “The ruling party manifesto in 2019 had said that we'll abrogate (Article) 370,” he said, referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto for 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

He said that Centre’s action disintegrating the erstwhile state into two Union Territories will have ramifications on the future of the nation.

“Tomorrow it may happen that my party cannot get elected in 'A' state. I (referring to the ruling party in the Centre) will disintegrate it (state 'A') in Union Territory? Because there is law and order problem? This is something to be seriously considered,” Dave said.

Further, he contended that abrogation of Article 370 strikes at very basic features like democracy, federalism, etc., of the constitution.

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court is hearing a batch of pleas challenging abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution from August 2.

The Constitution Bench comprises five senior-most judges of the apex court, namely Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, and Surya Kant.

--IANS

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