SC urged to ‘expeditiously’ begin hearing pleas on Article 370 abrogation

Tarigami says govt taking ‘irreversible actions’ that may render pending case ‘infructuous’

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and spokesperson of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration M.Y. Tarigami has urged the Supreme Court to “expeditiously” begin hearing petitions challenging the Centre’s and bifurcation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories (UTs), saying the government was taking “irreversible actions” that may render the pending case “infructuous”. Several petitions, including one by Mr. Tarigami, have been waiting in the Supreme Court for nearly two years. The petitions were referred to a five-judge Bench in August 2019 by the then Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi. The case was last listed before a Constitution Bench led by Justice Gogoi’s successor, Chief Justice S.A. Bobde (now retired), on March 2, 2020. The other four judges on the Constitution Bench are Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R. Subhash Reddy, B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant.