Supreme Court adjourns hearing on Article 35A till next year.

The Supreme Court today adjourned the hearing on a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A till January next year. The Jammu and Kashmir government had sought adjournment of the hearing Article 35A in the view of upcoming local body elections in the state.

The matter was listed before a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had written a letter to the Registrar of the Supreme Court on August 29. Jammu and Kashmir government's standing counsel M Shoeb Alam had argued in the letter a hearing on Article 35A may impact holding of upcoming local body elections in the state.

The letter also stated that preparation for the upcoming panchayat and urban local body and municipal elections in Jammu and Kashmir was underway and in the view of the polls, hearing on Article 35A should be deferred to avoid inconvenience to the administration.

The dates for the local body elections in Jammu and Kashmir have not been declared yet. The elections are likely to be held by the end of September.

Article 35A was incorporated in Constitution by a Presidential Order in 1954. Article 35A empowers the state assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.

NGOs - We the Citizens and Ikkjut Jammu - are among the five petitioners, who have sought quashing of Article 35-A on the grounds that it is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

Article 35A confers special status to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. It also denies property rights to women, who marry those from outside the state. Article 35A also applies to the heirs of such women.

Political parties like the National Conference and the CPI (M) have also moved the Supreme Court in the matter. But these parties have entered the legal fray in support of Article 35A. (Source: The Indian Express)