- The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a public interest litigation(PIL) on Article 370, which gives special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir.
- The plea has sought that the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir be declared unconstitutional as (a) Article 370 of the Constitution is temporary and had lapsed with the dissolution of constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir on January 26, 1957 (b) it is against the supremacy of the Indian Constitution (c) There cannot be two parallel constitutions, one for the Centre and other for the state and (d) It did not got the assent of the President, which is mandatory as per provisions of the constitution.
- Article 370 is a temporary provision granting special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir.It specifies that (a) except for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Communications the Indian Parliament needs the State Government’s concurrence for applying all other laws (b) the residuary powers belong to the Legislature of the State and (c) No preventive detention law made in India extends to Jammu & Kashmir.
- Public Interest Litigation means litigation for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party. It is the power given to the public by courts through judicial activism.
