Oppn parties in J&K to file review plea against SC verdict on Art 370: Tarigami
CPI(M) leader and Gupkar Alliance spokesperson MY Tarigami says talks on, will file petition by January 11 as there is a room for review
CPI(M) leader and Gupkar Alliance spokesperson MY Tarigami on Thursday said that opposition parties and stakeholders in civil society would file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the decision to uphold the abrogation of Article 370 before January 11.
On December 11, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court had upheld the decision of the Centre to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution through a presidential order issued on August 5, 2019.
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“The doors are open. Why would we construe that doors will not open for us. Earlier, when we moved the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s decision to revoke Article 370, many people were pessimistic and discouraged us,” Tarigami told mediapersons in Jammu.
“But as a student of politics and as a citizen of this nation, one option of filing a review petition is still left. Some retired justices, who are colleagues, also feel that there is a room for a review petition before the apex court. Why shouldn’t we explore the opportunity and why should we be pessimists before taking the step,” he said while responding to a query.
Tarigami felt that many people like him were contemplating filing the review petition. “Many others are serious on this question because as citizens we think justice has not been delivered to us. We have to explore all options and review petition is one of them,” he said.
He said last time besides him, leaders of the National Conference, Sajjad Lone of the Peoples Conference, and stakeholders, such as Radha Kumar and retired air vice marshal Kapil Kak, had moved the petitions before the apex court.
“We have certain time (till January 11) and we will do it (by then),” he responded when asked by when the review petition will be filed.
J&K, Ladakh haven’t got justice: CPM leader
He said that the revocation of Article 370 was a grave injustice and an assault on the basic constitutional rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
While a five-judge constitutional bench of the apex court delivered the judgment after 16 days of consecutive hearing in August-September, Tarigami felt justice was not done with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. “The people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh have not received justice and that’s why we are debating and discussing among stakeholders and petitioners to file a review petition,” he said.
“We will appeal to the Supreme Court to review its judgment. Our deliberations are on and applications are being mulled,” he said.
‘Misleading narratives’
Tarigami expressed regret over the false narrative being built by quarters to project that Article 370 was responsible for terrorism and other ills plaguing J&K.
He said that Article 370 got gradually eroded by successive regimes at the Centre and the democratic process was influenced by Delhi that eventually rendered Article 370 ‘hollow’.
Misleading narratives were built to justify the abrogation of Article 370, Tarigami said.
Referring to the statement of LG Manoj Sinha that implementation of the Anand Marriage Act in J&K became possible only because of the abrogation of Article 370, Tarigami said that there has been a long list of amendments made to Article 370, allowing the application of central laws to J&K. “The passage of GST in 2017 by the Jammu and Kashmir assembly was one of such instances in recent times. There were 42 constitution (application to J&K) orders extending the scope of central intervention which were not envisaged at the time of the adoption of Article 370,” he said.
“Additionally, the extent of the misuse of Article 370 to encroach on the state’s power can be seen from one of the measures taken in July 1986.The President issued an order under Article 370, extending Article 249 of the Constitution to the state. This empowered the Parliament to legislate on matters in the state list based on a resolution from the Rajya Sabha, which is nowhere in any other state of India,” he said.
