New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) Former Solicitor General Harish Salve said the government has not scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution but its provisions which includes Article 35A.
Speaking to media in the Supreme Court, Salve said: “Article 370 states the provisions under it will be introduced through Presidential order. Article 35A was inserted through the Presidential order in 1954. Today, the same order has been superseded.”
Speaking on the government’s Bill on redrawing state boundaries or state reorganization, Salve said: “The Bill concerning the state bifurcation will be introduced in Parliament twice. The Bill will only gain significance when it is passed by Parliament…this is a political decision.”
According to Article 35A, the state legislature is authorised to define the status of Jammu and Kashmir’s permanent residents.
It was inserted in the Constitution through a Presidential order in 1954.
According to it, no outsider can own a property in Jammu And Kashmir and get a state job.
This Article also deprived female citizens of the state claiming any property right if they marry an outsider. This provision was also extended to children born of any such female citizen. This contention has also been challenged in the Supreme Court through a petition. A total of six petitions challenging Article 35A were filed in the top court.
–IANS
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