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Centre not to file counter-affidavit on Article 35A
Why it is in news?
- The Centre has decided not to file any counter-affidavit on Article 35A, which has been challenged in the Supreme Court through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition.
- Attorney General, representing the Union of India, stated that a conscious decision has been taken not to file any counter-affidavit in this case because the issues, which are raised for adjudication, are pure questions of law.
- The State government has filed an affidavit opposing any such move.
Article 35A
- It grants a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
- Article 35A allows the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to decide the permanent residents of the State, prohibits a non-State resident from buying property in the State and ensures reservation in employment for residents.
- Article 35A was incorporated into the Constitution by an order of the then President Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet in 1954.
- The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order followed the 1952 Delhi Agreement between Nehru and the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah, which extended Indian citizenship to the State subjects of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Mufti said earlier that any attempt to tinker with Article 35(A) would have repercussions, and that India will not get a shoulder to carry its national flag in Jammu and Kashmir.
- The petition, filed by We The Citizens, said Article 35A is against the very spirit of oneness of India as it creates a class within a class of Indian citizens.
- A second petition, filed by Jammu and Kashmir resident Charu Wali Khanna, has challenged Article 35A for protecting certain provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, which restrict the basic right to property if a native woman marries a man not holding a permanent resident certificate.
Source
The Hindu