ARTICLE 370 --- CAN IT BE REVOKED UNILATERALLY ? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jitendra Singh Union minister of state for PMO said that discussion on abrogation of Article 370 has already began . But is it possible to revoke it unilaterally ? CLAUSE 3 OF ARTICLE 370 IS CLEAR. THE PRESIDENT MAY , BY PUBLIC NOTIFICATION , declare that this Article shall cease to be operative but ONLY ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE ( J & K) . In other words , Article 370 can be revoked only if a NEW constituently of Jammu & Kashmir is convened and is willing to recommend its revocation . Of course , Parliament has the power to amend the Constitution to change this provision . But this could be subject to a judicial review which may find that this clause is a basic feature of the relationship between State and the Centre and can not therefore be amended. All article 370 does is limit the centres and Parliaments immediate jurisdiction over over J&K to issues specifically listed in the INSTRUMENT OF ACCESSION signed by Maharaja Hari Singh with Lord Mountbatten on October 26-27 ,m 1947 merging his state with India under certain preconditions . An abrogation of Article 370 implies REPUDIATION OF THE INSTRUMENT OF ACCESSION . Why was Article 370 inserted in the constitution ? As Gopalaswami Ayyangar ( Minister without portfolio in the first Union Cabinet , a former Diwan to Maharaja Hari Sing and the principal drafter of Article 370) answered clearly as[per the terms of accession , ..will of the people through this instrument of the J&K Constituent Assembly will determine the constitution of the State as well as the sphere of Union jurisdiction over the State . Ayyangar negotiated -- with the backing of both Nehru and Sardar Patel --- the substance and scope of Article 370 with Sheikh Abdullah and other members of J&K in the Constituent Assembly to give the Article its final shape . MOREOVER , article 370 HAS CHANGED SUBSTANTIALLY OVER THE YEARS starting from Presidential declaration of 1950and the Delhi agreement of 1952 . To day the autonomy enjoyed by the State is a shadow of its former self After 30th March , 1969 it does not even have a PM . G. M. Sadiq was PM till then ,thereafter he became the CM and subsequent heads were and are known as CM.. THE ONLY SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES FROM MANY OTHER STATES relate to PERMANENT RESIDENTS AND THEIR RIGHTS ; THE NON -APPLICABILITY OF EMERGENCY PROVISIONS ONTHE GROUNDS OF INTERNAL DISTURBANCES without the concurrence of the state which can not be done WITHOUT THE CONCURRENCE OF THE LEGISLATUTRE OF J&K . We can conclude that UNILATERAL abrogation of this Article is not feasible .
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 06:35:23 +0000
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