‘I’ve full confidence SC will dismiss 35A matter’, says J&K CM on Independence Day

Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti said that she was confident that the Supreme Court would dismiss the plea on Article 35A.

Srinagar, August 15: On the occasion of 70th Independence Day on Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti spoke about the "controversial" Article 35A in Srinagar.

"I have full confidence that our Supreme Court will again dismiss this plea," Mufti said about the Article 35A matter, currently pending before the apex court.

The SC is hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A, which prohibits a non-J&K resident from buying property in the state and ensures job reservation for residents.

While all the regional parties in the state, including Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC), are vehemently opposing against the revocation of the Article 35A, the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP), running a coalition government with the PDP in J&K, has a contrary view.

As per a report by The Hindu, the BJP, which is in power at the Centre also, is likely to take a divergent opinion from that of its alliance partner PDP on Article 35A, on the grounds that it discriminates against women who marry outside the state from applying for jobs or buying property, which is in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.

On Saturday, Kashmir and Chenab observed a shutdown over the issue of Article 35A.

Currently, a political storm is brewing in Kashmir following the Attorney-General's suggestion to the SC in July "to have a larger debate on the Article 35A" while it is being challenged by an NGO.

The Article 35A is being challenged in the Supreme Court by NGO--We The Citizens--on its legal basis because the article was never presented before Parliament and executed on the orders of President of India.

Earlier in July, J&K CM said that if the Article 35A is tampered with then nobody in the Valley will hold the Indian Tricolour.

"Any tinkering with the article won't be acceptable. I won't hesitate in saying that nobody will even carry the corpse of the National Flag in Kashmir (if the article is scrapped). Let me make it very clear," she said at an event on Kashmir in Srinagar, last month.

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