J&K bar association to be part of Article 35-A heading in SC

Jammu, Aug 5: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA), Jammu passed a resolution to file an impleadment application before the Supreme Court in connection with petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35-A of the Constitution.

A statement issued by the JKHCBA, Jammu said it was unanimously resolved that the bar association would file the application before the court in the litigation regarding Article 35-A.

JKHCBA president B S Slathia said termed the provision an aberration and said that no provision in the Constitution could be added or deleted, without amending the Constitution.

He said the Presidential Order can't be an article of the Constitution and emphasised that it was important to abolish it in order to establish gender equality.

He said senior lawyer Permod Kohli had agreed to plead the association's cause before the Supreme Court, it said. A committee of eminent lawyers also assured their pro bono services in representing the bar association in the court.

Article 35-A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state.

The provision, which leads such women from the state to forfeit their right over property, also applies to their heirs.

Political parties including the National Conference and the CPI-M, have moved the Supreme Court in support of the Article 35-A that empowers the state assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.

In a separate meeting, some lawyers passed a resolution for strengthening and retention of the Article 35-A. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of senior lawyer A V Gupta.

He said Maharaja Hari Singh had executed the Instrument of Accession with certain conditions which later came out in the shape of Article 35-A read with Article 370.

Gupta said that Article 35-A was beneficial for the permanent residents of the state.