Sajad Lone's party pushes for early hearing of petitions on Article 370

Srinagar, Nov 09: Peoples Conference (PC) led by Sajad Lone on Monday filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of petitions challenging the Centre''s decision of abrogation of Article 370, the party said.

It said the application has stated that the petitioners have a very strong prima facie case and the issues raised are being considered by a Constitution Bench of the court.

"J-K Peoples Conference has filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking early hearing of a batch of petitions, challenging (the) Centre''s last year''s August 5 decisions," the party said in a statement.

The party said that sweeping changes are being brought about by the Centre that impact the rights of a large number of people, including "dilution" of the safeguards that were earlier available to the permanent residents of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The very purpose of the present proceedings will be severely undermined if the present petitions are not heard and disposed of urgently," the statement said.

Meanwhile, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration had, in its recent meeting, decided to submit the plea seeking early hearing of the petitions.

"As decided in the recent meeting of the People''s Alliance, we are seeking early hearings in this matter so that the petitions challenging 5th Aug 2019 move forward," Abdullah said in a tweet.

Various mainstream political parties, including the NC and the PDP, have challenged the Centre''s August 5, 2019 decision to scrap the provisions that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two union territories.