PM Modi welcomes SC's verdict on Article 370, calls it 'resounding declaration of hope, progress, unity'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict that upheld the Centre's decision to scrap the special status (Article 370) for Jammu and Kashmir. 

He said the verdict was a resounding declaration of hope, progress and unity for the people in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The Supreme Court of India has upheld the abrogation of Article 370, which once granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. 

This judgment validates the government's actions on August 5th, 2019, when Article 370 was annulled, altering the region's autonomy and governance.

Originally, Article 370 was a temporary provision intended for the wartime conditions at its inception, allowing Jammu and Kashmir to have its own constitution and limiting the Indian Constitution's applicability within the state.

On October 31st, 2019, the region was declared a union territory with Srinagar and Jammu serving as the capital in different months. The Supreme Court's ruling came after lengthy deliberations, with the judgment reserved on September 5th following 16 days of arguments. 

The bench, led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, and including Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, and Surya Kant, determined that the President of India had the authority to render Article 370 inoperative, even after the dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly, which ceased to exist post the adoption of the state's constitution on January 26th, 1957.

Also read: Supreme Court upholds abrogation of Article 370