New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear a plea on August 8, 2025, seeking restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. The hearing comes as India marked six years since the abrogation of Article 370.
On Tuesday, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan mentioned the case before a bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran. He urged the court not to delete the case from its list. “The date (on SC website) shows as August 8. Let it not be deleted,” he said.
The case holds significance as Article 370 — which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir — was revoked by the Centre on August 5, 2019.
On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation. It also directed the Centre to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024. The court further asked the Centre to restore statehood “at the earliest.”
A related plea was filed last year by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academician, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist. They requested the court to direct the Centre to restore statehood within two months.
The petition said delays by the Centre in implementing the court’s order were concerning. It warned that delaying statehood would harm democratic governance in Jammu and Kashmir. It also said this delay would violate the idea of federalism, which is part of the Constitution’s basic structure.
The plea pointed out that both assembly and Lok Sabha elections were conducted peacefully in the region. It argued that there were no law-and-order or security concerns to justify any postponement.
“There is no impediment… which would hinder or prevent the grant/restoration of the status of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, as had been assured by the Union of India in the present proceedings,” the petition stated.
The petitioners also raised concerns about the timing. They warned that if statehood is not restored before the assembly election results on October 8, 2024, it would weaken democratic representation.
Even though the Supreme Court ordered the Centre to act “at the earliest,” the petitioners said the government has not given any timeline or concrete steps to do so.
The case is still scheduled for August 8, 2025. It will be closely followed as debates on federalism, democracy, and autonomy in Jammu and Kashmir continue.
