New Delhi, August 14 (HS): The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Union government on a petition demanding the restoration of Jammu & Kashmir’s full statehood. A bench headed by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai has scheduled the next hearing for eight weeks from now.

The plea urges the court to direct the Centre to restore statehood within two months, citing an earlier assurance by the Solicitor General during proceedings that Jammu & Kashmir’s statehood would indeed be reinstated.

Filed by college lecturer Zahoor Ahmad Bhatt and activist Khurshid Ahmad Malik, the petition argues that the successful and peaceful conduct of the recent Assembly polls in J&K proves there is no impediment to restoring the region’s pre-2019 status. Withholding statehood, the petition contends, undermines the basic feature of federalism.

The petition further states that despite the Solicitor General’s assurance and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Article 370 case, the Centre has failed to take any concrete action over the past 11 months, causing serious harm to the constitutional and democratic rights of J&K’s citizens.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar