The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, deleted the names of IAS officer Shah Faesal and activist Shehla Rashid from the list of petitioners challenging the abrogation of Article 370.
Faesal and Rashid had submitted pleas requesting the deletion of their names in the array of parties challenging the dilution of Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
On August 5, 2019, the Centre decided to strip the state of Jammu and Kashmir of special status and bifurcate it into two union territories.
The bureaucrat, who was the lead petitioner against the abrogation, had earlier sought the withdrawal of his name as a petitioner stating that Article 370 was ‘a thing of the past‘.
“370, for many Kashmiris like me, is a thing of the past. Jhelum and Ganga have merged in the great Indian Ocean for good. There is no going back. There is only marching forward,” Shah said in his tweet’.
Faesal a 2010 batch IAS officer who topped the Civil Service Exam and posted in Jammu and Kashmir had resigned in January 2019 and floated his own party- Jammu Kashmir People’s Movement- with Shehla Rashid. Faesal’s unprecedented resignation from his own political outfit came in August 2020. The Centre rejected his resignation and he was reinstated in service.
Article 370: Day-to-day hearing from August 2
The Supreme Court has stated that it will commence day-to-day hearings on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution from August 2.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, which passed several procedural directions, fixed July 27 as the deadline for filing of written submissions and convenience compilations by different parties.
The bench also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant said hearing on the batch of petitions will be held on a day-to-day basis except on Mondays and Fridays, which are days for hearing miscellaneous matters in the apex court.
