New Delhi, In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s verdict upholding the constitutional validity of the abrogation of Article 370, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta hailed the decision as a correction of the “Himalayan constitutional blunder of the past.” In a statement, Mehta expressed gratitude to the Supreme Court judges for their patient hearings, describing the judgment as a historic day for India.
“5th August 2019 and today’s date will go down in the history of India when a Himalayan constitutional blunder of the past with gigantic proportions is ultimately corrected by the government,” said Solicitor General Mehta.
Mehta, who led the arguments before the constitution bench, credited the “iron will” of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the “resolute decisiveness and brilliant strategy” of Home Minister Shri Amit Shah for making this historical decision possible.
“Having extensively read the history behind the insertion of Article 370 into our Constitution, I can confidently say that the soul of Sardar Patel will be fully content today,” Mehta stated, referring to the provision’s removal. He expressed that Sardar Patel’s blessings would be upon Shri Narendra Modi ji and Shri Amit Shah ji.
The Supreme Court’s unanimous verdict ruled that Article 370, conferring special status to Jammu and Kashmir, is a temporary provision. It emphasized that the power of the President to issue a notification revoking Article 370 persists even after the dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly. The court concluded that the Presidential orders abrogating Article 370 were not mala fide.
The Solicitor General concluded his statement by acknowledging the historical significance of the judgment, showcasing “astounding scholarship, concern for the Rule of Law, and visible concern for the fundamental rights of equality of every resident of J&K, irrespective of religion, sex, caste, or creed.”
