SC to list application seeking restoration of J&K statehood in time-bound manner

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list an application seeking restoration of J&K statehood in a time-bound period.

This was stated by CJI DY Chandrachud when senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said that among the Article 370 batch of pleas, there is an application to "implement the undertaking of restoration of statehood which needs to be time-bound".

The petitioners, college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, have contended that the election results in the Union Territory would be meaningless if full statehood is not restored within two months. The application argues that the failure to restore statehood is gravely affecting the rights of the people of the UT and that the formation of the legislative assembly before the restoration of statehood would violate the idea of federalism that forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India.