Supreme Court judge raises referendum in Article 370 case

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Surya Kant caused a stir in the courtroom on Wednesday when he mentioned “referendum” while seeking to know how the government of India could have ascertained will of the people of former state of J&K in the absence of an elected assembly.

Kant made the remark while hearing a host of petitions challenging the validity of the government actions stripping the state of its special status and bifurcating it into two union territories as part of a five-judge bench led by NV Ramana who will be the next chief justice of India.

“Who’s the competent authority? How is it to be done? Through a referendum? Through elected representatives? How?” Kant asked senior advocate Raju Ramachandran when the latter argued that the Centre could not have unilaterally changed the former state’s relationship with the Indian Union without taking into consideration the will of the people there.


Ramachandran, who is appearing for former bureaucrat Shah Faesal and activist Shela Rashid, said, “There are no elected representatives.” The state was under President’s Rule when its special status was scrapped, he said. “The people have been sidelined…their Constitution violated.”