Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 26: The Supreme Court will tomorrow hear another plea filed challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35 A that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra will on Monday hear a plea filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay praying that the Article 35 A be declared unconstitutional and struck down.
The plea says that the Article barring state's women to acquire land if they marry outside is a violation of their rights.
"The impugned provision facilitates a violation of the right of a woman to 'marry a man of her choice' by not giving her heirs any right to property if she marries a man not holding Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC)," the plea states.
The top court is already seized of a batch of petitions in the matter, including the one filed by NGO 'We the Citizens' seeking quashing of the article, which confers special status to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. However, other petitions filed by different groups will not be heard tomorrow and the apex court is likely to hear the matter on August 31.
In the last hearing the Supreme Court had said that it would hear the clutch of petitions challenging the provision on August 27 where it would decide whether to send the matter to the Constitution bench. Several petitions, including one by the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC), have been filed in the top court seeking to oppose scrapping of the Article 35-A.
What is Article 35-A
Article 35-A was incorporated into the Constitution by a presidential order in 1954, stating, all those living in Jammu and Kashmir at that time and also those who lived in the state for 10 years anytime since, would be considered as its permanent residents.
These residents have been issued a certificate, which entitles them to special benefits in employment etc, and the biggest advantage being- only the permanent residents have the right to own and buy property in the state.
Who is a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir
The present Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir was adopted on 17 November 1956 and came into effect on 26 January 1957. The J&K Constitution defines permanent residents of the state.
According to it, anyone who was the citizen of the state on May 14, 1954, or who had been living in the state for 10 years before that and had owned land are considered permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. |
